Family:Whitney, Silas (1781-1824)
Capt. Silas7 Whitney (Silas6, Daniel5, Richard4, Richard3, Richard2, John1), born Stow, Massachusetts, 26 Jan 1781; married in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1800, Abigail M. Shedd, born 15 Sep 1778; died 21 Sep 1854.
Capt. Silas Whitney was born in Stow, Massachusetts. In 1795 he built the first temporary railroad used in this country. It was constructed of two tracks on the western slope of Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts, for the purpose of facilitating the removal of gravel from the top of the hill down to Charles street, which he was filling up and grading. There were two trains of cars on the railroad and they were so arranged that one train being loaded with gravel at the upper end, would, in its descent, haul up the empty train, then while the full cars were being emptied, the empty ones were being filled, and in their descent would haul up the first train, and thus it was managed to do the work without horses. Mr. Whitney was assisted in the work by his brothers, John and Ephraim. The brothers were great contractors for filling up wharves, etc. They filled in Central wharf. From the above it will be seen that Capt. Whitney was the real pioneer of railroads in this country. Capt. Whitney, during the later years of his life, kept the Middlesex hotel, which was situated between Warren Ave. and the old bridge road in Charlestown. It was burned in the year 1836. He died in C. 20 Jan 1824; resided Boston, Massachusetts, and Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Children of Silas7 Whitney:
i. John Francis8 Whitney, born 27 Feb 1819; married Julia A. Andrews and Maria Hook. ii. Ephraim A. Whitney, born Aug., 1816; married Joanna A. Hook. iii. Charles Whitney, born 15 Sep 1805; married Lydia M. Emery. iv. Eliza A. Whitney, born 15 Apr 1809; married ----- Hinckley; resided Thomaston, Maine; married 2d, ----- O'Brion; died 6 Jun 1894. v. Abigail S. Whitney, born 21 May 1808; married Thomas R. Spear; resided Boston. She died 4 Jan 1870. vii. Silas Gore Whitney, born 9 Aug 1800; married Sarah S., -----. viii. WM. Henry Whitney, born 2 Jun 1819; drowned at sea, 1830. vi. Mary Whitney, born 28 Sep 1803; died 7 Jul 1837. ix. Mary Whitney, born 8 Oct 1801; died 3 Apr 1803.
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), p. 325.
Copyright © 2006, The Whitney Research Group
