Whittaker

My Whittaker Connection

My father was Arthur Davis Whittaker, son of Frederick Nassau Whittaker and Mary Hoomes Davis.  Frederick N. Whittaker was the son of Arthur Whittaker, who emigrated from Ireland in 1848 with his father, another Arthur Whittaker.

The Whittaker Line

My primary reference for the early Whittaker history is “Salt of the Earth,” by Florence A. Fee, published in August 1975.  In this book, Mrs. Fee asserts that the Whittaker family can be traced back to Ireland, but only so far back.  It is said that they are of English stock, but it is not know from what part of England they may have come.  Their beliefs were Puritan, and against the “Devine Right of Kings,” and thus were supporters of Cromwell during the English Civil War.  For their support, three Whittaker brothers were allegedly awarded property in Ireland in Carlow and Queen’s Counties where one of them maintained a mill.  Here they remained, names unknown to us, until the year 1789 when the veil of obscurity parted for us to glimpse a slice of history and some names.
History passed down from one generation to another provides us with the story of family tragedy, when the mill was burned and the family killed by Irish Rebels during the 1789 rebellion.  The owner of the mill was possibly named Andrew Whittaker.  One of his brothers, James lived near Abbeyleix in Queen’s County; the third brother, Arthur (or Edward) Whittaker lived in Abbeyleix as the understeward of the manor.  Arthur (or Edward) is thought ot have been born somewhere around 1760 and his date of death is unknown.  He was married twice, although the names of his wives have been lost to history.  By his first wife, he had one son and three daughters.  His second wife bore him another son.

Children of Arthur (Edward) Whittaker:
Arthur Whittaker b. 1787 or 1789
Elizabeth Whittaker
Nancy Whittaker
Martha Whittaker
John Whittaker (half brother) b. 1810

Arthur, the elder son of Arthur/Edward received an education, enabling him to become a school master.  There are indications that he set up and academy for “the education of gentelemen’s sons” at Abbeyleix.  He was married either three or four times, having children with three wives.  This Arthur (b. 1789) was my Great-great Grandfather.

Children of Arthur Whittaker and Ann Case:
Kitty b. 1812, died in infancy
Martha Mathilda b. 25 Dec 1813 at Abbeyleix
Richard b. 1816 at Abbeyleix
John b. 1817 at Abbeyleix

Children of Arthur Whittaker and Susan Carter Pearson:
Susan b. 1821 or 1822 at Abbeyleix
Ann b. 1824 at Abbeyleix

Children af Arthur Whittaker and Sarah Lawlor:
Joseph b. 1827 at Abbeyleix
Arthur b. 1825 at Abbeyleix
Amelia (Emily) b 1829 at Abbeyleix
Samuel b 6 Nov 1831 at Abbeyleix
Sarah b 5 Sep 1832 at Abbeyleix

My Great-great Grandfather, Arthur Whittaker (1789), and his family emigrated from Ireland in 1848 to escape the potato famine, taking passage on S/S Sultan and arriving in New York City on 29 June 1848.  Arthur became sick on the voyage, contracting “ship’s fever,” a malady we now know as typhus.  He died shortly after arrival in New York, leaving his wife and several children to make their way in the new world.  His son, also named Arthur(b. 1825), was my Great Grandfather.  Arthur moved to Ontario, Canada and established a home there for some time, marrying Mary Thomas and starting a family. 

Children of Arthur Whittaker and Mary Thomas:
Emily (Emma) b. Artemesia Township, Ontario, Canada
Mary Ann Lawlor (Laura) b. Artemesia Township, Ontario, Canada
Martha Charlotte (Lotte) b. Artemesia Township, Ontario, Canada
George b. Artemesia Township, Ontario, Canada
James Richard b. Artemesia Township, Ontario, Canada
Edward b. Artemesia Township, Ontario, Canada
Charles b. Artemesia Township, Ontario, Canada
Frederick Nassau b. March 1875 in Artemesia Township, Ontario, Canada
Herbert b. Artemesia Township, Ontario, Canada

In 1884 or 1885, Arthur and some of his sons moved into the Dakota Territory and established a farming homestead in Bowdle, South Dakota.  During this time, Arthur sought and was granted citizenship in the United States, completing his naturalization in 1893.  At some point around 1900, the family left their farm in South Dakota and moved to Bon Accord, Canada, taking all their possessions including farm equipment with them.  There they built a log cabin home and lived their until Arthur and Mary died.

Frederick N. Whittaker, son of Arthur, had obtained a job as a clerk in Fargo, ND when the Spanish-American War broke out.  He volunteered for duty with the First Regiment of North Dakota Volunteers and was enlisted on 3 May 1898.  He very soon found himself mustered into Company “A” and packed aboard S/S VALENCIA bound for the Philippines (with a brief stop in Hawaii).  He arrived in Manila with the regiment on 31 July, 1898.  The regiment was assigned to General Arthur MacArthur’s brigade.  Fred Whittaker served in Manila during the campaign against the Spanish, participating in the Block House 14 battle as well as the Battle of Manila. After the conclusion of the war with Spain, he saw service in several battles and skirmishes during the Philippine Insurrection.  On 23 July, 1899 he was appointed Corporal.  After the Volunteers were replaced by regular U. S. Army troops, he returned to San Francisco with the rest of the regiment and was mustered out of service on 25 September, 1899.

Fred Whittaker then attended a YMCA college in Chicago to complete his formal education and proceeded to find work teaching in Mexico.  He was working in Monterrey, Mexico when he met a beautiful Rosebud Society teacher from Virginia, Mary Hoomes Davis.  After a courtship in Mexico and Virginia, they were married on 6 June, 1912 at the bride’s cousin’s home, Cabinford, in Hague, Virginia.  In fact, the bride’s cousin, Rev. George William Beale, performed the marriage ceremony.

Fred and Mary Whittaker continued their work with the YMCA in Mexico, until things got too hot for them.  Barely a year after their marriage, their first son was born in Tampico, Mexico as they were departing to escape revolution: Arthur Davis Whittaker, 13 June, 1913.  Family lore includes a story of Mary putting her new son in an empty bathtub to shield him from bullets that might stray into their home.  They soon left Mexico and returned to visit family in Virginia and Canada while Fred pursued his next assignment.
Fred and Mary Whittaker had three children:
Arthur Davis Whittaker (1913-1997)
Frederick Nassau Whittaker, Jr. (1916 – 2000)
Charlotte Virginia Whittaker (1918 – 1921)

More to come…