The Whitney family is an American family notable for their business enterprises, social prominence, wealth and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney (1592–1673), who came from
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
to
Watertown, Massachusetts
Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End.
Waterto ...
in 1635. The historic family mansion in Watertown, known as The Elms, was built for the Whitneys in 1710.
Beginning with
William Collins Whitney
William Collins Whitney (July 5, 1841February 2, 1904) was an American political leader and financier and a prominent descendant of the John Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration of President Grover Cl ...
, members of the Whitney family would become major figures for more than a century in the breeding and racing of
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
horses.
The Whitney family are members of the
Episcopal Church.
Prominent descendants of John Whitney
*
Amos Whitney
Amos Whitney (October 8, 1832 – August 5, 1920) was a mechanical engineer and inventor who co-founded the Pratt & Whitney company. He was a member of the prominent Whitney family.
He was born in Biddeford, Maine to Aaron and Rebecca (Pe ...
(1832–1920)
*
Anne Whitney (1821–1915)
*Antony Whitney
*
Asa Whitney
Asa Whitney (1797–1872) was a highly successful dry-goods merchant and transcontinental railroad promoter.
He was one of the first backers of an American transcontinental railway. A trip to China in 1842–44 impressed upon Whitney the nee ...
(1797–1872)
*
Asa Whitney (canal commissioner) (1791–1874)
*
Benson Whitney
Benson Kelley Whitney (born August 17, 1956 in Saint Paul, Minnesota) was the United States Ambassador to Norway from 2006 to 2009.
Early life and education
Whitney grew up in Minnesota branch of the prominent American Whitney family and is of cl ...
(born 1956)
*
Charlotte Anita Whitney (1867–1955)
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Charles Andrew Whitney (1834–1912)
*
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (1899–1992)
*
Courtney Whitney
Major General Courtney Whitney (May 20, 1897 – March 21, 1969) was a lawyer and United States Army commander during World War II who later served as a senior official during the American occupation of Japan (1945–1951). He played a major ...
(1897–1969)
*
Dorothy Payne Whitney (1887–1968)
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Edward Baldwin Whitney (1857–1911)
*
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South.
Although Whitney hi ...
(1765–1825)
**
Eli Whitney Blake
Eli Whitney Blake, Sr. (January 27, 1795 – August 18, 1886) was an American inventor, best known for his mortise lock and stone-crushing machine, the latter of which earned him a place into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Early life
Blak ...
(1795–1886), inventor
**
Eli Whitney Blake, Jr. (1836–1895), scientist
**
Eli Whitney Debevoise II (born 1953)
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Flora Payne Whitney (1897–1986)
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Whitney Tower (1923–1999)
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Flora Miller Biddle (born 1928)
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Harry Payne Whitney (1872–1930)
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Hassler Whitney (1907–1989)
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Henry Melville Whitney (1839–1923)
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James Scollay Whitney (1811–1878)
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Joan Whitney Payson (1903–1975)
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John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the ''New York Herald Tribune'', and president of the Museum of Modern Art. He was a member of the Whitney family.
Early life
Whit ...
(1905–1982)
*Josephine Whitney Duveneck (1891–1978)
*
Josiah Dwight Whitney (1819–1896)
*
Mary Watson Whitney
Mary Watson Whitney (September 11, 1847 – January 20, 1921) was an American astronomer and for 22 years the head of the Vassar Observatory where 102 scientific papers were published under her guidance.
Early life and education
Whitney w ...
(1847–1921)
*
Newel Kimball Whitney (1795–1850)
*
Orson F. Whitney (1855–1931)
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Parkhurst Whitney (1784–1862)
*
Pauline Payne Whitney
Pauline Payne Whitney Paget (March 21, 1874 – November 22, 1916), was an American heiress and a member of the prominent Whitney family.
Early life
She was born in New York City, New York, to William C. Whitney and Flora (née Payne) Whitney. ...
(1874–1916)
**
Olive, Lady Baillie
Olive, Lady Baillie (24 September 1899 – 9 September 1974) was an Anglo-American heiress, landowner and hostess. She is best known as the owner of Leeds Castle, near Maidstone, Kent, England. On her death the castle was bequeathed to a charit ...
Olive Cecilia Paget, (1899–1974), Anglo-American heiress, landowner and hostess.
**
Dorothy Wyndham Paget (1905–1960), British racehorse owner and sponsor of motor racing
*
William Payne Whitney (1876–1927)
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Phyllis Ayame Whitney (1903–2008)
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Richard Whitney (1888–1974)
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Wheelock Whitney I (1894–1957)
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Wheelock Whitney, Jr. (1926–2016)
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Wheelock Whitney III (born 1949)
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William Collins Whitney
William Collins Whitney (July 5, 1841February 2, 1904) was an American political leader and financier and a prominent descendant of the John Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration of President Grover Cl ...
(1841–1904)
*
William Dwight Whitney (1827–1894)
*
Willis Rodney Whitney
Willis Rodney Whitney (August 22, 1868 – January 9, 1958) was an American chemist and founder of the research laboratory of the General Electric Company. He is known as the "father of industrial research" in the United States for blending the wo ...
(1868–1958)
By marriage:
*
Mary Elizabeth Altemus (1906–1988)
*
Charles T. Barney
Charles Tracy Barney (January 27, 1851 – November 14, 1907) was the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, the collapse of which shortly before Barney's death sparked the Panic of 1907.
Early life
Charles T. Barney was born on January 27 ...
(1851–1907)
*
Kathleen Blatz (born 1954)
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Betsey Cushing (1908–1998)
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Henry F. Dimock (1842–1911)
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Leonard Knight Elmhirst (1893–1974)
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Helen Julia Hay (1876–1944)
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Almeric Hugh Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough (1861–1949), British industrialist and politician
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Marie Louise Schroeder (1925–2019)
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Willard Dickerman Straight
Willard Dickerman Straight (January 31, 1880 – December 1, 1918) was an American investment banker, publisher, reporter, diplomat and by marriage, a member of the very wealthy Whitney family. He was a promoter of Chinese arts and investments, an ...
(1880–1918)
**
Whitney Willard Straight (1912–1979)
**
Beatrice Whitney Straight (1914–2001)
**
Michael Whitney Straight
Michael Whitney Straight (September 1, 1916 – January 4, 2004) was an American magazine publisher, novelist, patron of the arts, a member of the prominent Whitney family, and a confessed spy for the KGB.
Early life
Straight was born in New Yor ...
(1916–2004)
*
Adeline Dutton Train (1824–1906)
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Gertrude Vanderbilt (1875–1942)
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George W. Headley (1908–1985)
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Dorothy Laverne Whitney(1930-currently)
References
{{reflist
External links
Whitney Research Group– dedicated to the scholarly research of Whitney families around the world and throughout history.
July 25, 2008 Bloodhorse.com article titled "The Whitney Handicap: a look at a treasured American family"
American families of English ancestry
Episcopalian families