Family:Whitney, Francis Wolfe (1825-1894)
Francis Wolfe7 Whitney (Abijah6, Stephen5, John4, Benjamin3, John2, John1), son of Abijah6 and Betsey7 (Whitney) Whitney, was born 15 Jul 1825, Lunenburg, MA.[1]
He married, Phillipston, MA, Huldah B. Frost, daughter of Rev. Leonard Frost. She was born 1830, Lempster, NH.
He was born in Lunenburg, MA, and remained with his parents until nineteen years of age, assisting his father on his farm and working in his slaughter house; but not liking the latter work left home to learn the carriage and wheelwright trade with his brother. He was paid $40 a year and worked twelve hours a day; at the end of the year he had managed to save $18 of this sum to which he add $7 which his father had paid him, and this amount he place at interest. After being away from home for two years his father was disabled so that it was necessary for him to return and carry on the farm, which was finally sold. He then left to find a place at Worcester to work at his trade. He stopped on his way at Leominster to visit his sister and while there waiting for the slave he went into a piano shop, the first he had ever seen. The proprietor wanted to hire him, as he very much needed a man on one kind of work, and after showing him what it was he agreed to go to work for him the next week. He worked for him ten years, till his employer gave up the business on account of ill-health and losses, etc. Being out of business he thought he would try his hand at making children's carriages, and after deciding the matter he proposed to his cousin, F. A. Whitney, who had worked for him one year at piano work, to go in company with him, he accepted the offer. They had but little capital, but began in a small way and were making some headway when the shop was burned and they lost all their machinery, stock, etc., as there was no insurance. After they had secured money from friends they erected a small shop on leased land and began business again, which after thirty-five years has become one of the most important in Leominster, employing from 150 to 200 hands and turning out nearly 40,000 carriages a year. For the past few years Mr. Whitney has not taken any active part in the business, owing to poor health. When able to work he spends his time in his garden, which is well stocked with all kinds of fruits and berries. He also has an extensive vegetable garden and one of the most pleasantly located homes in that beautiful New England town. Indirectly there has grown out of his going to Leominster several other large manufactories which have resulted in greatly increasing the number of the inhabitants and improving the town so that now it is one of the most desirable for business and for a home in the state. He has never held any public office in town affairs. He has had some influence in sustaining the Methodist church, to which he belongs, at least in a financial way. He has had some influence, directly and indirectly, in the prosperity of the town, and has owned some real estate on which he built a number of dwelling houses, opening a number of new streets on which there has been and is considerable building.
His wife was the daughter of Rev. Leonard Frost, and being a Methodist minister, had no permanent home. She was born in Lempster, New Hampshire, and taught school before she was married. She has been interested in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and held various offices. Resided Leominster, MA.
Children of Francis Wolfe7 and Huldah (Frost) Whitney:
i. Ida8 Whitney, b. 8 Apr 1855; d. 11 Jun 1867. ii. Katie Whitney, b. 28 Oct 1858; d. 28 Jan 1875. iii. Arthur Whitney, b. 6 Dec 1860; d. 1 Aug 1870. iv. Nellie S. Whitney, b. 21 Jun 1862; m. Leominster, Fred H. Wells; resided Leominster. - Ch.: Ada Francis, b. 22 Feb 1888; Katherine Whitney, b. 1 May 1891.
v. Fred A. Whitney, b. 11 Jun 1866; resided Leominster; unmarried. Fred A., with his brother, Walter F., are engaged in the manufacture of paper boxes. Their present shop being to small for their increasing business, they are now about building quite a large four-story building. They find a sale for a large number of boxes in Leominster, as many of the manufacturers use them. vi. Walter F. Whitney, b. 19 Oct 1871; resided Leominster; unmarried vii. Annie D. Whitney, b. 24 Jul 1867; d. 28 Jan 1868.
References
- All data imported from Frederick Clifton Pierce, The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635, (Chicago: 1895), pp. 284-285.
1.^ "F. W. [Whitney], [born] ___ __, 1825. G.S.," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Leominster, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (n.d.). Also, "Francis Woolf, s. Abijah and Betsey, July 15, 1825," according to Walter A. Davis, comp., Early Records of the Town of Lunenburg, Massachusetts, Including That Part Which is Now Fitchburg, 1719-1764 (Fitchburg, MA: Fitchburg City Council, 1896), volume 3, page 273.
Copyright © 2006, 2008, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group
