Family:Whitney, James H. P. (c1849-a1887)
James H. P. Whitney (William, Wade H., Joseph), son of William and Mary Ann (Allen) Whitney, was born circa 1849, Independence Co., AR, and died after 1887.
He married, 30 May 1872, Delta Co., TX, Arminda C. Roberts, daughter of James Henry and Elizabeth Jane (Nichols) Roberts. She was born circa 1856, Hopkins Co., TX, last known to be residing in Texas, Oct 1887.[1]
Arminda C. Roberts is supposed to be the daughter of Henry Roberts and his first wife, based solely on the fact that she was recorded in Henry’s household in Hopkins County on the 1870 U.S. census. In 1860, however, Arminda was enumerated with John and Piety (Roberts) Watson, while Henry and his second wife were recorded with his mother in Hopkins County.
The 1880 census lists Arminda and her husband as boarders in the household of a Thomas J. Nichols (b. 1830, TN) in Hopkins Co. After eight years of marriage, the couple apparently had produced no children. They then disappeared from the records.
Tradition says that Arminda eventually had three children. "All the children were evidently abandoned by James H. Whitney after Arminda’s death. We have no details how this occurred. Murria [Ashby, Maggie Lee’s daughter] mentioned to me as a child she saw James Whitney and he was dressed in a long coat with muddy cowboy boots on and remembered him as being dressed like a muleskinner or horse trader. Evidently he was not highly regarded by the family but I have no further details about him."
Maggie Lee Whitney reportedly was taken in by the family of Adam C. Means, who was a brother-in-law of Silas Ashby. Dora Whitney “was somehow adopted and raised by a wealthy family, possibly a doctor, and she worked in a boarding house in a small town south of Ada, Oklahoma.”* Maggie and Silas Ashby were both living at Hoxbar, Indian Territory, a small community south of Ardmore in what is now Carter Co., OK, at the time of their marriage in 1897.
Children of James H. P. and Arminda C. (Roberts) Whitney:
i. Maggie Lee Whitney, b. ca. 1881 (07 Apr 1879), TX; d. 20 Jun 1974, Edmond, Oklahoma Co., OK, bur. Lone Star Cemetery, Rocky, Washita Co., OK; m. Silas Stevison Ashby, 25 Apr 1897, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory (now Carter Co., OK). ii. Jim Whitney. iii. Dora Whitney, b. Oct 1887, TX. She resided 1920, Pontotoc Co., OK.
Notes
Photo of Arminda C. Roberts obtained from Roberts Family website.
Census
Mary F. NICHOLS 5 Dau F S W TX TN MS James WHITNEY 30 Oth M M W AR Farming --- --- Arminda WHITNEY 25 Oth F M W TX MS TN
References
- Bobby Jay Wadsworth to Jeanne Neilon, 20 May 2010, citing Patrick R. Ashby, , “RE: Finding my Great Grandmother, Maggie Lee Ashby’s Mother,” e-mail message to Bobby J. Wadsworth, 04 Jul 2004. Also, Mr. Ashby’s “Joshua W Ashby Family,” online at RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project, 07 Feb 2005.
Copyright © 2010, Tim Doyle and the Whitney Research Group
