Family:Whitney, Rufus (1818-1927)

Rufus⁷ Whitney (Eli⁶, Zebulon⁵, Abel⁴, Nathaniel³, Benjamin², John¹), son of Eli⁶ and Damaris (Stone) Whitney, was born 17 Aug 1818, Gorham, ME, and died 24 Apr 1927, Gorham, ME.

He married 29 Mar 1840, Gorham, ME, Esther F. Skillings,^[1] daughter of Benjamin and Anna (Hamblen) Skillings. She was born 5 May 1819, Gorham, ME, and died 6 Jan 1901, Deering, ME.

Rufus and Esther resided in Gorham, ME in the censuses of 1850 through 1880. He was a farmer.

Their son Gershom appears in the censuses of 1850 and 1860 in Gorham where he was a farmer. He died during the Civil War, and his mother received his pension benefit from the U.S. government:

From the Civil War Pension File of Gershom S. Whitney
Private, Co. I, 12th Maine Infantry
Esther F. Whitney, Mother
Mother's Claim, Application # 293112, Certificate # 274909
The National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.

Gershom spent two months in the West Indies as a young man. He was unemployed in Portland, and was seeking work. His father owned a farm near Gorham called the Blair Farm.

Gershom's sister is referred to in the file as Helen M. Johnson of Woodfords, Cumberland Co., Maine and as Helen, living in Deering, Maine. She was born 3 August 1840.

Gershom died in the army at Savannah, GA, 11 May 1865 of "Typhoid Pneumonia".

Children of Rufus⁷ and Esther F. (Skillings) Whitney:

i.	Martha Helen Whitney, b. 3 Aug 1840, Gorham, ME; m. 12 Nov 1862, Portland, ME, Albion F. Johnson, "both of Gorham",[2] b. ca. 1837, ME. She was a teacher, and resided in Gorham in the censuses of 1850 through 1880. In 1900 she resided in Portland, ME.
ii.	Gershom S. Whitney, b. 1 Dec 1844, Gorham, ME; d. 11 May 1865, Savannah, Chatham Co., GA.

Census

• 1840, Gorham, Cumberland Co., ME: Rufus Whitney, 1 male 20-29 and 1 female 20-29; 1 engaged in agriculture.
• 1850, Gorham, Cumberland Co., ME:

340 360 Rufus Whitney 33 M - Farmer $1500 Maine Esther " 31 F - " Martha H. " 9 F - " Attended school Gersham " 5 M - " Attended school John F. Libby 16 M - " Attended school

• 1860, Gorham, Cumberland Co., ME:

225 237 Rufus Whitney 42 M - Farmer $2000 $225 Maine Esther F. " 40 F - " Hellen M. " 19 F - Teacher " Attended school Gershom S. " 15 M - Teacher " Attended school

• 1870, Gorham, Cumberland Co., ME:

502 553 Whitney, Rufus 53 M W Farmer $1000 $400 Maine Male citizen over 21 -----, Esther 51 F W Keeping house Maine

• 1880, Gorham, Cumberland Co., ME:

Rufus WHITNEY 62 Self M M W ME Farmer ME ME Ester F. WHITNEY 61 Wife F M W ME Keeping House ME ME

• 1900, 6 Perkins Street, Portland Ward 8, Cumberland Co., ME:

194 229 Johnson, Helen M. Head W F Aug 1840 59 wid 5ch 0liv Maine Maine Maine N.G., Owns free house Whitney, Esther F. Moth W F May 1819 81 wid Maine Maine Maine

References

1.^  "Mar. 29, 1840, Mr. Rufus WHITNEY & Miss Esther F. SKILLINGS, both of Gorham; by Daniel CLARK, [?Gorham?] (B:116)," according to Kelley, Judith Holbrook, ed. and transcr., Clayton Rand Adams, ed., Marriage Returns of Cumberland County, Maine, Prior to 1892, Maine Genealogical Society Special Publication No. 29 (Rockport, ME: Picton Press, 1998), p. 196.

2.^  "Nov. 12, 1862, Albion F. JOHNSON & Hellen M. WHITNEY, b. of Gorham; by Rev. H. B. ABBOTT, Portland (D:6)," according to Kelley, Judith Holbrook, ed. and transcr., Clayton Rand Adams, ed., Marriage Returns of Cumberland County, Maine, Prior to 1892, Maine Genealogical Society Special Publication No. 29 (Rockport, ME: Picton Press, 1998), p. 634.

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Copyright © 2010, 2017, Kenneth L. Whitney, Robert L. Ward, and the Whitney Research Group.