Archive:NEHGR, Volume 45

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Whitney, Joseph Cutler, "Memoir of Henry Austin Whitney, A.M.", NEHGR, vol. XLV (1891), pp. 175-181.

HENRY AUSTIN WHITNEY, the only son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Pratt) Whitney, was born in the house then numbered 26 Purchase Street, in Boston, Oct. 6, 1826. On his father's side he was descended from John Whitney of Isleworth, County of Middlesex, England, the progenitor of the Whitney family of northern New England, who in 1635 left his native country with his wife Elinor and five sons and made Watertown in Massachusetts his home. He lived and prospered there till his death in 1673, was a landholder and farmer, selectman from 1638 for a period of seventeen years, constable in 1641, and town clerk in 1655. Thomas in the second generation, who came from England with his father as a child, continued to live in Watertown and to hold lands there. His son Thomas successively held lands and lived in Watertown, Stow, and that part of Lancaster that afterwards became Bolton. His son Benjamin, born 1687, held lands in Marlborough. He was an energetic and enterprising man, and was active during the Indian disturbances that bore so hard on the scattered frontier settlements of New England in the early part of the eighteenth century. He died in 1737, at a time when he was making arrangements to establish himself in business, in Boston. His widow Abigail (Bridge) Whitney took up the work where he had left it, however, carried out the plans that he had formed and engaged successfully in mercantile affairs in Boston. Their son Samuel, born at Marlborough in 1734, followed his mother's example, and from 1755 was in business in Boston with a branch in Salem. When in the year 1767 the depression that preceded the revolution was felt, he moved to Concord, bought a farm, and established a store. He took an active part in the events that led to final separation from the mother country, was a member of the town Committee of Correspondence and of several other important Committees, served as a Muster Master when the town raised minute men, represented Concord in the first provincial Congress, so called, of 1774-5, and was engaged in the Concord fight. When Boston was evacuated by the British he sold his farm, returned to town, resumed business again till 1793, and then removed to the part of Massachusetts that is now Castine, Maine. His commercial ventures there proved successful, and he died there in 1808. His son Joseph was born at Concord 1771. When his parents moved to Castine he went to Newburyport, where his uncles Cutler were merchants, and found employment there. The same year he married Sally, daughter of Elijah and Susanna Collins of that town. In 1796 his only child Joseph was born, and in 1799 his wife died. He then moved to Boston, where he soon established a business that though profitable while he lived to manage it, was so injured by the embargo acts, that when he died in 1812, at the age of forty-one, his estate when settled showed nothing over outstanding obligations, and his son Joseph, Henry Austin Whitney's father, was left an orphan when sixteen years old--"without a friend in the world to whom he had a right to look for assistance and nothing to depend upon for a maintenance but his own exertions," as he expressed himself in a letter written at the time. His inheritance, however, was a keen sense of honor, a sound judgment, and an energetic temperament. Before he reached his majority he had been admitted as a partner to a business that was sufficiently lucrative to enable him each year to lay aside something for the future. By his careful management and the most strict integrity he gradually developed a business of large proportions. His sagacity enabled his firm to pass through the financial crises of 1837 and 1857, without their credit being questioned. Those were periods when many commercial houses that had been considered among the strongest were obliged to suspend payment. He was a thoughtful man, of cultivated tastes, a constant and careful reader, and was anxious that his children, of whom he had but two who lived beyond infancy, should have every educational advantage. In 1822 he married Elizabeth, the second daughter of John and Mary (Tewksbury) Pratt. She was of a happy, vivacious temperament, was a model house-keeper of the old school, and was proud and fond of her husband, as he in turn was of her. He died at Boston, Sept. 11, 1869.

Henry Whitney's [footnote: He was christened Henry Augustus Whitney, but his name was changed to Henry Austin Whitney by decree of Probate Court, February, 1857.] boyhood was passed in Boston and its neighborhood, and his early education was received at private schools in Boston in winter, and in country ministers' families and boarding schools in summer. His parents moved from Purchase Street to 59 High Street in 1831, and in 1838 from there to the house now numbered 146 Tremont Street. His sister Caroline (now Mrs. Hezron Ayres Johnson of New York) was three years older than he, and consequently not so much of a companion as boy cousins, ...

... always took deep interest. Antiquarian matters and genealogy at times absorbed his attention, and to the study of genealogy, particularly as bearing on his own family, he gave much time when a young man. His genealogical gleanings were for the most part privately printed and distributed gratuitously among those who were interested in the subjects on which he wrote, and to which his collections and compilations related. Such other writings of his as were published were in the form of occasional articles on passing events and historical matters, and were printed in periodicals or as contributions to books in the preparation of which he was interested. He also wrote many biographical notices of friends and classmates for various publications, and numerous reports and pamphlets relating to mercantile affairs and associations with which he was connected. On the 6th of February, 1856, he was elected a member of the New-England Historic Genealogical Society, and on March 11, 1858, was elected a resident member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. In the latter society he served as one of the Standing Committee in 1859-60, as one of the Committee of Publications of three volumes of "Proceedings," and as one of the Committee on Memorials of the Rebellion. In 1863 he was admitted a member of the Prince Society. The following is a list of his publications:

An article entitled "The Descendants of John and Elinor Whitney of Watertown, Mass.," printed in the New-England Historical and Genealogical Register, nine and six pages, April and July, 1857. This was revised and privately reprinted the same year, under this title:

"A Brief Account of the Descendants of John and Elinor Whitney of Watertown, Mass.," 100 copies, 26 pages, 8vo.

He also printed privately:--"Memoranda relating to the Ancestors of Samuel Whitney and their families." This was printed in three parts. It was not intended for distribution, but as a convenient way of preserving bulky manuscript, for future reference.

"Appendix to first generation," 10 copies, 17 pages, royal 4to. Oct. 1858.

"Appendix to third generation," 10 copies, 12 pages, royal 4to. Nov. 1858.

"Appendix to fourth generation," 20 copies, 36 pages, royal 4to. Mar. 1859.

"Memoranda relating to Families of the Name of Whitney in England," 10 copies, 11 pages, royal 4to. 1859.

"Family papers of William Bordman and William Lawrence." This was printed for use of the Trustees under the will of William Lawrence, and was originally intended to be merely a copy of his will, but was enlarged by the addition of genealogical statistics and other material, 6 copies, 48 pages, royal 4to. 1860.

"Incidents in the Life of Samuel Whitney, together with some account of his descendants, and other Family Memorials," 100 copies, 142 pages, royal 4to. 1860.

"Early Settlers of Hingham. Extracts from the Minutes of Daniel Cushing, with a Photograph of his Manuscript List; also some Account of John Cutler, one of the Early Settlers of Hingham," 24 copies, 28 pages, royal 4to. 1865.

"Wills relating to the name of Whitney in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England, 1549-1603, with a pedigree," 12 copies, 23 pages, royal 4to. 1865.

"A review of the Handwriting of Junius professionally investigated by Chas. Chabot, etc.," which he reprinted from the London Times and wrote a prefatory notice to, pamphlet, 1874.

"The first known use of Whitney as a Surname," 50 copies, 19 pages, royal 4to. 1875.

Among other work that he did may be noted "A review of Thos. Keightley's Life of Milton," 17 pages, North American Review, April, 1856.

Also material that he placed at the disposal of the Rev. Henry Green for use in his "Facsimile reprint of Whitney's choice of Emblems. London, Chester, and Nantwich, 1866," for which Mr. Green makes acknowledgment.

A review in the Nation, Dec. 17, 1874, of John E. Bailey's "Life of Thomas Fuller. London and Manchester, 1874." In the book Mr. Bailey makes acknowledgment of some information he communicated.

He was also one of the committee that prepared the volume "In Commemoration of the one hundred and twenty-fifth Anniversary of St. Andrew's Lodge, Boston, 1887."

His library was an excellent one. He became the owner of some five thousand well selected volumes and, except his Miltons, he aimed in collecting to secure books for the sake of their subject matter rather than because they were rare editions. To such historical works as were meritorious, but not of a sufficiently popular character to be pecuniarily successful, he was always a liberal subscriber.

His home in Boston was at 54 Boylston Street, from the time of his marriage till 1886. In 1854 he first made Brush Hill in Milton his summer home, and always went there afterwards, except a few summers before 1864. In that year he took the house that he had previously lived in there, on a long lease, and in 1870 he became a legal resident of that town. In 1865 and subsequently he became the owner of about one hundred and fifty acres of land on and near Brush Hill, and in 1882 first occupied a large and handsome house that he had built for himself on this place. There he passed two winters previously to occupying, a few months before his death, his new city house at 261 Marlborough Street, that he had taken much pleasure in building.

He was fond of his country life and the freedom it gave, and enjoyed walking and driving. He was a lover of nature and in arboriculture took much pleasure. He liked to wander among his trees, to watch their growth, to give directions about planting new or trimming old ones, and would himself lop any dead branches or offensive sprouts that he could reach. His especial care was for two chestnut trees that he, his wife, and children planted from seed a few days before the death of his eldest son. Before his own death they had grown to be tall and vigorous young trees.

In the welfare of the town of Milton and in matters pertaining to it he took a lively interest. In the excellent town history written by Rev. Dr. Teele, in accordance with a vote of the town in 1884, ...

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Norcross, Grenville H., "Muster Roll of Capt. Thomas Willington's Company, 1778", NEHGR, vol. XLV (1891), pp. 280-282.

[p. 280]

A Muster Roll of Capt. Thomas Willington's Company in the Massachusetts Bay Battalion of Forces in the Sarvis of the united States of America Commanded By Colonel Edward Wigglesworth Taken for the month of may, 1778.

Commissioned January 1st 1777 ...

Coporals ...

2 Lemuel Whitney, D[uration of the] War.

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