William C. Whitney
Encyclopedia
William Collins Whitney (July 5, 1841 - February 2, 1904) was an American political leader and financier
and founder of the prominent Whitney family
. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first Cleveland
administration from 1885 through 1889. A conservative reformer, he was considered a Bourbon Democrat.
of Puritan
stock. The family were descended from John Whitney of London, who settled at Watertown, Massachusetts
, in 1635. William Whitney's father was Brigadier General James Scollay Whitney
; his mother, Laurinda Collins, was a descendant of Plymouth governor William Bradford. William Whitney had a well known older brother, industrialist Henry Melville Whitney
(1839–1923), president of the Metropolitan Steamship Company
, founder of the West End Street Railway Company of Boston, and later founder of the Dominion Coal Company and Dominion Iron and Steel Company in Sydney, Nova Scotia
on Cape Breton Island
. His sister Lucy Collins "Lily" Whitney married Charles T. Barney
, who became the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company
. Another sister, Susan Collins Whitney, married Henry F. Dimock
.
Educated at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Massachusetts, Whitney was graduated from Yale University
in 1863, where he was a member of Skull and Bones
, and then studied law at Harvard
. He left in 1864 to study law with Abraham R. Lawrence in New York City
, and in 1865 was admitted to the bar.
On October 13, 1869, he married Flora Payne, daughter of Senator Henry B. Payne
of Ohio
and a sister of Whitney's Yale classmate, Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne
, later treasurer of the Standard Oil Company. The Whitneys had five children:
Flora Payne Whitney died in 1894 at age fifty-two. Two years later, William Whitney remarried to Edith Randolph. In 1898, she suffered a horse riding accident and died at age forty-one on May 6, 1899.
County Democracy of 1871-1890. In 1872 he was made inspector of schools, but the same year met defeat in the election for district attorney.
From 1875 to 1882 he was corporation counsel of New York
, and as such brought about a codification of the laws relating to the city, and successfully contested a large part of certain claims, largely fraudulent, against the city, amounting to about $20 million, and a heritage from the Boss Tweed
regime. In 1882 he resigned to attend to personal interests.
In 1883, through the Broadway Railroad Company, Whitney became involved in a struggle with Jacob Sharp and Thomas Fortune Ryan
for the Broadway
street-railway franchise. Sharp initially won the franchise by means of bribery, but in December 1884 Ryan formed an alliance with Whitney and Peter A.B. Widener
. By arousing public opinion, instituting court action, and prompting legislative investigation, they defeated Sharp. The Ryan syndicate finally received the franchise in 1886.
During President Cleveland
's first administration (1885–1889), Whitney was United States Secretary of the Navy
and did much to develop the United States Navy
. The contracts issued under the previous administration were investigated impartially by a committee appointed by Whitney and comprising Commodore Evans, Commodore Belknap and Herman Winter, chief engineer of the Metropolitan Steamship Company
. Whitney promoted the adoption by industry of the technology needed for the construction of steel steamships and modern naval guns and the domestic manufacture of plate armor. He also reorganized the finances and logistics of the Navy Department and helped make the Naval War College
a success.
When Whitney left office in 1889, steel vessels completed or under construction included the armored cruiser (later battleship) ; monitors Puritan, Amphitrite, Monadnock, Terror and Miantonomoh; protected cruisers Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Newark, Charleston, , Philadelphia, and San Francisco; dynamite-gun cruiser ; dispatch vessel Dolphin; gunboats , , and ; and torpedo boat Cushing. These constituted the nucleus of the "New Navy"
During Whitney's four years in the cabinet, his home in Washington, D.C.
, was a social center of great attraction. In 1888 Yale conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D.
Whitney joined Charles T. Barney
, Henry F. Dimock
, W.E.D. Stokes, Francis W. Jenks, and others in forming the New York Loan and Improvement Company in 1890. This concern developed the Washington Heights
section of New York City. Barney was president of the company when he died in 1907, three years after Whitney.
In opposition to Tammany, Whitney was instrumental in bringing about the third nomination of Cleveland in 1892, and took an influential part in the ensuing presidential campaign.
Whitney joined his brother Henry in organizing the Dominion Coal Company Ltd. in 1893 and the Dominion Iron and Steel Company Ltd. in 1899 to exploit the mineral resources of the Sydney district
of Cape Breton Island
. Other early investors included Henry F. Dimock
, Almeric H. Paget and Charles T. Barney
.
In the next general election, in 1896, disapproving of the "free-silver
" agitation, Whitney refused to support his party's candidate, William Jennings Bryan
.
race horses, competing against the successful stable of business associate, James R. Keene
. At his vast summer estate near Old Westbury
on Long Island
, Whitney built an 800 feet (243.8 m) stable with 84 box stalls and an adjoining mile-long training track. At the turn of the century, in the United States his horses were trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
inductee John W. Rogers and in England by John Huggins.
Whitney also spent time in the equestrian community of Aiken, South Carolina
revamping a local cottage into a winter residence with 69-rooms, 15 bathrooms, a full-size ballroom and a stable to house 30 horses. His involvement in Aiken along with that of Thomas Hitchcock
, the Vanderbilt family
, the Astor family
and other equestrian minded business associates helped establish Aiken's premier "Winter Colony". Aiken remains a haven where horses are brought in from the north to train and enjoy a more temperate winter.
He was the breeder of twenty-six American stakes winners, including the great filly
Artful
from his stallion
Hamburg
. On June 5, 1901, Whitney won England's Derby
with Volodyovski
, leased by him from Lady Valerie Meux. On October 24, 1903, the New York Times reported that W. C. Whitney had entered into a ten-year lease deal with A. J. Alexander for one thousand acres (4 km²) of the Wood Stud farm
property at Spring Station, Kentucky
. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B05E2DC1039E333A25757C2A9669D946297D6CF
Whitney was a member of Ward McAllister
's Patriarch Society until its dissolution in April 1897. After Flora's death on February 5, 1893, Whitney married a widow named married Edith Sibyl Randolph (née May). He commissioned McKim, Mead and White to build for her a residence in the Italian Renaissance style at Fifth Avenue and 68th Street. She died in a riding accident on May 6, 1899.
At his residence, 871 Fifth Avenue, Whitney gave a debutante
ball for his niece, Helen Barney, on January 5, 1901.
He remained active in street-railway affairs until the reorganization of the Metropolitan Street Railway Company in 1902. At that time he retired from all personal identification with the company.
William Collins Whitney died on February 2, 1904, and was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery
in The Bronx
, New York
.
The USS Whitney (AD-4)
was named in his honor when launched on October 12, 1923 at the Boston Navy Yard
. The William C. Whitney Wilderness Area
of the Adirondack Park is also named in his honor.
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
and founder of the prominent Whitney family
Whitney family
The Whitney family is an American family notable for their social prominence, wealth, business enterprises and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635.-Rise to prominence:...
. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
administration from 1885 through 1889. A conservative reformer, he was considered a Bourbon Democrat.
Early life
William Whitney was born at Conway, MassachusettsConway, Massachusetts
Conway is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,809 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
of Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
stock. The family were descended from John Whitney of London, who settled at Watertown, Massachusetts
Watertown, Massachusetts
The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,915 at the 2010 census.- History :Archeological evidence suggests that Watertown was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from England...
, in 1635. William Whitney's father was Brigadier General James Scollay Whitney
James Scollay Whitney
James Scollay Whitney was an American business executive and politician. He was the father of Henry Melville Whitney and William Collins Whitney, founders of the Whitney family business interests....
; his mother, Laurinda Collins, was a descendant of Plymouth governor William Bradford. William Whitney had a well known older brother, industrialist Henry Melville Whitney
Henry Melville Whitney
Henry Melville Whitney was an American industrialist, the founder of the West End Street Railway Company of Boston, Massachusetts, and later the Dominion Coal Company Ltd. and the Dominion Iron and Steel Company Ltd. of Sydney, Nova Scotia...
(1839–1923), president of the Metropolitan Steamship Company
Metropolitan Steamship Company
The Metropolitan Steamship Company was for 75 years one of the chief transportation links between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts. It was closely associated with the Whitney family until its acquisition by Charles W. Morse in 1906...
, founder of the West End Street Railway Company of Boston, and later founder of the Dominion Coal Company and Dominion Iron and Steel Company in Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
on Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
. His sister Lucy Collins "Lily" Whitney married Charles T. Barney
Charles T. Barney
Charles Tracy Barney was the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, the collapse of which shortly before Barney's death sparked the Panic of 1907.-Early life and marriage:...
, who became the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company
Knickerbocker Trust Company
The Knickerbocker Trust, chartered in 1884 by Frederick G. Eldridge, a friend and classmate of financier J.P. Morgan, figured at one time among the largest banks in the United States and a central player in the Panic of 1907. As a trust company, its main business was serving as trustee for...
. Another sister, Susan Collins Whitney, married Henry F. Dimock
Henry F. Dimock
Henry F. Dimock was a lawyer in New York City who was closely associated with the Whitney family business interests.Dimock was born in South Coventry, Connecticut, the son of Timothy and Laura F. Dimock...
.
Educated at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Massachusetts, Whitney was graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1863, where he was a member of Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
, and then studied law at Harvard
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. He left in 1864 to study law with Abraham R. Lawrence in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and in 1865 was admitted to the bar.
On October 13, 1869, he married Flora Payne, daughter of Senator Henry B. Payne
Henry B. Payne
Henry B. Payne was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served in both houses of the United States Congress....
of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and a sister of Whitney's Yale classmate, Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne
Oliver Hazard Payne
Oliver Hazard Payne was an American businessman, organizer of the American Tobacco trust, and assisted with the formation of U.S. Steel, and was affiliated with Standard Oil. He is considered one of the 100 wealthiest Americans, having left an enormous fortune. His estate at Esopus, New York,...
, later treasurer of the Standard Oil Company. The Whitneys had five children:
- Harry Payne WhitneyHarry Payne WhitneyHarry Payne Whitney was an American businessman, thoroughbred horsebreeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family.- Early years :...
(1872–1930) - Pauline Payne WhitneyPauline Payne WhitneyPauline Payne Whitney , was an American heiress and a member of the prominent Whitney family.She was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of William C. Whitney and Flora Whitney...
(1874–1916) - married Almeric Hugh Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough - (William) Payne Whitney (1876–1927)
- Oliver Whitney (1878–1883)
- Dorothy Payne WhitneyDorothy Payne WhitneyDorothy Payne Whitney was an American-born social activist and philanthropist and a member of the prominent Whitney family.-Biography:...
(1887–1968) - married (1) Willard Dickerman Straight; (2) Leonard Knight Elmhirst
Flora Payne Whitney died in 1894 at age fifty-two. Two years later, William Whitney remarried to Edith Randolph. In 1898, she suffered a horse riding accident and died at age forty-one on May 6, 1899.
Political career
Whitney was active in organizing the Young Men's Democratic Club in 1871. He was an aggressive opponent of the Tweed Ring, and was actively allied with the anti-TammanyTammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
County Democracy of 1871-1890. In 1872 he was made inspector of schools, but the same year met defeat in the election for district attorney.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and as such brought about a codification of the laws relating to the city, and successfully contested a large part of certain claims, largely fraudulent, against the city, amounting to about $20 million, and a heritage from the Boss Tweed
Boss Tweed
William Magear Tweed – often erroneously referred to as William Marcy Tweed , and widely known as "Boss" Tweed – was an American politician most notable for being the "boss" of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th century...
regime. In 1882 he resigned to attend to personal interests.
In 1883, through the Broadway Railroad Company, Whitney became involved in a struggle with Jacob Sharp and Thomas Fortune Ryan
Thomas Fortune Ryan
Thomas Fortune Ryan was a U.S. tobacco and transport magnate. Part of his fortune paid for the construction of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond, Virginia.-Early days:...
for the Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
street-railway franchise. Sharp initially won the franchise by means of bribery, but in December 1884 Ryan formed an alliance with Whitney and Peter A.B. Widener
Peter Arrell Brown Widener
Peter Arrell Brown Widener was an American businessman and head of the prominent Widener family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Biography:...
. By arousing public opinion, instituting court action, and prompting legislative investigation, they defeated Sharp. The Ryan syndicate finally received the franchise in 1886.
During President Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
's first administration (1885–1889), Whitney was United States Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
and did much to develop the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. The contracts issued under the previous administration were investigated impartially by a committee appointed by Whitney and comprising Commodore Evans, Commodore Belknap and Herman Winter, chief engineer of the Metropolitan Steamship Company
Metropolitan Steamship Company
The Metropolitan Steamship Company was for 75 years one of the chief transportation links between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts. It was closely associated with the Whitney family until its acquisition by Charles W. Morse in 1906...
. Whitney promoted the adoption by industry of the technology needed for the construction of steel steamships and modern naval guns and the domestic manufacture of plate armor. He also reorganized the finances and logistics of the Navy Department and helped make the Naval War College
Naval War College
The Naval War College is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. The college is located on the grounds of Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island...
a success.
When Whitney left office in 1889, steel vessels completed or under construction included the armored cruiser (later battleship) ; monitors Puritan, Amphitrite, Monadnock, Terror and Miantonomoh; protected cruisers Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Newark, Charleston, , Philadelphia, and San Francisco; dynamite-gun cruiser ; dispatch vessel Dolphin; gunboats , , and ; and torpedo boat Cushing. These constituted the nucleus of the "New Navy"
During Whitney's four years in the cabinet, his home in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, was a social center of great attraction. In 1888 Yale conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D.
Whitney joined Charles T. Barney
Charles T. Barney
Charles Tracy Barney was the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, the collapse of which shortly before Barney's death sparked the Panic of 1907.-Early life and marriage:...
, Henry F. Dimock
Henry F. Dimock
Henry F. Dimock was a lawyer in New York City who was closely associated with the Whitney family business interests.Dimock was born in South Coventry, Connecticut, the son of Timothy and Laura F. Dimock...
, W.E.D. Stokes, Francis W. Jenks, and others in forming the New York Loan and Improvement Company in 1890. This concern developed the Washington Heights
Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
section of New York City. Barney was president of the company when he died in 1907, three years after Whitney.
In opposition to Tammany, Whitney was instrumental in bringing about the third nomination of Cleveland in 1892, and took an influential part in the ensuing presidential campaign.
Whitney joined his brother Henry in organizing the Dominion Coal Company Ltd. in 1893 and the Dominion Iron and Steel Company Ltd. in 1899 to exploit the mineral resources of the Sydney district
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
of Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
. Other early investors included Henry F. Dimock
Henry F. Dimock
Henry F. Dimock was a lawyer in New York City who was closely associated with the Whitney family business interests.Dimock was born in South Coventry, Connecticut, the son of Timothy and Laura F. Dimock...
, Almeric H. Paget and Charles T. Barney
Charles T. Barney
Charles Tracy Barney was the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, the collapse of which shortly before Barney's death sparked the Panic of 1907.-Early life and marriage:...
.
In the next general election, in 1896, disapproving of the "free-silver
Free Silver
Free Silver was an important United States political policy issue in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Its advocates were in favor of an inflationary monetary policy using the "free coinage of silver" as opposed to the less inflationary Gold Standard; its supporters were called...
" agitation, Whitney refused to support his party's candidate, William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
.
Thoroughbred horse racing
William Whitney was also a major investor in thoroughbred horse racing, hiring the best trainers, buying the best horses, and engaging the services of the best jockey of the day. He established Westbury Stable with a string of ThoroughbredThoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
race horses, competing against the successful stable of business associate, James R. Keene
James R. Keene
James Robert Keene was a Wall Street stock broker and a major thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.-Biography:He was born in London, England in 1838. He was fourteen years of age when his family emigrated to the United States in 1852...
. At his vast summer estate near Old Westbury
Old Westbury, New York
Old Westbury is a village in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village population was 4,671....
on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, Whitney built an 800 feet (243.8 m) stable with 84 box stalls and an adjoining mile-long training track. At the turn of the century, in the United States his horses were trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
inductee John W. Rogers and in England by John Huggins.
Whitney also spent time in the equestrian community of Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken is a city in and the county seat of Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. With Augusta, Georgia, it is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. It is part of the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area. Aiken is home to the University of South...
revamping a local cottage into a winter residence with 69-rooms, 15 bathrooms, a full-size ballroom and a stable to house 30 horses. His involvement in Aiken along with that of Thomas Hitchcock
Thomas Hitchcock
-References:...
, the Vanderbilt family
Vanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin prominent during the Gilded Age. It started off with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy...
, the Astor family
Astor family
The Astor family is a Anglo-American business family of German descent notable for their prominence in business, society, and politics.-Founding family members:...
and other equestrian minded business associates helped establish Aiken's premier "Winter Colony". Aiken remains a haven where horses are brought in from the north to train and enjoy a more temperate winter.
He was the breeder of twenty-six American stakes winners, including the great filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
Artful
Artful (horse)
Artful was born at the Westbury Stable at Old Westbury on Long Island into a prominent racing family begun in 1898 by William Collins Whitney. The Whitney family remain to this day a leading name in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing....
from his stallion
Stallion
A Stallion is a male horse.Stallion may also refer to:* Stallion , an American pop rock group* Stallion , a figure in the Gobot toyline* Stallion , a character in the console role-playing game series...
Hamburg
Hamburg (horse)
Hamburg was an American Thoroughbred race horse bred in Kentucky by James E. Kittson, brother to Norman W. Kittson who had been partners in Erdenheim Stud. His sire was the great Hanover by another great, Hindoo....
. On June 5, 1901, Whitney won England's Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
with Volodyovski
Volodyovski
Volodyovski was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He was owned and bred by Lady Valerie Meux who leased him for racing to Lord William Leslie de la Poer Beresford but after he died in late 1900, she re-leased the colt to the wealthy American businessman, William Collins Whitney.In 1901,...
, leased by him from Lady Valerie Meux. On October 24, 1903, the New York Times reported that W. C. Whitney had entered into a ten-year lease deal with A. J. Alexander for one thousand acres (4 km²) of the Wood Stud farm
Woodburn Stud
Woodburn Stud was an American horse breeding farm located in Woodford County, Kentucky about ten miles from the city of Lexington. It was established in the 18th century as an original land grant property of General Hugh Mercer to whom it had been granted for his military services during the...
property at Spring Station, Kentucky
Spring Station, Kentucky
Spring Station, Kentucky is a village in the northern part of Woodford County, Kentucky located approximately three miles west of Midway. The area is believed to have been settled during the early part of the 19th century and it became a station stop on the Lexington and Ohio Railroad line when it...
. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B05E2DC1039E333A25757C2A9669D946297D6CF
Later life
Ward McAllister
Samuel Ward McAllister was the self-appointed arbiter of New York society from the 1860s to the early 1890s.-Life and career:...
's Patriarch Society until its dissolution in April 1897. After Flora's death on February 5, 1893, Whitney married a widow named married Edith Sibyl Randolph (née May). He commissioned McKim, Mead and White to build for her a residence in the Italian Renaissance style at Fifth Avenue and 68th Street. She died in a riding accident on May 6, 1899.
At his residence, 871 Fifth Avenue, Whitney gave a debutante
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...
ball for his niece, Helen Barney, on January 5, 1901.
He remained active in street-railway affairs until the reorganization of the Metropolitan Street Railway Company in 1902. At that time he retired from all personal identification with the company.
William Collins Whitney died on February 2, 1904, and was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and is a designated National Historic Landmark.A rural cemetery located in the Bronx, it opened in 1863, in what was then southern Westchester County, in an area that was annexed to New York City in 1874.The cemetery covers more...
in The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
The USS Whitney (AD-4)
USS Whitney (AD-4)
USS Whitney was a Dobbin-class destroyer tender named for United States Secretary of the Navy William Collins Whitney. She was launched on 12 October 1923, and was commissioned on 2 September 1924. She was decommissioned on 22 October 1946, later being sold for scrap to the Dulien Ship Products...
was named in his honor when launched on October 12, 1923 at the Boston Navy Yard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
. The William C. Whitney Wilderness Area
William C. Whitney Wilderness Area
The William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, an Adirondack Park unit of New York's Forest Preserve, is located in the town of Long Lake, Hamilton County...
of the Adirondack Park is also named in his honor.
External links
- William Collins Whitney biography on the Whitney Research Group website.
- Whitney at the Naval Department