Welcome to my small corner of the internet!  I've intended to set up my blog and start sharing things I find as I navigate through historical records and documents in the process of researching my family history (and others).  This blog will focus on people, places and landmarks I encounter that seem to have been deleted from our current telling of history or were never famous in the first place.

Speaking of fame, it's great, but there are many interesting and worthwhile roads to follow in genealogy and history that have never made the history books or even the phone directory.

As I go along, I'll interject my understanding of current events, place history and context in order to help the subject of the post "come alive" (or at least a bit more).

So, having said that, here's my  first post:

Dr. Henry J. Whitney

Frontier Physician - Davenport, Washington

Born:    October 1847, Erie County, Pennsylvania

Died:     February 6, 1940, Washington Veterans Home, Kitsap County, Washington

Birth and Early Years

Dr. Henry J. Whitney was a practicing physician in Eastern and Central Washington.  He was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, on October 29, 1847, to William Gage Whitney and Martha Miranda (Pettis) Whitney.  [1]Dr. Whitney served in Co. F of the 211^th Pennsylvania Infantry, as a Private between September 17, 1864, and June 2, 1865. Following the civil war, Henry returned to the family farm Henry eventually made his way to the West,  [2]appearing in California voter registration records in 1876 as a druggist in Buckeye, Yolo County, California. Dr. Whitney migrated at some point between 1876 and 1878 to San Francisco, where he completed his schooling at California Medical College in San Francisco prior to 1880, at which point he migrated north, settling in [3]Jackson County, Oregon, for a time, where he worked as a nursery man in Table Rock. 

Medical Career

By 1882, Dr. Whitney had [4] settled in Cheney, Washington, establishing a medical practice covering a large area, bordered by Ritzville, Washington, to the south, Spokane and Cheney Washington to the East, Okanogan, Washington to the West and the Columbia River to the North.   In 1886, he relocated to Cottonwood Springs, Washington, then Davenport, Washington. 

Personal Life

Dr. Whitney appears in the 1870 Census for Erie County, Pennsylvania, living with his parents and single. Between 1870 and 1885, however, Dr. Whitney married as he indicates that he was married in Washington territorial census records taken in 1885, 1887 and again in 1889.  Dr. Whitney’s second marriage was to [5]H. (Hettie) Josephine Soverin (Sodereign) Wright (born August 1858, Illinois) in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Josephine was previously married to [6]Edward Wright (born 1845) in Ravenna, Portage County, Ohio, with whom she had one son, [7]Dott (Denham) F. Wright, in 1878, who accompanied Josephine to the West Coast and rose to the level of Superior Court Judge in Thurston County, Washington, in the early 1900’s.

  

Davenport, Washington

H.J. Whitney Home, 5th & Logan, Davenport

Dr. Whitney came to Davenport in 1886 and was the first physician to locate in the city, according to his obituary published in the Davenport newspaper in 1940. He operated a drug store and practiced medicine in Davenport until 1909.    [8]Dr. Whitney also was heavily involved in real estate investments throughout Eastern Washington, and had holdings in the Cashmere Valley, Davenport and other areas of Washington State. During his days in Davenport, Dr. Whitney was highly respected and became fairly wealthy through management of investments and business ventures, including his medical practice and pharmacy. 

Dr. Whitney was a member of the first board of trade organized in Davenport in 1889. He was a charter member of the G.A.R. post in Davenport, and was a member and active worker in the Masonic Lodge for many years. He was the Vice President of the first volunteer fire department organized in Davenport in May 1893.

Birdseye View, Davenport, WA, about 1908, H.J Whitney home, lower left

Above - Birdseye View of Davenport, Washington, about 1908; Whitney home at lower right, Logan & 5th Streets, Davenport, Washington.  The photo appears to have been taken from the court house, also on Logan Street. While residing in Davenport, Dr. Whitney constructed a fine brick home located across the street from the Lincoln County Courthouse.  In late 1908, Dr. Whitney announced his intention to retire, [9]advertising his home for sale in the November 1908 issue of The Coast Magazine (also known as Wilhelm’s Magazine). Reports in the Leavenworth Echo newspaper, Leavenworth, Washington, at the time indicated Dr. Whitney planned to move to Cashmere, Washington, where he had land holdings and a large fruit farm.

Cashmere, Washington - Retirement

Dr. Whitney and his wife lived in Cashmere, Washington, between 1909 and about 1915.  The [10]1910 U.S. Federal Census shows the Dr. and his wife living on Cottage Avenue in Cashmere, Washington.  A local newspaper, the Leavenworth Echo, indicated Dr. Whitney intended to be an orchardist and it appears he did so for a few years and also continued to conduct real estate transactions on an ongoing basis, owning a large amount of property in Cashmere.

Olympia, Washington and Long Beach, California – Final Years

Dr. Whitney and his wife lived in Cashmere until about 1915, when they moved to Olympia, Washington, where Dr. Whitney also practiced medicine.  The couple owned property in Long Beach, California, and Glendale, California, and appear to have split their time between both locations. [11]In the 1920 census, the couple is shown living at 1459 East Broadway Street in Long Beach, California, with Josephine’s mother, Caroline Udell, who is listed as 90 years old.  Henry and his wife Hettie Josephine Whitney lived in Olympia until Henry was moved to the State Veteran’s Home in Kitsap County, Washington, in 1938, where he later died in 1940.

Next up, H. Josephine Whitney, medical doctor...

---

[1] Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs, Veteran’s Home – Restil, Member Files, Washington Digital Archives

[2] Listed in the “Great Register of Yolo County”, 1867 – 1890, California Voter Registration, 1876, Yolo County, California, No. 6717, Registered October 5, 1876.

[3] 1880 Federal Census, Table Rock Precinct, Jackson County, Oregon, page 20, line 36, household number 177, indicating “single”.

[4] The Wenatchee Daily World, Wenatchee, Washington, November 28, 1908, page 1

[5] Find-a-Grave, Josephine Sodereign Whitney memorial, Washington Veterans Home Cemetery, Retsil, Kitsap County, Washington, died Febuary 17, 1941.

[6] Federal Census, 1880, Windham township, Portage County, Ohio, page 10, line 21, household 99, living with Edward and D.T., born in 1878.

[7] Dott is found living in Davenport, Washington, with Josephine and Henry Whitney in the 1900 Federal Census, Davenport, Lincoln County, Washington, sheet 3, household 53.

[8] Leavenworth Echo, Leavenworth, Washington, 1908 through 1915, Library of Congress, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/.

[9] The Coast (Wilhelm’s) Magazine, Seattle, Washington, November 1908, page 100 - 101

[10] 1910 Federal Census, Voting District 28, Cashmere, Chelan, Washington, April 10 & 18, 1910, page 217, lines 26 & 27.

[11] 1920 Federal Census, Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California, sheet No. 3B (page 6 of 43, Ancestry.com), line No. 60, household #54.