Archive:War of 1812 Pension File, Andrew Whitney
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War of 1812 Pension File of Andrew Whitney
Survivor's Application #SO3449, Certficate #SC1751
National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
Private, Captain Smith Elkins’ Company, U.S. Volunteers
Andrew Whitney enlisted at Phillips, Somerset Co., Maine on 27 August 1812. He was discharged 30 September 1813 at Burlington, Vermont. He testifies that he spent most of his enlistment serving at Burlington.
Andrew applied for a military pension, and on 24 July 1871 he was granted eight dollars per month. He applied from Island Falls Plantation, Aroostook Co., Maine. At that time he was 77 years old, and unmarried. Andrew died 29 May 1877, place not mentioned. Subsequent to his death, on 25 June 1877 his son John Sweetser Whitney submitted a voucher for pension arrears of $22.93.
Discussion:
Something happened to split this family up sometime in the decade of the 1870’s. The evidence for this is:
- The 1870 census for Island Falls, Maine shows John S. Whitney and his family, with his father Andrew Whitney living with them. Andrew died in 1877, and George Burbank Sedgeley tells us that he spent the last of his life in Canton, Maine with his daughter, Mary. Mary had married Norman S. Beals, and the U.S. Census shows the family residing in Canton, Oxford Co., Maine. So, sometime before 1877, Andrew must have moved from Island Falls to Canton.
- The 1880 U.S. Census for Westborough, Worcester Co., Mass. shows John S. Whitney’s wife Sarah (Libby) Whitney and children residing there. John S. is not shown in the family, and I can find him nowhere in the 1880 census. However, we know that he submitted a voucher for pension funds directly after his father’s death in Canton, so John was most likely in or near Canton as late as 1877, or his sister Mary would probably have submitted the voucher. John S. Whitney reappears in the 1900 census for Lake Crystal, Blue Earth Co., Minnesota. He is a wheelwright, living alone.
Copyright ©2006, Kenneth L. Whitney and the Whitney Research Group
