Family:Whitney, William (1841-1911)
William7 Whitney (William6, Stephen5, Isaac4, Nathaniel3, Benjamin2, John1), son of William6 and Mary Ann (Mayberry) Whitney, was born 29 Aug 1841, Otisfield, ME, and died 1 Mar 1911, Mechanic Falls, ME.
He married 17 Jun 1866, Minot, ME, Rose E. Rawson, daughter of Samuel Fessenden and Sally (Twitchell) Rawson. She was born 5 Sep 1849, Paris, ME, and died 28 Mar 1927.
William was a Civil War soldier, and he and his widow received a pension from the U.S. government.
William7 and Rose E. (Rawson) Whitney had no children.
Notes
William's father cannot be placed in the family by primary records. Therefore, the following conjecture is offered in order to place this family.
The census of Casco Maine for 1850 shows the family of Orsamus Symonds and his wife Mary Ann, the widow of William Whitney. For those subscribing to Ancestry.com, the URL is: http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=8054&iid=MEM432_249-0250&fn=William&ln=Whitney&pid=19847820. The family contains the following Whitney children: Martha, age 21; Francis, age 19; Nancy, age 17; James, age 11 (b. ca 1839); William, age 8 (b. ca 1842); and George, age 6. According to the Whitney Whistler, Volume 6, Issue 2, James' middle name was Irish. Was he named for his grandmother's family? Whitney Whistler Vol 6 Book 2 Summer 1986: James Irish Whitney s/o William and Mary Ann (Mayberry) Whitney lived in Milford, Mass - m. Susan Eudora Thwing in Hopedale, Mass. James was b. in Otisfield, Me in 1839. A biography of Almon Thwing of Hopedale, Mass. lists child #4 as Susan Eudora Thwing.
William Whitney of Mechanics Falls, ME had a brother named James whose middle name was Irish. At once one would think of the marriage of Stephen Whitney to Martha "Patty" Irish in Gorham, Maine 28 October 1780.
In 1870 census Milford, Mass James (middle initial undecipherable) Whitney age 30, b. ME; Wife Susan, 22; Mable, 2 and Albert, 9/12. The family is not in Milford/Hopedale in 1880.
The History of Otisfield, Maine on page 639 tells us that William, Sr. came to Otisfield from Casco, Maine between 1835 and 1838. He had 3 children and then moved on the Webb's Mills, where he died in 1845. Casco and Raymond, Maine were once the same town. Page 197 of the Raymond Vital Records notes the birth of Martha L. Whitney to William Whitney on 20 Oct 1828. It is noted there that William moved from Casco to Otisfield. Page 1 of the Raymond records contains the family of Richard and Mary (Jordan) Mayberry. Mary A. was born 11 March 1808. It is noted she married William Whitney of Casco and ____ Symonds.
On page 233 of F. C. Pierce's Whitney genealogy, individual # 1641 is Stephen Whitney, the son of Stephen and Patty (Irish) Whitney. At the time of the writing of Pierce's work, Stephen resided in Mechanic's Falls, Maine. That is coincidentally the residence of our William Whitney, the Civil War soldier. If William's father William was the son of Stephen and Patty Whitney also, then two first cousins lived in the same town.
Finally, on page 835 of Hugh D. McLellan's History of Gorham, Maine we find the family of Stephen and Patty (Irish) Whitney. We find the children William and Patience both baptized 4 March 1800.
I believe that the burden of evidence can bring one to the conclusion that the ancestry of William Whitney of Mechanics Falls, ME is: John1, Benjamin2, Nathaniel3, Isaac4, Stephen5, William6. All primary evidence may never come to light in this case.
Census
- 1850: Casco, ME; in the home of Orasmus and Mary Ann Symonds
- 1860: Casco, ME; in the home of George and Esther Dyer
- 1870, Minot, Androscoggin Co., ME:
227 234 Whitney, Wm. 28 M W Tinman none Maine Male citizen over 21 -----, Rose E. 20 F W Keeping House "
William WHITNEY 38 Self M M W ME Tin Smith ME ME Rose E. WHITNEY 30 Wife F M W ME Keeping House ME ME
84 104 Whitney, William Head W M Aug 1841 58 mar 34 Maine Maine Maine Merchant har[]n, Owns free house -----, Rose E. Wife W F Sep 1849 50 mar 34 0ch 0liv Maine Maine Maine 105 Whitle, Heman N. Head W M Jul 1838 61 mar 29 Maine Maine Maine N. G., Rents house -----, Edna D. Wife W F Jan 1848 52 mar 29 1ch 0liv Maine Maine Maine
- 1910: Mechanic Falls, ME
References
- Civil War Pension File of William Whitney; Widow: Rose E. Whitney; Invalid Applic. # 1314388 Cert. # 1088291; Widow Applic. # 960436 Cert. # 720925; National Archives Building, Washington, DC.
Copyright © 2010, 2016, Kenneth L. Whitney, Robert L. Ward, and the Whitney Research Group.
