Prominent Whitakers in History
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Alexander WHITAKER (1585-1617): Alexander WHITAKER received a liberal education. At the age of 19, in 1604, he received a Master of Arts degree at St. John’s College, Cambridge. He was received into the ministry and was given a good parish in the northern part of England. He was happily settled, had property and a good reputation. Upon hearing the appeals that came from the Virginia Colony “as a wailing cry from his own brethren for help - - - all the more persuasive for the fascinating doom of danger and pain for Christ’s sake...” He sailed from Land’s End, March 27, 1611, with the Starr, the Prosperous and the Elizabeth. Sir Thomas DALE was the leader of this voyage. The 300 men that sailed on that voyage were classed as “honest, sufficient artificers,” men of skill by trades that could be used in the new world. Rev. Alexander WHITAKER came at this time as one of the ministers.
The voyage ended May 22, 1611, at Point Comfort, Virginia Colony. In the early part of September, 1611, Sir Thomas DALE, 350 men and Rev. WHITAKER left Jamestown and pushed up the James River. HENRICO (Henricopolis) was founded by this group. Among the earliest buildings was a brick church. Sir Dale founded a second settlement at the western angle of the junction of the Appomattox with the James and called it Bermuda Hundred. Rev. WHITAKER, who pastored both of these settlements, established his residence at Coxendale, midway between the two parishes.
“POCAHONTAS, the Indian princess, lived a year in honored captivity in charge of Sir Thomas Dale and the Rev. WHITAKER, being carefully instructed and fashioned to piety and civility, a docile pupil; she confessed faith of Jesus Christ, was baptized by WHITAKER.” In April 1614 Rev. WHITAKER performed the marriage ceremony of POCAHONTAS and John ROLFE. Rev. WHITAKER wrote GOOD NEWS FROM VIRGINIA, published in 1613. It was the first work in English written on American soil. William Crashawe wrote the dedication for the work. Rev. WHITAKER died in 1617 while crossing the James river. He is remembered in the history of our young country as ‘the Apostle of Virginia.’
Source: From the Genealogical Research compiled by Grace & Hubert Hunt Jr. from "(The) Whitaker Family, A Goodly Heritage," 1973.
Jonathan WHITAKER (circa 1690-circa bef. October 14, 1763): Jonathan WHITAKER was born in Wiltshire, England and came to America in 1720, settling first at Sharon, MA, and removing soon thereafter to Huntington, Long Island (New York), where he married Elizabeth JERVIS. They had eight children: Elizabeth, Jonathan, Sarah, Isaac, Nathaniel, Eliphalet, Mary and Phebe. Jonathan WHITAKER was listed as being one of the associate proprietors of Elizabethtown, New Jersey prior to moving and settling permanently in Somerset county New Jersey sometime before 1752. On December 19, 1752, he took title of two tracts of land located on both sides of the Mine Brook in Somerset county. In his will, Jonathan WHITAKER willed that "seven per ct. be taken of the whole and applied to the following use, viz., to assist in supporting a missionary to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ among the Indians, but if no committee is appointed for that purpose nor mission carryd on in the term of five years, then it is my will and I do order that the said sum with the interest thereof be paid to the Rev. Mr. Wheelock in Conectecot (Connecticut) in New England, to be by him applied to the education of Indian children, but if that school should cease then I give and bequeath the same to the College of Nassa hall in Prince Town in New Jersey for the education of Indian scholars..."
Nathaniel
WHITAKER (1730-1795): Of the children of Jonathan and Elizabeth Whitaker
their son, Nathaniel, attained the greatest personal distinction. He studied at
the college of New Jersey (which later became Princeton University) and was
graduated in September, 1752. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New York in
1753. On December 10, 1755 he was ordained and installed as pastor of the
Presbyterian church of Woodbridge, New Jersey. Four years later he was released
to become pastor of a recently organized congregation in Chelsea, near Norwich,
Connecticut, where he built a church. Here he became acquainted with Rev.
Eleazar Wheelock, then pastor of the church at Lebanon, Connecticut, and founder
of a school which grew into prominence, and later became known as More's Indian
Charity School. One of the first Indian pupils was Sampson Occum, who was later
ordained a clergyman by the Presbytery of Suffolk, Long Island (New York). The
school being in need of more funds than could be secured in the colonies an
appeal was made for help from abroad. The Rev. George Whitfield having suggested
that the presence of an Indian preacher would greatly help the project, it was
determined to send Occum to Great Britain, and Nathaniel Whitaker was selected
to accompany him. In order to secure the proper authentication Nathaniel
Whitaker traveled long distances and obtained the signatures of many prominent
men... Of his character, his colleagues of the day wrote "...The Rev. Mr.
Nathaniel Whitaker is well known by us, and accordingly received as a man of
good understanding and learning, of probity and piety, one of good ministerial
gifts and of very happy furniture for public service..." "...and he stands in a
good light in our view and esteem of him, both to his natural and ministerial
character, we heartily recommend him." Nathaniel Whitaker and Sampson Occum
sailed from Boston on December 23, 1765, and arrived in London on February 6,
1766. Travelling all over England and Scotland, they presented their cause, and
raised a total of £21,500. Nathaniel Whitaker received a Doctor of Divinity
from St. Andrews University while in Scotland. He did not return to America for
two and a half years.
A year after he returned to America, Nathaniel Whitaker became pastor of a church in Salem, Massachusetts, where he remained for fifteen years until 1784. Following a fire that destroyed the church, Nathaniel Whitaker built a church patterned after Whitfield's in London. This new church was called the Tabernacle. During the American Revolution, Nathaniel was an ardent patriot, preaching two sermons dedicated to George Washington. Nathaniel Whitaker was called to a pastorate in Norregwock, Maine where he built his third church. His final pastorate took him to Hampton, Virginia where he died in 1795 at sixty five years of age.
Source: Voorhees, Oscar M., D.D. "The Whitaker Family of Somerset County New Jersey" in Somerset County (New Jersey) Historical Quarterly, Ed. A. Van Doren Honeyman (Vol. II), pp. 98-109.
Whitaker,
Dr. Lester Ray, Surgeon, was born at Conway N.H., December 20, 1891, son of
John Fowler and Emma Jane (Pinkham) Whitaker and a descendent of Jonathan
Whitaker, who came from Wiltshire, England, in 1720, settling first at Sharon,
Massachusetts, and later at Huntington, (Long Island) New York. From Jonathan
Whitaker and his wife Elizabeth Jervis the descent is through Nathaniel and
Sarah (Smith) Whitaker; Nathaniel and Catharine (Pattie) Whitaker; Nathaniel and
Rebecca (Wiley) Whitaker, and Wilbur Fiske and Cordelia (Charles) Whitaker who
were the grandparents of the surgeon. Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker, son of the
immigrant was a friend of Rev. Eleazer Wheelock and went to England in 1765,
accompanied by the Indian preacher Samson Occom, to obtain funds for Wheelock's
Indian Charity School, the future Dartmouth College. Lester R. Whitaker received
his academic education at the University of New Hampshire (1909-1910) and Boston
University (1915-17), after which he spent two years in the U.S. Army Medical
Corps. Until the end of the World War he was stationed at Camp Devens,
Massachusetts, where he worked in the X-ray department and the medical wards and
later in pathological laboratory, engaged in the study of the bacteriology of
influenza. After the war he entered Harvard Medical School where he was
graduated in M.D. in 1923. A surgical internship at the New Haven (Conn.)
Hospital in 1923-24 was followed by an appointment as Arthur Tracy Cabot Fellow
in charge of the laboratory for surgical research at Harvard Medical School
under Dr. Harvey Cushing and during 1925-27 he was assistant resident surgeon at
the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, also under Dr. Cushing. The following
year was spent at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
as National Research Council fellow in medicine. Since 1928 he has been engaged
in the practice of surgery in Boston, his work being limited to consultation and
surgery of the abdomen, with special interest in the biliary and
gastro-intestinal systems. He also practices at Portsmouth, N.H., where he has a
branch office. Dr. Whitaker has conducted research of the physiology and
pathology of the gall-bladder and the diagnosis and treatment of its diseases.
He was one of the originators in 1925 of the oral method of cholecystography
(Graham test, X-ray of the gall-bladder) and has made several improvements in
both the oral and intravenous methods of the Graham test. In 1926 he invented a
method for the study of the physiology of the gall-bladder, consisting of the
injection of radiopaque iodized oil into the gall-bladder of animals exposed by
operation, then sewing up the wound allowing the animal to recover and watching
the action of the gall-bladder by X-ray after giving different kinds of foods,
drugs, and nerve stimulants. By that method it was discovered that the
gall-bladder empties its contents by way of its duct into the intestine after
ingestion of food, particularly fats. It was found that emptying is accomplished
by action of its own musculature and will occur after the of the gall-bladder
have been removed. It was also discovered that intravenous injection of highly
emulsified fats, such as egg yolk, will produce marked emptying of the
gall-bladder. Dr. Whitaker and Dr. Gibbs Milliken were the first to discover
that the human gall-bladder would empty at the ingestion of a meal, the former
being the subject of the experiment by which the discovery was made. By another
method (with Dr. Burnham Walker), that of cutting the sphincter (valve) at the
outlet of the common-bile-duct, preventing filling of the gall bladder with
bile, it was found that the normal mucoid secretions of the gall-bladder does
not contain cholesterol. In addition to the above Dr. Whitaker has made
important contributions to the study of gall-stone formation, particularly the
effect of stasis of bile in the gall-bladder. He developed electro-surgical
methods for the removal of the acutely inflamed or thickened gall-bladder,
thereby avoiding the danger of hemorrhage and damage to other organs; and with
Dr. J. Emmons Briggs devised a new method for aseptic anastomosis (joining) of
the intestine by electro-surgery. He has also invented several new surgical
instruments and minor technical procedures. Dr. Whitaker has published over
fifty medical papers. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a
member of the Boston Surgical Society, New Hampshire Surgical Club, National
Society for the Advancement of Gastroenterology, American Medical Association,
and the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Portsmouth (New Hampshire) medical
societies. He is unmarried.
Source: The National Cyclopedia of American Biography; Vol. E: 1937-38 ©1938; pp. 173-174.
Whitaker,
Charles Henry (1846-1926), merchant, was born in Toledo, Ohio on September
6, 1846, son of John Hall and Francis Elvira (GROVSNOR) Whitaker. He was a
descendent of Jonathan Whitaker, who came to America from Coventry, England, in
the first half of the eighteenth century and settled in New Jersey. From
Jonathan Whitaker and his wife Elizabeth Jervis the line descended through their
son Jonathon and his wife Mary Miller; their son Stephen and his wife Ruth
Conklin, and their son Stephen and his wife Mary Hall, grandparents of Charles
Henry Whitaker. His great grandfather, Stephen Whitaker, was a lieutenant in
Washington's army in the Revolutionary War, taking part in the battle of
Monmouth and other engagements. His father was one of the pioneer hardware
merchants of Toledo, Ohio. Owing to his mother's death, he was reared by his
grandparents in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended the public schools and was
graduated at the high school in 1865. Later, he returned to Toledo and entered
the hardware business, joining his father's firm of Whitaker & Phillips. In
1882, following his father's death, he became head of the hardware firm of
Whitaker, Haynes & Co, later Whitaker & Co., and finally, the Whitaker, Mitchell
Hardware Company. He retired from active business in 1902. Mr. Whitaker was a
member of the Sulgrave Institution, Historical Society of North-Western Ohio,
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Chamber of Commerce, Sons of the American
Revolution (president of the Anthony Wayne Chapter, one term), and the Exchange
Club of Toledo. As a member of the First Congregational Church of Toledo he took
an active interest in religious work, was a Bible class teacher and a deacon, at
the time of his death holding the office of permanent deacon, which had been
created in his honor, and also aided in the work of the Toledo council of
churches, the city mission and the Y.M.C.A. In his recreations he was fond of
music, literature, travel, and outdoor pursuits, specially gardening. In his
character and conduct Mr. Whitaker represented a high type of citizenship. He
was intensely patriotic, gave sympathetic and practical support to every worthy
public enterprise, devoted his time, energy and means to great missionary
movements, and in every relation in life was true to the loftiest standards of
morality and of honor. He was married on November 5, 1873 to Olive Stafford,
daughter of William Henry Davis, a merchant of New York City, and had two
daughters, Edith Hall and Anna Katherine Whitaker. He died in Pasadena,
California on February 5, 1926.
Source: The National Cyclopedia of American Biography; Vol. 10 ©1938; pp. 473-474
Whitaker, Ozi William (1830-aft. 1868), Fifth Protestant Episcopal
bishop of the diocese of Pennsylvania, and 94th in succession in the American
Episcopate, was born in New Salem, MA (USA), on May 10, 1830. His father,
Ira Whitaker, owned and lived upon a farm in that state. The son attended
New Salem academy until he was sixteen years of age, and his preparation
for college was completed at Brattleboro Academy. He entered the freshman
class at Amherst college in 1851 and remained there until the end of the
first term of the of the sophomore year, when he accepted a position as a
teacher in New Salem Academy. Being unable to keep up with his class at Amherst
while teaching, he decided to go to Middlebury College, Vermont, and graduated
from that institution in 1856. He was principal of the high school at Brookfield,
Massachusetts for four years. In 1860, he entered General Theological Seminary
in New York City from which he was graduated in 1863. In July of the same
year he was ordained a deacon in Grace church, Boston by the Rt. Reverend
Manton Eastburn. On account of his leaving for the missionary field of Nevada
the customary delay before ordaining to the priesthood was dispensed with,
, and he was ordained a priest in Saint Stephen's chapel, Boston, in August,
1863. He proceeded at once to Nevada and took charge of Saint John's parish,
Gold Hill, and a mission in Dayton. In 1865, he returned to New York and
married Julia Chester of that city, who has always been a most active missionary
worker with her husband. Later in the same year he went to Englewood, New
Jersey, and was Rector of Saint Paul's parish there for nearly two years.
After several urgent calls he returned to Nevada and became Rector of Saint
Paul's, Virginia City. At the general convention of 1868 he was elected missionary
bishop of Nevada and Arizona, and was consecrated at Saint George's church,
New York on October 13, 1869, by Bishop Mellwaine and others. His principal
work in his missionary jurisdiction was the establishment of the Church School
for Girls at Reno, Nevada. At a special convention held Saint Luke's church,
Philadelphia, June, 1886 he was elected assistant bishop of Pennsylvania
on the first ballot. In October he left the missionary field, where he had
labored so long and so successfully, and enter upon his duties in Pennsylvania
in November of the same year. On the death of Rt. Reverend William Bacon
Stevens, in 1887 , he became bishop of Pennsylvania, and has since held that
high office. He was appointed by the presiding bishop to the charge of the
American church missions in Cuba, and visited them in 1889. His only published
writings are a few sermons. He received the degree of D.D. from Kenyon College,
Gambier, O., in 1868.
Source: The National Cyclopedia of American Biography Vol. 3 ©1893; pp. 471-472.
Milton Clarance Whitaker 1870-1963: Chemical engineer,
was born in Frazeyseburg, Ohio, December 16, 1870, son of Reuben Barker and
Jennie (Magruder) WHITAKER, and a 5th great grandson of Richard Whitacar
(Whitaker) of London, England who came to Fenwick's Colony, Salem, New Jersey
about 1675. After receiving his preliminary education at public schools
in his native town and at the Colorado State Preparatory School in Boulder,
Milton C. WHITAKER was graduated B.S. in 1898 and M.S. in 1900 at the University
of Colorado. Meanwhile, in 1890-91 he worked as a mechanic and millwright
in the lumber mills of the Southwest. He began his teaching career as an
instructor in applied chemistry at the University of Colorado, where he taught
during 1896-98, and held a similar position for the following four years
at Columbia University. During the 1899-1902 he was also engaged in industrial
chemical work as private assistant to Charles Frederick CHANDLER. During
1910 -1916 he was professor and head of the department of chemical engineering
at Columbia University, inaugurating the first independent chemical engineering
department at the university. His career in industry began in 1902 when he
was employed as a chemist by the Welsbach Co., Gloucester, N.J., manufacturers
of gas appliances. From 1903-1910 he was general superintendent in charge
of production (at Welsbach Co.), and during 1910-1916 he served as a consulting
chemical engineer. In the last named year he became vice-president of the
U.S. Industrial Alcohol Chemical Company, New York City, and two years later
he was named president of its subsidiary, the U.S. Industrial Chemical Company,
New York City. He resigned these offices in 1927 and for the next three years
conducted a private practice as a consulting chemical engineer in New York
City. In 1930 Whitaker was appointed vice-president in charge of research
and a director of the American Cyanamid
Chemical Company, New York City, manufacturers of heavy and refined chemicals,
and he retained these offices until his retirement in 1947, continuing thereafter
until his death as a consultant to the company. While with the American Cyanamid Chemical Company,
WHITAKER was largely responsible for the consolidation of the firm's research
program into one of the most comprehensive in the industry, and through his
work in chemical research he was instrumental in the development of sulfadiazine
and its various related compounds. He held some 60 U.S. patents, the most
important of which were for production of a protective container for gas-light
mantles; a method of storage of acetylene water soluble coffee extract; and
apparatus used in the manufacture of gas; and processes for removing nickel
from hydrogenated fat or oil, for treating resinous woods, and for obtaining
potassium compounds. In addition to this business interest, he was at various
times a director of the Ruberoid Company, and the Jefferson Chemical Company,
New York City. The editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
during 1911-16, WHITAKER was also consulting editor for Chemical Markets
(later Chemical Industries) from 1926 to 1933. Further, he was the author
of many articles, including those on such subjects as the production and
application of rare earths, the decomposition of hydrocarbons and the influence
of hydrogen in carbureted water-gas manufacturing, chemical utilization of
southern pine waste, and the comparative study of the thermal decomposition
of coal and of some of the products of its carbonization. During the First
World War he was a member of the advisory board of the 2nd chemical warfare
procurement district of the Chemical Warfare Service. In the Second World
War he cooperated with the Manhattan Engineer District in the production
of the Atomic Bomb. He was also a referee on the board of the chemical branch
of the War Production Board. For his achievements in the field of chemistry
he was the recipient of a number of awards, among which were the Perkin Medal
of the Society of Chemical Industry in 1923, Chandler Medal of Columbia University
in 1950, and Founders Award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
in 1960, and he was honored in 1955 by the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers (pres. 1914), American Institute of Chemists, American Chemical
Society, the Society of Chemical Industry, American Association for the Advancement
of Science, Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Psi, Tau Beta Pi, and
the Chemists' and Rockefeller Luncheon Clubs of New York City. In politics,
he was an independent. He was married twice: (1) in Denver, Colorado, July
9, 1900 to Mabel, daughter of Rueben MARTIN of that city, and by this marriage
had two sons, John Martin WHITAKER, and Robert Martin WHITAKER; his first
wife died in 1932; (2) in Stamford, Connecticut, June 16, 1934 to Frances
(STRADER) CULVER, daughter of George Henry STRADER of Greenville, South Carolina,
and former wife of John Kennicott CULVER. Milton C. WHITAKER died in Cecil
County Maryland on April 2, 1963.
Source: The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 50, ©1968; pp. 314-315.
Edward Washburn Whitaker was born June 15, 1841 in Killingly, (Windham
County) Connecticut. He was the son of George Whitaker and Mary (Colgrove)
Whitaker. Edward was one of sixteen children (eight brothers and seven
sisters). He was educated in the public schools in Ashford, Connecticut
and in an Academy in Olneyvill, Rhode Island. Edward is a descendent
of Richard Whitaker and Rebecca (Cooper) Whitaker of Rehoboth, MA.
Edward's great grandfather was Lieutenant Richard Whitaker, an officer in
the Revolutionary War. Edward was one of four brothers who enlisted
in the Union Regiments in the Civil War. Edward and Daniel enlisted
together in Connecticut (Click here to view Edward Whitaker's Military biograph)
or New York regiments, William in a New Hampshire regiment, and George enlisted
in a California unit and served in New Mexico. Daniel Whitaker, 1st.
Lt., Co. B, 2nd New York Cavalry was killed in action at Aldie, Virginia
on June 17, 1863. Edward was a 2nd Lt. in the same Company at the time
of his brother Daniel's death. Edward fought in 82 engagements during
the course of the war. He was slightly wounded at Falling Waters, Maryland
by shrapnel. While running at a gallop at Five Forks, Virginia, his
horse fell on him and caused him to have a life long groin and back injury.
Edward was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Reams
Station, Virginia on June 29, 1864. At the age of 24, he was the youngest
General in the War of the Rebellion. The Citation for Edward Washburn
Whitaker reads: "For most distinguished gallantry in action at Reams Station,
Virginia, June 29, 1864, this officer, then Captain, 1st Connecticut Volunteer
Cavalry, in command of a troop, hearing of an expressed wish of the General
in command to get information to General Meade through the line of the enemy,
volunteered to carry the dispatches. In the most distinguished manner
he forced his way through an infantry division of the enemy and delivered
the dispatches to General Meade, but lost half his escort in the desperate
ride."
In his History of the First Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Cavalry, Bvt.
Brig. General Erastus Blakeslee writes of Edward Whitaker: "Captain Whitaker
of the First Connecticut Cavalry, on Wilson's staff, was dispatched to General
Meade for succor. With forty men of the Third New York, he dashed through
the enemy's lines and reached headquarters with fourteen men and two prisoners.
But it was too late. Wilson burnt his ammunition and baggage wagons,
left his ambulances, spiked his guns and retreated in hot haste." December
19th-22nd 1864: the regiment, temporarily under Major Whitaker, marched with
the division 120 miles in four extremely cold days. gallantly repulsed a
fierce nigh attack in an ice covered bivouac at Lazy Springs, and returned
to camp with fifty frost-bitten men; and on February 4th-5th, 1865, fifty
picked men of the regiment with 250 others from the division, all under the
same officer, then on Custer's staff, marched over the Alleghenies to within
four miles of Moorefield, 140 miles in forty-eight hours, half within the
enemy's lines, and capturing the noted Harry Gilmore in bed, brought him
back a prisoner. "The enemy were strongly posted on a ridge with artillery.
They must be dislodged. The First Connecticut and two other regiments
were assigned to Lieutenant-Coloniel Whitaker for this purpose. They
were secretly put on the rebel left flank and dismounted in mud knee deep.
An ice storm prevailed and the shells crashed fearfully through the ice covered
trees. The flanking party, the First Connecticut, led by Major Goodwin,
being on the right, charged with great enthusiasm at the same time the division
advanced; the enemy broke, and 1,303 prisoners, 150 wagons eleven guns and
eighteen battle flags were ours won wholly by Custer's division... "On the
9th of April, 1865, Sheridan saw that the end was near. He had cut
off the enemy's way of retreat and was just advancing to a grand final charge.
A flag of truce appeared asking a cessation of hostilities. Under it
Lieutenant Colonel Whitaker of the First Connecticut, Custer's chief of Staff,
entered the rebel lines, and with General Longstreet (acting at Lee's request),
made the negotiation which stopped the fighting. Soon after, the regiment
itself was detailed to escort General Grant when he went to receive Lee's
surrender."
During the Civil War, Edward and his brother Daniel had written 83 letters
to their sister, Adeline (Whitaker) James and their mother. The letters
were donated to the Connecticut State Library on September 4, 1934 by Adleline
James. One June 7, 1865, Edward Whitaker married Theodosia Davis in
Washington, D.C. They had at least three children: Clara B. b. 1866; Thea
B. b. 1868; and Grace B. b. 1870. Four of Edward Whitaker's sisters
became teachers in the south after the Civil War. After the war, Edward was
appointed Superintendent of the U.S. Capitol Building, and later (1869) Postmaster
of Hartford, Connecticut, a position he was appointed to by President Ulysses
S. Grant. He was an insurance agent and a patent attorney in his later
years, living in Washington, D.C. He was disabled most of his life by a heart
condition brought on by Malaria he contracted shortly after the battle of
Gettysburg. Edward died on July 30, 1922 and was buried in section
3 of Arlington National Cemetery. His wife Theodosia who died on January
3, 1937 is buried with him.
Sources: Decker, Theresa-Babcock Library, Ashford, Connecticut; Metsack, Barbara-Town of Ashford, Connecticut and Bob Whitaker-West Haven, Connecticut. Text Excerpts: History of Windham County (Connecticut); "History of the First Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Cavalry" by Bvt. Brig. General Erastus Blakeslee.
Epher Whitaker (1820-1916): Clergyman, was born
in Fairfield, Cumberland County New Jersey on March 27, 1820, son of Reuel
and Sara (Westcott) Whitaker, and a descendent of Richard Whitacar (Whitaker)
of London, England who came to Fenwick's Colony, Salem, New Jersey about
1675. Richard was one of the Council of Proprietors, and continued
in this office until the formation of the provincial government; from him
and his wife Elizabeth (Provoe) Adkin, the line of descent is traced through
their son Nathaniel and his wife, Mary Abbott Dixon; their son, Ambrose and
his wife, Freelove Stratton; and their son, Nathaniel, and his wife Lydia
(?) Whitaker, who were the grandparents of our subject. His maternal
great grandfathers, Samuel Westcott and Jeremiah Bennett, were captains in
the Revolutionary War and his maternal grandfather, John Westcott , was an
officer in the War of 1812. Epher Whitaker lived on his father's farm
and attended the public schools until he was fifteen years of age, then entered
the office, in Bridgeton, New Jersey, of the "West Jersey Observer," which
was soon after united with the "Washington Whig," and published under the
name of "Bridgeton Chronicle." He remained in this printing office eight
years, with the exception of six months, in 1841, when he was employed in
the office of the "Norfolk and Portsmouth Daily Herald," of Virginia.
In his nineteenth year he was admitted to full communion in the Second Presbyterian
Church of Bridgeton, New Jersey, which church had been recently organized,
and he was the first person admitted to its membership on confession of faith.
He was graduated at Delaware College with honors in 1847, and at the union
Theological Seminary, in 1851, and in September of that year was installed
pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Southold, Long Island (New York).
His pastoral service at this church continued until the beginning of 1892,
when he became pastor emeritus. At the time of the Civil War he wrote
a brief biography of Lieutenant Edward F. Huntting, who fell in the battle
of Olustee; of this pamphlet, entitled, "Ready for Duty," many thousand copies
were distributed among the soldiers. In 1865 he published a volume
of addresses and sermons. As the Southold Church was formed October
21, 1640, it is one of the oldest in the United States, and Dr. Whitaker
named his first volume, "New fruits from an Old Field." In 1880 he
delivered an elaborate historical address at the bi-centennial anniversary
of the organization of the church in Fairfield, New Jersey, and the centennial
of their stone house of worship, and the address was printed in octavo form.
The following year he published the "History of Southold: Its first Century
from 1640-1740." During the subsequent years he superintended the printing
of the Town Records of Southold, in two volumes, made for a hundred and fifty
years from 1651 onward. In 1883 he published a sketch of Suffolk county
and proposed a public celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of its
formation, delivering also an address at the celebration. He proposed
the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the formation
of the town and the church of Southold, was chairman of the joint committee
and executive committee appointed to superintend the preparations, and edited
and wrote a part of the octavo volume of 220 pages containing the proceedings
of the celebration. He also collected about $800 and erected a granite
monument on the site of the first meeting house to commemorate the founders
of the town and church. In 1894 he published "Leaves of All Seasons;
Hymns and other Verses," including translations from eminent French and German
poets. Among the historical pamphlets which he wrote are the following:
"New Haven Colony's Adventure on the Delaware Bay"; "The American Union of
Church and State"; "Early Presbyterianism on Long Island"; "The Growth of
Suffolk County"; "The Last Fifty Years of Suffolk County." He was moderator
of the Synod of New York and New Jersey in 1860, and of the Synod of Long
Island in 1871. He was a contributor of historical and biographical
articles to various cyclopedias, including "Encyclopedia Britannica."
Dr. Whitaker was an honorary member of the New Haven Colony Historical Society,
was prominent in the organization of the Suffolk County Historical Society,
of which he was vice-president from its organization until his death; was
councilor of the Long Island Historical Society, and a corresponding member
of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. For forty-seven
years he was stated clerk of the Presbytery of Long Island. During
his pastorate Dr. Whitaker served as member of the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian church in the United States at its annual sessions in 1853-57-60-64-69-75-88.
He received degrees of A.B., A.M. and D.D. from Delaware College, and the
honorary degree of A.M. from Yale College in 1867. After forty years
of diligent and successful service in the pastorate of the historic First
Church of Southold he retired. He was often called "Suffolk's first
Citizen." In 1915, in his ninety sixth year, he took a prominent part
in the celebration of the 275th anniversary of the formation of the town
and church of Southold. He was married January 28, 1852, to Hanna
Maria, daughter of William Burton Force, of Hanover New Jersey.
Of this union four children were born: William;
Sara; Martha and E. Bertha Whitaker. He died at Southold, Long Island
(New York) on September 1, 1916.
William Force Whitaker (1853-1916): Clergyman,
was born at Southold, Long Island (New York), May 6, 1853, son of
Rev.
Epher and Hanna Maria FORCE Whitaker, and a descendent
of Richard Whitacar (Whitaker) of London, England who came to Fenwick's Colony,
Salem, New Jersey about 1675. William F. Whitaker was prepared for
college at the Southhold Academy; was graduated at the head of his class
at the University of Pennsylvania in 1873, and at the Union Theological Seminary,
New York City in 1876, when Pennsylvania conferred upon him the honorary
degree of A.M. Entering the Presbytery of Long Island, he became acting pastor
at Bridgehapmton, New York and in 1877 was chosen first pastor of St. Cloud
Presbyterian Church, Orange, New Jersey, his call being written by General
George McClellan, one of the officers of the church. In 1894, he was
called to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church of Albany, New York,
which was founded in 1763. The Albany pastorate, like Orange pastorate,
was very successful, and while in that field Dr. Whitaker aroused the people
of the capital city to a greater appreciation of the lives of patriots, and
a sense of responsibility for permanent records. There were many accessions
to the church, and friendships were formed that were enduring. In Albany,
during 1898-1908, he was chaplain of the Philip Livingston chapter, Sons
of the Revolution, and was active in the movement to erect the memorial in
Washington Park to Colonel Marinus Willett, and in other measures to preserve
the memory of the noted persons and historic places. In 1907 he was
called to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth, New
Jersey, and he entered upon his new duties with zest and ability. This
church was founded in 1664, and when the City of Elizabeth, and this church,
in 1914, celebrated the 250th anniversary of their formation, the memorable
success of the celebration was due in a very large degree to Dr. Whitaker’s
personal interest and energetic work. He appreciated the fact that
a surprisingly large number of men from this church were officers in the
Revolutionary army, and with rare enthusiasm and great patience he gathered
many historical fragments of local interest and enriched the church with
a treasury of mementos and of priceless material which will inspire larger
appreciation of the historic past, and incite to greater patriotic devotion
in the future. It is an interesting coincidence that he was connected
in his boyhood with the oldest church for English speaking people in the
state of New York, and in his last pastorate with the oldest one founded,
in English, in the state of New Jersey. Perhaps no other religious
society in the land took a bolder and nobler stand for American independence
than this colonial church of Elizabeth, having in its membership William
Livingston, Elias Boudinot, Elias Dayton, Francis Barber, and other prominent
statesmen and soldiers, and Abraham Clark, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence. This church probably sent more men and officers into
the colonial army, in proportion to its size, than almost any other one in
the country, and Dr. Whitaker found time for the collation of records and
for investigation concerning the details of the services rendered to the
country by men and women who had been enrolled in the membership of the church.
Dr. Whitaker served as commissioner in the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in 1886, 1892, and 1896; was vice-moderator of the New York Synod
in 1897; was stated clerk of the Presbytery of Morris and Orange County,
New Jersey, for many years; and also permanent clerk of the New Jersey Synod.
He was member of the board of directors of the Union Theological Seminary
form 1894 until his death, and a commissioner of Auburn Theological Seminary
from 1901 to 1906. During 1911-1913 he was vice president of the Board
of Church Erection of the Presbyterian Church, and in 1913-1915 was chaplain
general of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
He was also a member of the Suffolk County Historical Society and of the
Phi Beta Kappa college fraternity. He spent much time in travel, and
was the author of “Swiss Travel” (1889); “Southold Centuries” (1890); and
“The Debt of the United States to France” (1902). A scholar from his
college days, he won the senior prize in Greek’ delivered the Latin Salutatory
at commencement in 1876, and was a conspicuous member of his class, and the
leader of the Glee Club. He was a gifted orator. He was ever
in demand as a speaker upon occasions where loyalty and broad patriotism
could be exalted. His many patriotic addresses in different cities
before various societies were in a high degree memorable. The life
of young people was dear to his thought and heart, and in the highest and
noblest sense he was a minister, ministering constantly and unselfishly to
all the people. In his entire service he never forgot those who had
claim upon his time, and thought, and strength, and love. In all things
he was “a workman who needed not to be ashamed.” The degree of D.D.
was conferred upon him by Union College in 1899. He was unmarried.
He died in Elizabeth, New Jersey on July 9, 1916.
Source: The American Cyclopedia of American Biography; Vol. XVII p. 237.
Douglas Merritt Whitaker Mar. 5, 1904-Oct. 5, 1973, educator
and biologist, was born in Stanford, CA Mar. 5, 1904, son of Albert Conser
and Mary Elizabeth (Merritt) Whitaker, grandson of John H. and Maude Lowric
(Conser) Whitaker, and great-grandson of Albert Pauling Whitaker. His father
was an educator and economist. Douglas M. Whitaker received his preliminary
education at Stanford University elementary school and at Palo Alto (Calif.)
Union High School and was graduated B.A. in 1926 and Ph.D. in 1928 at Stanford
University. He did postgraduate work at Columbia University in 1927 and was
a National Research Council fellow at Harvard University during 1929-30. Meanwhile,
he was an assistant to the geologist at Associated Oil Co., Oil Center, CA.,
in 1922 and did research at the Tortugas Laboratory, Key West, FL., of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C., during the summer of 1926. During
1928-29 he was an instructor in physiology at Stanford. He was named assistant
professor of experimental zoology at Columbia University in 1929 and, following
a leave of absence during 1929-30, he served in that capacity until 1931.
In the last-named year he returned to Stanford as an associate professor
of biology and the following year was advanced to professor, the post he
held until 1955. He also served the university as dean of the School of Biological
Sciences during 1946-48, acting vice-president in 1948, dean of the Graduate
Division during 1948-51, dean of the faculty of humanities and sciences during
1951-52, and provost during 1952-55. He was appointed vice-president of Rockefeller
University, New York City, in 1955 and continued in that capacity until his
retirement in 1964. Whitaker?s research work in the fields of experimental
embryology and cell physiology included the measurement of metabolic changes
such as the rate of oxygen consumption, electrical voltage, and temperature
differences in fertilized and unfertilized ova, and the effects of light,
dyes, electricity, and chemicals on the development of eggs of marine life
(animals and plants). His work contributed to the knowledge of the nature
of fertilization, the changes taking place in an egg at the time of fertilization,
and the factors involved in determining organ formation in a developing embryo.
In 1944, during the Second World War, under a contract with the subcommittee
on aviation medicine of the committee on medical research of the Office of
Scientific Research and Development, he conducted research on bubble formation
in decompressed animals. Besides his major professional assignments, Whitaker
was an instructor in embryology at the Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratory,
Falmouth, MA., in the summer of 1938, and in 1945 took a leave from Stanford
to serve as chief of the science section of the Shrivenham American University
of the U.S. Army in England. In the summer of 1947 he was a biologist with
the U.S. Army-Navy expedition in the Pacific to determine the effects of radiation
fallout on marine and animal life following the experimental atomic bomb
explosions on the Bikini Atoll. These studies indicated that lower forms
of plant and animal life were able to tolerate greater quantities of radiation
than humans. Whitaker also worked at various times with the National Research
Council, which was organized in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson to promote
research in the natural sciences; he served as executive secretary of its
division of biology and agriculture during 1943-44, chairman of the division
of biology of the committee on growth which awarded funds for the American
Cancer Society in 1949, chairman of the committee to award Atomic Energy
Commission postdoctoral fellowships in biological sciences in 1949, member
of the committee on human reproduction in 1951, and full time chairman of
the National Research Council during 1950-51, while on a leave of absence
from Stanford. In addition to his principal professional interests, he was
a member of the corporation and board of directors of Annual Reviews, Inc.,
during 1950-54, and a consultant to the United Fruit Co. in 1957. Whitaker
was on the editorial boards of a number of scientific publications, including
Biological Bulletin, during1944-54; Journal of Experimental Zoology, during
1946-63; Journal of Morphology, during 1946-49; Growth, during 1939-49; Acta
Anatomica and Survey of Progress Biology, at different times; and Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, in 1950, He also served Freeman and
Company, San Francisco, CA, a publishing house, in an editorial capacity
for a time after 1956. He was the author of ‘The Actions and Effects of Alcohol
upon the Lower Organisms and the Single Cell,” a chapter of the book ‘Alcohol
and Man” (1932). At the end of the Second World War he published papers recounting
his work on bubble formation in animals subjected. to decompression, and
among them were those written with others and published in the Journal of
General Physiology in 1945: “Muscular Activity and Bubble Formation in Animals
Decompressed to Simulated Altitudes,” “Carbon Dioxide as a Facilitating Agent
in the Initiation and Growth of Buhbles in Animals Decompressed to Simulated
Altitudes,” “The Relation of Exercise to Bubble Formation in Animals Decompressed
to Sea Level from High Barometric Pressures,” and “Additional Mechanisms
for the Origin of Bubbles in Animals Decompressed to. Simulated Altitudes.”
Other of his papers were ‘On the Rate of Oxygen Consumption by Fertilized
and Unfertilized Eggs. V. Comparisons and Interpretations” (Jour. Gen. Physiol.,
Jan. 1933), “Determination of Polarity by Centrifuging Eggs of Fucus Furcatus”
(Biol. Bull., Oct. 1937), “The Effects of Hydrogen Ion Concentration upon
the Induction of Polarity in Fucus Eggs. III Gradients of Hydrogen Ion Concentration”
(Jour. Gen. Physiol., July 1938), ‘Physical Factors of Growth” (Growth Supplement,
1940), and “Counteracting the Retarding and Inhibitory Effects of Strong
Ultraviolet on Fucus Eggs by White Light” (Jour. Gen. Physiol., Jan. 1942)
Whitaker was a consultant to a conference sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation
and the U.S. Military Government on the development of biological sciences
in German universities in 1949, a director of the Stanford Research Institute
during 1949-55, a member of the advisory board of the National Foundation
for Infantile Paralysis during 1949-60, and director of a National Academy
of Science study in a science policy survey for the U.S. Department of State
during 1949-50. He also was a member of the fellowship board of the Oak Ridge
(Tenn.) Institute for Nuclear Studies during 195154, a trustee of the Bermuda
Biological Station during 1957-64 and a member of its science service during
1958-64, a member of the corporation of the Woods Hole Marine Biological
Laboratory, Falmouth, MA., for a time, and a member of the science advisory
board of the Felt Research Institute, Yellow Springs, Ohio, during 1961-64.
He served the National Science Foundation as chairman of its divisional committee
on biological science during 1951-53 and of its divisional committee on scientific
personnel and education during 1953-54 and as a director during 1954-60.
He was a fellow of the National Research Council and the American Association
for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Association of
University Professors, American Genetics Association, American Society of
Naturalists, American Society of Zoologists (pres. 1950-51), Society for
Experimental Biology and Medicine, Western Society of Naturalists, Sigma
Xi, Stanford Faculty Club, and the Bohemian Club of San Francisco. In politics
he was an independent, in earlier years he found recreation in mountain climbing
and fishing in the Sierra Nevada. His interest in travel was enhanced by
his interest in geology, topography, ethnology, botany, and history. He was
married in Falmouth, Aug. 2, 1928, to Edith Sampson, daughter of Thomas Hunt
and Lilian Vaughan (Sampson) Morgan of Pasadena, CA., and had two children:
Nancy Morgan, who married (1) Giles Mead and (2) Stephen Mahoney; and Douglas
Hunt, who married Evelyn Maestas Douglas M. Whitaker died in San Antonio,
Tex,, Oct. 5, 1973.
Source: National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 41, pp. 489-490.
