Family:Whitney, Franklin Huntington (1832-?)

Franklin Huntington⁷ Whitney (John⁶, Cornelius⁵, Matthias⁴, Cornelius³, Joshua², John¹), son of John⁶ and Nancy (Huntington) Whitney; born Oswego County, New York, 10 Feb 1832; married in Mexico, 10 Feb 1861, Elinor Graham; born 28 Nov 1838.

The following we quote from the history of Cass county, published some ten years ago: "In the early part of 1871, Frank H. Whitney & Company opened a bank as successors to the absconding bankers, Loring & Bennet, but later in the same year this was reorganized as the First National Bank of Atlantic, with F. H. Whitney, as president; John P. Gerberich, cashier; F. H. Whitney, Isaac Dickerson, Charles Kelly, Wilkins Warwick and S. J. Applegate, as directors. This organization was continued until 1876, when the charter was relinquished, and it became once more a private bank, under the name of the Bank of Atlantic, and under the proprietorship of Frank H. Whitney, and as such is continued to the present time by him, and is to-day one of the most solid institutions in the county. The sterling integrity and business ability of Mr. Whitney, who is well known to every citizen of the county, backed as it is by an abundance of capital, make the Bank of Atlantic one of undoubted strength, and it enjoys the fullest confidence of the community and of the people of Cass county in general. Franklin H. Whitney, decidedly the most prominent and enterprising of Cass county's citizens, who has done more than any ten men in its development, who is the father of more towns and enterprising projects for the upbuilding of his resident county than any other citizen within its borders, and who was also one of its pioneers, braving the hardships, etc., attendant upon pioneer life, was born in the town of Mexico, Oswego county, New York. F. H. Whitney spent his early life in Oswego county, New York, where he received a good academic education at Mexico and learned the surveyor's profession. In 1856 he came to Iowa, stopping in Adair County a short time, and in March of that year settled in Cass County at Whitneyville, and in 1857 laid out a small town at that point and began farming and raising stock. He owned two hundred and forty acres of land and followed farming and surveying in the vicinity of Whitneyville until 1862, when he removed to Lewis and published a newspaper for eight months, called the Cass County Gazette, and after which he followed surveying and worked for the emigrant company until January, 1864. In 1865 he operated a hotel at Lewis, which was consumed by fire on the 3d of January, 1866. He then moved upon a farm about a mile from town, but in the fall of that year purchased the Rand House and removed to Lewis, which he operated until the spring of 1868, when he disposed of the property and entered into partnership with Isaac Dickerson and opened a land office in Lewis, handling non-resident lands in Cass County. In September of that year they dissolved partnership, and in October Mr. Whitney removed to the present site of Atlantic, surveying the same shortly after his removal here, he also assisting in the survey of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad, which was then being constructed. He built the old house on the site of the Reynolds House, and rented it to John Bennett, who run the same about two years, when J. R. Reynolds purchased the property. Mr. Whitney soon after engaged in the real estate business, and in 1869 did a small banking business. He has been on the spot he now occupies since January, 1870, and has developed a banking business to large proportions. The original owners of the ground Atlantic now occupies were F. H. Whitney, Isaac Dickerson, and John Keyes, they purchasing the land of different individuals during the spring and summer of 1868. Mr. Whitney negotiated with John P. Cook for the location of the depot at Atlantic, after which the Atlantic Town Company was organized, with F. H. Whitney, Messrs. Crawford and Merriman, B. F. Allen and John Cook as stockholders, and Mr. Whitney general manager of the business of the company, although he owned but one-sixth interest of the business. Mr. Whitney's lands lie principally in Cass County and adjoining counties, and are valued at $300,000. He was married in Mexico, Oswego County, New York, to a daughter of Cornelius Graham. He was living in Whitneyville at the time, but returned to New York to be married; resided Atlantic, Iowa.

Children of Franklin Huntington⁷ and Elinor (Graham)Whitney:

i.	Franklin Henry8 Whitney, born 29 Dec 1871; died 15 Sep 1862.
ii.	James G. Whitney, born 20 Jan 1864; married Nellie M. Milner.
iii.	Topsy Whitney, born 22 Jan 1865; died 14 Sep 1865.
iv.	Carylan C. Whitney, born 12 Oct 1868; died 23 Jul 1869.
v.	Thusey M. Whitney, born 3 Dec 18--; died 22 Nov -----.
vi.	Thomas Hayes Whitney, born 9 Jul 1877. He was born in Cass County, Iowa, and when but seventeen years of age he entered the Atlantic Bank immediately upon graduating from the Atlantic high school. He and his brother now conduct the bank.
vii.	Roscoe Conkling Whitney, born 1878; died 1878.

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. 395-396.

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