Family:Whitney, Jonathan (1769-1850)

Dr. Jonathan⁶ Whitney (Timothy⁵, Jonas⁴, Moses³, Richard², John¹), born Otis, Massachusetts, 14 Sep 1768; married 27 Nov 1800, Dolly Smith; born 17 Mar 1782; died in Cayuga, New York, in 1846. Her father was a sea captain.

He was born in Otis, Massachusetts, the son of Timothy and Alice (Whitney) Whitney. With his parents he moved to Petersham, Massachusetts, where he passed his early life and where he studied medicine. Soon after his majority he started for the west, locating in Cayuga, New York, where he was one of the earliest settlers. He was a physician of eminence and, with a few others at the beginning of the century, amde the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake famous throughout the state. Dr. Whitney was highly respected by the entire community. Cayuga bridge was built in 1797. There was only a log tavern, built by Mr. Hardenburg at Auburn, when he passed through. Cayuga at that time was the county seat. He first located in Cayuga. AFter remaining there a few years he sold his rigs and moved to Batavia, New York. After a year's residence there, the physician at Cayuga died and the people sent for him to return, which he did, and remained there the rest of his life. He died July, 1850; resided Cayuga, New York.

Children of Jonathan⁶ Whitney:

i.	William7 Whitney, born 15 Aug 1815; married Elizabeth J. Turner.
ii.	Charles H. Whitney, born 25 Jan 1824; married Elizabeth Lowe.
iii.	Edwin H. Whitney, born 7 Oct 1806; married Jane Horton and Eliza J. Kyle.
iv.	Mary Brainerd Whitney, born 12 Sep 1801; married 15 Feb 1827, Cutler L. Laflin. He was born in Southwick, Massachusetts, 17 Oct 1799; died at Westfield, 2 Oct 1877. She died there 25 Dec 1885; resided Westfield, Massachusetts. He was emphatically the architect of his own fortunes. Honesty, economy, and application tell the story of his successful career. From a clerkship at Suffield, Connecticut, he went to Gorham, Maine, and engaged in the powder business. Later he was in the fur trade in Montreal and Quebec. Disposing of this business, he returned to the States and engaged in the manufacture of paper at Lee, Massachusetts. The business at Lee was finally discontinued, when Mr. Laflin opened a commission paper warehouse in New Orleans with a Mr. Steavens of New Marlboro, under the name of Laflin, Steavens & County. This business was continued for some years, and he finally sold out to Mr. Steavens, his partner. He then became connected as special partner in the firm of C. Yale, Jr., & County, in importation of silks. This business arrangement ceased somewhere about 1849, at which time he removed to Westfield in order to be near his father, who still lived in Southwick. In the fall of 1851 Mr. Laflin purchased the interest of Alexander Jessup in the Woronoco Mills for his son, G. L. Laflin, when the well known, successful and popular firm of Jessup & Laflin was organized. Since going to Westfield, Mr. Laflin has never engaged in any active business. He was also one of the founders of the Westfield Savings Bank, in which he was for a long time a prominent and an active director. In 1864 he withdrew from the Old Westfield Bank, and in company with Mr. Jessup and his brother Heman Laflin, now of New Haven, and his son, Geo. L. Laflin, established the First National Bank of Westfield in the room now occupied by the Westfield Savings Bank. After a successful existence of two years the capital stock was increased from $100,000 to $250,000, and the Westfield Bank merged into it. He was always the largest stockholder of the bank, and as a director he was something more than a figure-head. He always and wisely, too, dictated the policy of the bank, and in him Mr. Hooker, the trusted and efficient cashier, always found a sound and reliable adviser. In 1871 the Hon. William G. Bates resigned the presidency of the bank and Mr. Laflin was then elected the president, a position which he held up to the time of his death. Mr. Laflin was also the chairman of the finance committee of the Westfield Savings Bank, whose interest he guarded with jealous care. In all transactions he was a man of integrity, upright in all his dealings. Occupation of Cutler Laflin, paper manufacturer; religion of both, Protestant. Ch.: Geo. Lester, oldest child, born at Lee, 8 Mar 1828; married June 20, 1865, Martha M. Clark of Newark, New Jersey, at Westfield, Massachusetts; resided Westfield; 8 ch., Geo. Lester, born 25 Oct 1866; died Jan. 18, 1867; Geo. Lester, born 19 Nov 1867; died 21 Oct 1870; Mary Frances, born 4 Feb 1869; Charles Walter, born 26 Jun 1870; Gertrude, born 8 Dec 1872; Cutler, born 9 Mar 1874; Jere Horton, born 19 Feb 1876; Catherine Eldredge, born 27 Mar 1879. Mary Frances, 2d child, born at Lee, 19 Nov 1829; died at Westfield, unm., 7 Aug 1862; Adelaide, 3d child, born at Lee, 11 Jan 1836; died at Lee, 11 Mar 1839. Politics of Cutler, Whig and Republican.
v.	Clarissa Smith Whitney, born 15 Aug 1804; married in Cayuga, 17 Dec 1823, William Foote. She died Dansville, New York, 1846. He was born Dec. 8, 1802; died 22 Jun 1877; was a farmer, later a grain dealer. Ch.: Elizabeth Coe, born 16 Jan 1825; married 27 Sep 1843, Olney Bryant Maxwell; resided Oakland, California; 2 ch.; Julia Louisa, born May 18, 1826; married May, 1846, Henry Kingsbury; died 13 Feb 1870. They had one dau., born Rochester, New York, 12 Jul 1847. Is now matron of Wells College, Aurora, New York; Mary Adaline, born 3 Jun 1828; married 1856, Isaac O. Adams. She died Chicago, May, 1869, leaving 3 ch., Harry F., Harriett M., and Norman; Harriett Amelia, born 9 Aug 1831; married Howard Phillips. She died Chicago, May 25, 1870; 2 ch., Howard M. and Louise H.; Almeda Cornelia, born 30 Sep 1839; died 13 Jan 1846.
vi.	Fannie Whitney, born 7 Nov 1812; married 2 Sep 1833, Dr. John A. Thompson. She died 2 Mar 1892. He was born 30 May 1810; died 17 Feb 1879; resided Auburn, New York Ch.: Charles DeWitt, born Cayuga, July 16, 1834; married Mary E. Comstock of Chicago, Illinois, 17 Feb 1866; died in New York, 3 Aug 1890; Harriett Lettitia, born 20 Mar 1842; married Valorus Southworth, 4 Jun 1872, who died 22 Sep 1882; married 2d to Homer P. Bender, 27 Dec 1883, who died 6 Mar 1889; address 140 E. 48th St., New York; George Edwin, born 10 May 1844; died in New Orleans, 11 Jan 1879; Mary Frances, born 11 Jun 1849; married John B. Pinn, 3 Jan 1871; address 118. E. Genesee St., Auburn, Cayuga County, New York.
vii.	George S. Whitney, born 25 Feb 1810; married Elcie Kellogg and Mrs. Rhoda Bond.
viii.	Harriett Amelia Whitney, born 28 Aug 1818; married 20 Dec 1855, Hon. Morris B. Flinn, born 27 Apr 1811; died 24 Jun 1891, s.p. She resided Rushville, New York. He was a hardware merchant.
ix.	Ann Maria Whitney, born 13 Aug 1820; married 15 Jan 1850, Lyman Carr; resided Mt. Morris, New York. He was born 9 Nov 1816; merchant. Ch.: Marion W., born 25 Oct 1851; Fannie C., born 5 Sep 1856; died May 31, 1861.

References

1. 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. 171-173.

---

Copyright © 2006, the Whitney Research Group