Hi, Zerah was born in Newtown, Conn. on June 10, 1784 and died in Bradley, Michigan January 15, 1873. Whitneyville is now nothing more than a road, about 15 miles southeast of Grand Rapids. Zerah's father was James Whitney, b. Conn. August 10, 1753, d. Newtown, Conn. 5/21/1841; m. Eunice Johnson 8/13/1777. I don't know whether any of this line (Zerah's siblings -- James & Eunice had 12 children) lived in Maine, but James' father Samuel was born in Stratford, Conn. 12/13/1727; his father, also a Samuel, was born in Mass., baptized 7/1687 in Weston, Mass. and died in Stratford, Conn. 12/6/1753. Zerah moved from Conn. to New York, then (1838) to Michigan. My g-grandfather, Abraham Johnson Whitney, moved to Michigan in 1836, two years before his father and brothers. Since he would've been only 16 (born 1820) at that time, and because my great-grandmother's scrapbook included an obituary notice of someone named Alvord, from Genesee County, New York -- who "came to Michigan with his father in 1836..." and who married a Louisa Mizner (Zerah's oldest, a daughter Ruth Ann, married a Jonathan Misener), I'm guessing A.J. traveled ahead with relatives, family friends and in-laws. Zerah's youngest, Martin, would have been only 3 years old in 1836, 5 years old in 1838, so that may have been a factor in his waiting two years. It seems as though quite a few Whitney families settled in different parts of Michigan, including the upper peninsula, and although most would likely be descendants of John and Elinor, I have no idea if they knew each other. It would be really interesting to know whether the various Whitney families were in contact by the early 1800s, wouldn't it? Merry