Archive:The Descendants of John Whitney, page 354
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The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635, by Frederick Clifton Pierce (Chicago: 1895)
Transcribed by the Whitney Research Group, 1999.
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| 354 | WHITNEY GENEALOGY. |
knowledge or consent, but when the results were tasted and looked upon were fol- lowed by his father's practical approval, for he went into the improvement with considerable zest. This farm, according to tradition under Cyrus WHITNEY's manage- ment, took a prize one year for being the best farm in all Worcester county. It has produced large quantities of all kinds of fruit, as earlier it did grains and grasses. B. F. W. was allowed but little time at school, but the short time spent at a neighboring academy, and the constant habit of reading and use of reference books made him a well-informed man. He traveled much in 1828 and about 1832 or 1822 he engaged in trade in a country store in Harvard village. In 1836 moved to Seneca Falls, N.Y., where with varying success he managed a variety store, put up buildings, and one year carried on a large farm. In 1845 he returned to his native town, where he spent the last forty years of his life in agricultural pursuits, the last two giving him more and more pleasure. He greatly enjoyed the face of nature and all the changing life of bird, insect and plant. He knew the names, mostly common names,. which the medicinal effect upon the human body of almost every leaf and root and herb. With him expired a considerable knowledge of his own genealogy and that of many about him. He esteemed others more than himself, was of retiring disposition, but when approached, conversed with interest and remarkable intelligence for one of his opportunities. He was a member of the Unitarian church, which he cherished. Was in early days a Whig in politics, in favor of a protective tariff, an admirer of Horace Greeley, in later life a stanch Republican and always for the union, and that he was one of the first to enter Richmond and offer protection to some defenseless, but at first defiant female cousins, who were at length glad to accept his offices in the confusion of the Federal occupation. He d. Dec. 15, 1885; res. Harvard, Mass. 5303. i. MARY LOUISA, b. Dec. 25, 1828; d. Oct. 6, 1829. 5304. ii. SOLON F., b. Aug. 22, 1831; m. Charlotte C. WILDER. 5305. iii. SARAH LOUISA, b. Nov. 25, 1833; d. May 6, 1854. 5306. iv. JAMES HARRIS, b. Aug. 16, 1835; m. Addie THOMAS. 5307. v. FRANCES ALICE, b. Mar. 20, 1838; d. Aug. 27, 1839. 5308. vi. CHARLES EDWARD, b. Nov. 19, 1840; f. unm. Feb. 8, 1872. He enlisted at the beginning of the war and served to the end; lay 100 days in the trenches in front of Petersburg, Va., where from disease and bullets he was left the highest in command of his regiment, a part of the time only serg.-major, then captain. He was one of the first to march into Richmond. The horse which he rode came back to Boston with him, bore him to his father's in Harvard, was honored and cared for and finally buried long after the Captain had gone to his last muster. In the Wilderness he had seen his friends cut down, had suffered much from exposure, but lived after returning home until 1872, having gradually succumbed to pulmonary disease, the seeds of which were planted by repeated attacks of pneumonia while in service. He or his friends never asked for a pension. He brother Solon F. was app. admr. of his estate Feb 20, 1872. 5309. vii. HARRIETT LUCY, b. Sept. 16, 1843; d. May 15, 1844. 5310. viii. FRANCES LUCY, b. Feb. 18, 1848. 5311. ix. WM. E. C., b. Apr. 11, 1851; m. Alma C. WALKER. 2784. JAMES FORDYCE WHITNEY (Cyrus, Isaiah, Isaiah, Isaiah, Thomas, John), b. Harvard, Mass., Apr. 14, 1806; m. Sept. 18, 1835, Mary Gates WHITNEY of Stow, dau. of Moses, b. Aug. 31, 1807; d. there June 30, 1886. From the Albany (N.Y.) Journal: "James F. WHITNEY, who died at Stow, Mass., was well known to many of our older citizens. He was for a number of years a prominent merchant in this city and an active member of the Masonic and Odd Fellow orders. His death was from pneumonia after a sickness of four days; he was in the 68th year of his age." He d. in Stow, Mass, Apr. 18, 1874; res. Albany, N.Y. 5312. i. CHARLES AUGUSTUS, B. Oct. 16, 1836; d. unm. Apr. 1, 1892 5313. ii. LUCIA CAROLINE, b. Aug. 24, 1838; d. Jan. 13, 1851. 5314. iii. CYRUS HENRY, b. Aug. 29, 1840; unm. res. Quincy, Ill., 117 Fourth Street, north. 5315. iv. JAMES FRANCIS, b. Oct. 23, 1842; m. Oct. 24, 1874, Emma F. CHAMBERLIN, b. Oct. 25, 1849; res. s. p. 191 Park St., Detroit, Mich. He is connected with M.C.R.R.
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