Alonzo B. Whitney, who was white (he is pictured in "Family Treasures" by David D. Whitney. Lancaster, PA: The Jaques Cattell Press, see no. 4, p. 18), was Capt. of a company of negros. He was shot 12 December 1864 by a negro on the picket line near New Orleans. Apparently white officers were appointed to lead negro or "Colored" troops. This is not to say that there may not be (and probably are) some Black Whitneys. In this case, however, my guess would be that since these were officers, they were _not_ colored. On Thu, 25 Jan 2001, W. WHITNEY wrote: > On pages 1006 and 1007 in Phoenix, some of the > male children of Bennet Whitney and Susan Curtis > are officers in the "U.S. Colored Troops". Does this > mean that they were colored themselves or were > officers of the day all white. > > If they were colored, with whom did this line start ? > > No offense meant, just curious. > > Bill Whitney > > > Karl Schwerin SnailMail: Dept. of Anthropology Univ. of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131 e-mail: schwerin@unm.edu Cultural anthropology...is valuable because it is constantly rediscovering the normal. Edward Sapir (1949:151)

Hello Karl, There is at least one and probably more black Whitney families in Washington, D.C. and environs. Basketball fans will remember Charles "Hawkeye" Whitney, a product of D.C. who went on to star in the Atlantic Coast Conference, where he played basketball, I believe for N.C. State. Ken Whitney Silver Spring, MD ----- Original Message ----- From: karl h schwerin <schwerin@unm.edu> To: <WHITNEY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, January 26, 2001 8:44 AM Subject: Re: [WHITNEY-L] Question > Alonzo B. Whitney, who was white (he is pictured in "Family Treasures" by > David D. Whitney. Lancaster, PA: The Jaques Cattell Press, see no. 4, p. > 18), was Capt. of a company of negros. He was shot 12 December 1864 by a > negro on the picket line near New Orleans. > > Apparently white officers were appointed to lead negro or "Colored" > troops. This is not to say that there may not be (and probably are) some > Black Whitneys. In this case, however, my guess would be that since these > were officers, they were _not_ colored. > > On Thu, 25 Jan 2001, W. WHITNEY wrote: > > > On pages 1006 and 1007 in Phoenix, some of the > > male children of Bennet Whitney and Susan Curtis > > are officers in the "U.S. Colored Troops". Does this > > mean that they were colored themselves or were > > officers of the day all white. > > > > If they were colored, with whom did this line start ? > > > > No offense meant, just curious. > > > > Bill Whitney > > > > > > > > Karl Schwerin SnailMail: Dept. of Anthropology > Univ. of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131 > e-mail: schwerin@unm.edu > > Cultural anthropology...is valuable because it is constantly rediscovering > the normal. Edward Sapir (1949:151) > > ______________________________