Family:Whitney, Henry Howard (1866-1949)
Henry Howard Whitney (Walter R., John, Walter, Theophilus), son of Walter R. and Eliza K. (-----) Whitney, born 25 Dec 1866, PA, and died 2 Apr 1949, Madison, NJ. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
He married, circa 1897, Ellen Closson -----. She was born 23 Aug 1871, OH, died 29 Dec 1963. She is buried next to her husband at Arlington National Cemetery.
Henry Howard Whitney had a distinguished military career.
- Appointed from Pennsylvania, Cadet U. S. Military Academy, 16 June 1888
- Additional Second Lieutenant, 4th U. S. Artillery, 11 June 1892
- Second Lieutenant, 28 November 1892
- Captain, Assist Adjutant General of U. S. Volunteers, 12 May 1898
- Honorably discharged from Volunteer Service, 12 May 1899
- First Lieutenant, 4th U. S. Artillery, 2 March 1899
- Artillery Corps, 2 February 1901
- Captain, 8 May 1901
- Lieutenant Colonel, Assistant Adjutant General to Lieutenant General Miles, 6 June to 8 August 1903.
In May 1898, Lieutenant Henry H. Whitney of the Fourth Artillery was sent to the island on a reconnaisance mission, sponsored by the Army's Bureau of Military Intelligence. The mission was almost a disaster when newspapers leaked his identity, but he posed as a crew member in the furnace-room of the merchant ship and evaded detection by a boarding party of Spanish officers. He provided maps and information on the Spanish military presence by posing as a British merchant marine officer, and reported that the Spanish forces were few in number and poorly equipped.
Whitney’s grave, placed near the Spanish-American war memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, reflects his important role in the successful occupation of Puerto Rico by the U.S. Army in 1898. The epitaph, while noting lifelong service, stresses this early and important contribution:
- Henry Howard Whitney, No. 3640 Class of 1892, died on April 2, 1949 in Madison, New Jersey, at the age of 82. The 32 years of service Brigadier General Henry Howard Whitney gave to the United States Army and his country were repleat with many valorous exploits, one of which led to the successful conquest of a country and saved thousands of lives without endangering that of anyone except his own.
In 1910 he was an officer in the Coast Artillery at Port Townsend, WA. His sister Bertha M. Whitney, age 21, as well as two Japanese servants resided with them.
Children of Henry Howard and Ellen Closson (-----) Whitney (order uncertain):
i. (child) Whitney, d. before 1910. ii. Henry W. Whitney, b. ca. 1908, District of Columbia. He was not living with his parents in 1920.
Census
- 1910, Port Townsend, Jefferson Co., WA: Howard H. Whitney
- 1920, Honolulu, Honolulu, Hawaii Territory: Henry H. Whitney
- 1930, E.D. 1076, Long Beach, Los Angeles Co., CA: Henry H. Whitney
References
- Census records
- Henry Howard Whitney, Brigadier General, United States Army
Copyright © 2008, Tim Doyle and the Whitney Research Group.
