Came across this in the RootsWeb Whitney List archive: From: < _wlwhitney@statestreet.com_ (mailto:wlwhitney@statestreet.com) > Subject: [WHITNEY-L] Addition to "Whitney Places"- Whitneyville, Iowa Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 09:00:17 -0500 I am new to posting to the Whitney discussion group but I have previously used the database to confirm the research my Grandmother had passed on to me concerning my Whitney heritage (my Whitney lineage appears later in this message). I was interested in the "Whitney Places" section of the whitneygen.com website and postings in the discussion group about them. I have one to add that I don't believe has been previously mentioned. It is Whitneyville, Iowa. Whitneyville Iowa was/is (more on that later) located in Cass county Iowa in the southwestern part of the state. It developed out of my great-great-grandfather, Eseck Whitney's stagecoach stop and homestead (more on that later too). It appeared on maps of Iowa between roughly 1865 and 1887 and had a maximum population during that time of roughly 30 people. (I have several old maps showing the location of the town). In the mid-1880's the first east/west railroad line in that part of the state went through 5 miles south of Whitneyville at a later settlement called Massena. This event caused Whitneyville's demise as it's inhabitants moved to the significantly improved transportation and commerce opportunities generated by the new railroad. Whitneyville, Iowa does live on however. As part of Massena, Iowa's 150th celebration in 1986, a historical marker was placed at the site of Whitneyville noting its location and commemorating it as the first settlement in the Massena township of Cass County. For those interested here are a few more details. Eseck Whitney, his wife Nancy (Barber) Whitney and their son William S. Whitney came to Adair County, Iowa (next county east of Cass county) in 1855 from Oswego County, NY (probably the town of Granville or Mexico). They were accompanied on the journey by Eseck's cousin Franklin and Franklin's father John who also lived in Oswego County, NY. Eseck was 18 years older than cousin Franklin which was roughly the same age difference between Eseck's father, Cornelius (who did not come to Iowa) and Cornelius's brother John (father of Franklin) who did. (Cornelius and John were two of 9 children of Cornelius Whitney and Elizabeth (May) Whitney. At some point in his life the elder Cornelius moved to Oswego County, NY from Killingly, Connecticut where he was born (this lineage info (and more) is in a summary of my Whitney lineage at the end of this message)). After spending the winter in Adair County, the Whitney party moved west roughly 20 miles into Cass County becoming the first settlers there. Eseck's family (he, Nancy and son William) found work operating the Sears Stagecoach stop which had been recently established to serve stagecoach traffic between DesMoines, Iowa and Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. Sears hired them to "temporarily" operate the stop while he left in an attempt to find his wife who had run off with a stagecoach driver!! Sears never returned and Eseck eventually bought up roughly 40 acres of land around the stagecoach stop and established a homestead and general store around which the small town of Whitneyville developed. The money to buy the land and establish the store had come from a brief 18 month foray in the early 1860's to Colorado where he prospected for gold until he had enough money to return and purchase land and establish the store as he wished. Cousin Franklin, who also originally settled in Cass county later moved further west and was involved in establishing the town of Atlantic, Iowa. Franklin (or his descendants) founded the Whitney Bank in Atlantic which existed as an independent bank until it was eventually merged out of existence in the mid 1980's. I hope folks found this of some interest. My Whitney lineage (confirmed thanks to the Whitney db) flows from John and Elinor who came to Watertown, MA in 1635 to Joshua (first child of John and Elinor's born in America) to Cornelius (born in Groton, MA) to Mathias (birthplace unknown) to Cornelius (born in Killingly, CN) to Cornelius (born in Granville, NY) to Eseck (likely born in either Granville or Mexico, NY) to William S. Whitney (probably born Mexico, NY) to Leon Whitney (born WHITNEYVILLE, IOWA) to Lloyd Whitney (born Massena, Iowa) to William L. Whitney (me, born in MA, raised in Iowa, living in MA). Note to RL Ward: I have most, if not all, the lineage history from Eseck Whitney forward (and some for Franklin Whitney as well). The Whitney DB stops with Eseck. Would these additional generations be worth adding? Let me know if you think they would. Best regards, Bill Whitney, _wlwhitney@statestreet.com_ (mailto:wlwhitney@statestreet.com) ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour