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The
Christopher R. Whitmore Family
Data
and Photographs
contributed by:
John Sharp
Christopher
Rohrer Whitmore was raised in (In an age of idiosyncratic
spelling his family name is also spelled Whitmer, Whitmon
and Whitmor.)Venango County, PA and moved to Cherry Grove
Illinois in 1866 then to
Iowa in 1876 and finally
settled
near Central City Nebraska in abt 1885. Like many others
who made the great western migration, Christopher R.Whitmore
was motivated by a sense of adventure, he was also looking
for
more land to farm as he had to support his ever
growing
family (by the 1870 census he had 11 living children).
Christopher
Rohrer Whitmore was born in Venango County, PA, 9 March
1817 and died July 11, 1895 at Central City, Nebraska.
When Christopher was born, James Monroe was President of
the United States (1817-1825) and former Presidents,
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were very much alive. The
United
States was still less then fifty years old and
a
young county. The American Revolution and the
War of 1812
were vivid and living memories for many of the
citizens of Venango
County. In 1817, the United States
consisted of just
twenty states. That same year, Illinois was still a territory
and Iowa
and Nebraska was
largely the domain of Native Americans.
Christopher
was the third child of Jacob Whitmore and Catherine Rohrer.
(Catherine’s maiden name is not
clear; as two of
her
sons have Rohrer as a middle name it would appear likely
that Rohrer was her family
name.) Christopher’s father,
Jacob
Whitmore, was a Pennsylvania farmer and like many 19th century
tillers
of the soil was intent on making his land
productive.
Jacob Whitmore, was also was ever ready to move
about in
search of better land. These two traits he would pass
on to his sons and especially so to Christopher.
We know
little of Christopher’s early life except that he was raised
on the
family farm and learned how to
work the land from his father
Jacob. From later records we know that Christopher was literate
and that he
prized learning. Christopher’s parents, Jacob
and Catherine were devout and religious people and both
active
members of the Mt. Zion Lutheran Church.
Christopher
married Mary Kieler, about 1838 and by the time of the 1850
census, they were residing in
Beaver Township,
Clarion
County PA. The census enumerator for 1850 recorded Christopher
Whitmore
(The name is here spelled Whitman.)
family
consisted of:
From
the census, we know that Christopher and his spouse Mary
Kieler farmed a small tract of land as the
total value of
their
property was listed as $ 300.00. The couple’s life together
was not an easy one, they had earlier been touched by tragedy
when in 1841, their first two children John and Simon, had
died in May
of that year. In the first half of the 19th
century,
infant mortality in the United States was an all too common
occurrence. The death rate for U.S. children under five
in 1850 was one in five. The most likely cause of
John and
Simon’s death was the Yellow Fever epidemic that struck
large
parts of the Pennsylvania and
the nation that year.
The
1860 census reflected two important changes. Christopher
had remarried, his 1st wife, Mary Kieler,
must have died
ABT
1857, perhaps in childbirth although there is no record
documenting the date or cause
of her death. On 18 January
1858 Christopher
remarried his new wife was Charlotte Caroline Keener.
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Charlotte Caroline Keener
March
02,
1830
-
March
25,
1907
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Charlotte
must have been a remarkable women for at the age
of 28 she had taken on a family of motherless children ranging
in age from Thomas Jefferson age 16 to Edgar age 5. The
couple
would have seven more children by their marriage (Seven
children was about the average number of children for a
married
couple
in the first part of the 19th century). By 1860 Christopher
had also grown more prosperous he was now
farming
land
worth $ 5,000.00 and had move moved to the township of President
in Venango County.
In 1860 President Twp was
but
a small township in the northwestern part of the state.
The family farm
was in a section which had belonged to the
Iroquois people.
Christopher
age 41
Caroline
age
30
Thomas
age
18
Lovina
age
16
Francis
age
14
George
W. age 12
Benjamin
age
9
Edgar
age
7
Jessie
age
1
The
Whitmore family farm was now valued at $ 5,000.00 Thomas
and George most likely helped their father
with the farm.
Lovina,
Francis, George Benjamin and Edgar were in the village school
that year. Surviving documentation reflects that the Whitmore
family prized literacy and encouraged practical education.
Chesterfield was living with grandparents Jacob and
Catherine
Whitmore in Licking Township (about 25
miles distance).
He may have been placed with them after the death of his
mother Mary and rejoined his
father and stepmother shortly
afterwards. Karen Stafford speculates (Correctly, I think)
that
"Mary
Keiler Whitmore died during or soon after giving birth to
Warren Chesterfield. Warren was born
in September 1857
and
Christopher was remarried to Caroline Keener in January
1858. Christopher
would have needed a mother for his children
ASAP.
The youngest, Warren , was with his grandparents,
Jacob
and Catherine Whitmore in the 1860 census, leading me to
further
speculate that:
A.
The baby
was sick
B.
That Christopher
couldn’t care for an infant or that
C.
Catherine couldn’t
care for
the infant when she was soon pregnant with her own first
child
born in November 1858.”
After
the Civil War Christopher and Charlotte decided to try their
luck and move to Illinois where land
was more readily available and
the new Homestead Act and railroad subsidization of land
purchases made immigration attractive.
We have documentation
where
the Illinois State Archives lists returning Civil War veteran
Christian
Yordy Jr., as married to Christopher’s daughter
Francis Whitmore on October 16, 1866. Francis and
Christian
Yordy had two children by their marriage:
The
Whitmore’s arrival in Cherry Grove was soon followed by
a funeral and another wedding. Their
near neighbors
were the
Christian Yordy family and the Whitmore and Yordy’s rapidly
became close
friends. Christian Yordy’s had moved
his family
to Illinois prior to the Civil War and by the time
Christopher
and his ever growing brood arrived the Yordy’s were well
established
and most likely
helped the Christopher and Charlotte settle
in. The two families had much in common the Yordy
and
Whitmore families were farmers, both came from Pennsylvania
and soon they were connected
through marriage (Christian
Yordy
to Francis Susella Whitmore and George Washington Whitmore
to Barbara Ann Yordy).
Thomas
Jefferson Whitmore died on 14 July 1867 he was buried by
his grieving family in Shannon
Twp’s .Shelly Cemetery.
On
his headstone in that small cemetery is the simple inscription:
For
more on T.J. Whitmore and George W. Whitmore, see:
http://genealogytrails.com/ill/carroll/carrollcemshellyphotos.html#2005w
For
his fellow Civil War veterans this short summary said volumes.
Though only 24 years old at the time
of his death,
Thomas
Jefferson had led a life filled with excitement and danger.
“TJ” as he was known,
had survived the Civil War and
over
three years of hard fighting. One of the first to
answer Lincoln’s call
for volunteers; he joined the 83rd
PA Infantry in August
1861. At the time of his enlistment Thomas is
described
as having black eyes, dark hair and a dark complexion, a
medium
build and 5’ 8” tall. His
occupation is listed as carpenter.
As private with the 83rd PA Infantry and (he later served
with
the 6th
Veterans Reserve Corps) he marched and fought over
most of the eastern theater of war. (The photo
below
was taken sometime after the Civil War (circa 1866), seated
are: Thomas Jefferson and
Lovina Ellen, and standing:
George
W. Whitmore.)
Seated
are: Thomas Jefferson and Lovina Ellen, and standing:
George
W. Whitmore
Thomas
Jefferson’s regiment the 83rd Regiment was one of the most
famous regiments in the war. The
83rd’s claim to fame
can
be stated very simply. In the bloodiest conflict in American
history it lost more
people killed in action and from disease
then
any other regiment but one. The 5th New Hampshire lost
295
while the 83rd lost 282 in combat. As a member of the 83rd
he saw savage fighting at Malvern Hill
and Gains Mill, TJ
was badly wounded at the Battle of 2nd Manassas where he
received
a gun shot wound
in the left leg; a wound which appears
never to have healed correctly. He served a brief period
of time
and was apparently paroled. He later rejoined his old regiment
and marched to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
where he
participated
in the critical defense of Little Round Top. At the
Battle of Gettysburg Thomas and
his fellows were defending
their
home state ( T. J. was but 225 miles from his home and family.)
After the Gettysburg battle he was assigned on account of
his inability to march to the 6th VRC. Thomas Whitmore’s
medical condition is reflected in 1863 which described his
wound
as
reopened and infected.
The
VRC (Veterans Reserve Corps) were normally composed of men
who could not participate on active
service because of
wounds
but were still capable of doing light duty. In 1864 the
sudden attack of
Confederate General Jubal Early on Washington,
D.C.
required the Union government to order the 6th
VRC to defend
the capital. TJ again saw battle as the 6th and other units
of rapidly
thrown together Union veterans won the day at Monocracy,
Maryland. In all, TJ was in 15 major battles and many
skirmishes.
By the time of his discharge on September 10, 1864 Thomas
Jefferson Whitmore was ill and still recovering
from
a
festering wound. He returned to the family home in PA just
in time to join them on their journey to
Illinois. Arriving
there some time
in 1866, he was taken ill and died (at the age of 25) on
July 14, 1867.
His name is now listed on the State of Pennsylvania
Monument
at Gettysburg.
“Proud
shall be the man who knowing that he has done his duty can
say, I have been a soldier of the
Eighty-Third.” Amos
M.
Judson, Captain, Company E, 83rd PA Infantry.
(In
the photo below (L to R) are: Barbara Ann Yordy Whitmore,
George Washington Whitmore,
Francis Susella Whitmore
Yordy
and Christopher Rohrer Whitmore. This photo was taken
in 1869
on the occasion of George and Barbara Whitmore’s
wedding.)
Barbara Ann Yordy Whitmore,
George Washington Whitmore,
Francis Susella Whitmore
Yordy
and Christopher Rohrer Whitmor
In
January 1869 Christopher bought 160 acres of farmland in
Ogle County Illinois from the Illinois Central Railway Company.
The
price for the land was $2,400.00. By 1870 the family
was settled on their farm
near Cherry Grove, Illinois. Christopher
and
Charlotte Whitmore now had a prosperous farm worth
$16,000.00.
Reflecting their new prosperity the family now had hired
domestic help in the form of Susanna Burtzfeild their household
were enumerated as follows:
In
that same year 1870, Christopher R. Whitmore bought property
in the relatively new town of Shannon,
Illinois. Here he
and
Caroline prospered. In 1878, according to the Carroll County
Herald (April 1,
1878 p.3), C.R. Whitmore owned
Shannon
lots 8 & 9 and was assessed $13.69 per annum. One
of
Christopher’s son’s, by his first wife Mary Keiler, George
Washington
Whitmore (7/23/1849-8/30/1929), chose to remain in Illinois.
George W. appears to have moved into Shannon Township
in the 1870’s and
to have permanently given up farming.
Perhaps he was following his father Christopher who also
owned
property in Shannon during the 1870’s. George appears to
have had little interest in farming per se; by
all accounts
he was
mechanically inclined and may have seen more opportunities
for his new family in the
township of Shannon. There
is considerable
evidence Christopher kept in touch with his children and
that
they occasionally exchanged visits
George
W. Whitmore, Christopher’s oldest living son, was now independent
and made a good living as
a well driller/windmill
agent
and along with his own two sons John and William opened
one of the first
machine shops in Shannon. George was a
successful
businessman for many years and also ran successfully
for
most of Shannon’s public offices. Besides his activity
in local
government, he was a delegate to a
number of Republican
nominating conventions.
George
W. Whitmore, like his sister Francis, also married into
the Yordy clan.
http://genealogytrails.com/ill/carroll/carrollfamilywhitmore.html
He
married Barbara Ann Yordy (b. May 6, 1849 – d. September 24,
1894) on Dec 13, 1869 in
Shannon, Illinois. George and Barbara
Whitmore had five children four of whom survived to adulthood.
Below from a 1905 newspaper article, gives a contemporary view
of George Whitmore:
“One
of Shannon’s most popular citizens was born in Clarion County
Pennsylvania July 29, 1849
and came to Illinois in 1864 settling
in Ogle County where he remained for about three years when
he came to Shannon and married Miss Barbara A. Yordy of Ogle
county to which union there was
born five children, 3 sons and
2 daughters. Mr. Whitmore has probably held more offices then
any
other man in the county. He was constable for 30 years;
alderman for 5 years, is serving his fourth
term as mayor. His
wife died 11 years ago, but he is again married his choice being
Mrs. Robert
Chitty of Shannon. He owns his own fine home, and
is a busy man as he drills wells moves houses,
sells pumps,
wind mills & erects them. He has moved buildings all over
this end of the state and is
one of the best known and mostly
highly esteemed gentlemen in the county. In fact his office
holding
record is the best test of his popularity, he having
held more different positions than any man in
Shannon, if not
in the county. He is genial, whole-souled man everyone’s friend,
a staunch business
man level headed and capable in any office
or any line of business. George W. Whitmore is one of
the men
who helped make Shannon a garden spot in Illinois.” May 17,
1905 Mt. Carroll, Illinois
About
1876 Christopher and Charlotte decided to move their family
moved to Junction City Iowa and
here in the 1880 census their
household is as follows:
Christopher
age 63
Charlotte
age 50
Chesterfield
age 23
Jessie
age 21
Ella
age 19
Anzoinetta
age 10
Jacob
age 10
David
age 7
Henry
age 4
Farming
in the 1870’s and 1880’s continued to be dictated by the seasons.
Wintertime for the Whitmore’s,
meant; butchering, fence mending,
ice cutting, and wood chopping. In the spring, Christopher,
Chesterfeild
and Jessie prepared and planted their fields. Summertime
brought sheep shearing, haying, and threshing.
In the fall,
the men picked corn, the most difficult farm task of all. Charlotte,
Ella and Anozonetta’s
( Nettie) work also progressed according
to the seasons. During the winter, the Whitmore women did
their
sewing and mending, and helped with butchering. Spring brought
renewed activity. The Whitmore
women had to hatch and care for
chickens, plant gardens, and do spring housekeeping. In an era
with no
corner grocery or convenience food, the summertime in
frontier Iowa and Nebraska was when, the Whitmore women canned
large amounts of vegetables and fruit. Canning often extended
into the fall. Foods like
apples and potatoes were stored for
winter use ( In an age without refridgeration food was often stored
in cellars). Throughout all the seasons, there were many constants
in the Whitmore women's routines.
Every-day meals had to be
prepared, children cared for, and housekeeping done. With gardens
to tend
and chickens to feed and water, farm women had both
indoor and outdoor work. Through their activities however, they
produced most of their families' food supply.
Social
activities for the Whitmore’s like most farm families were limited.
Living on an Iowa or Nebraska
farm meant a degree
of isolation
almost unimaginable to modern minds. The Whitmore’s would have
made but few trips to town. Most visits to the
Junction City
Iowa ( or David City in NE) were for a specific purpose and
had to be planned well in advance. Typically Christopher or
one of the boys would have to
get their wagon ready, hitch the
horses while Charlotte and her daughters would insure that they
had food for the journey and a proper list for their shopping.
Most such trips were to purchase items
not readily available
such as cloth, tools, sugar coffie/tea and salt. Besides their
priviate devotions , bible
reading and prayer attending church
on Sunday was something that most farm families like the Whitmore’s
tried to due on a regular basis. Here the family would not only
find religious solace for their troubles
(Death for Charlotte
and Christopher was not some abstraction, they had both
suffered the loss of their
children to various childhood maladies.)
The church was also a place of hope for their future where
marriages
and baptisims were celebrated, but here they also would find
companionship and oppotuniies
to socialize In Illinois, Iowa
and Nebraska country schools were important social centers.
We know from
census data that Christopher and Charlotte sent
their younger children to school as often as possible Here
at
these simple country schools they would gather with their neighbors
several times each year for Christmas programs, spelling bees,
and annual end-of-the-year picnics.
About
1885 Christopher and Charlotte moved their family to Central
City Nebraska where they again took
up farming. Christopher
now in his 60’s and Susan now in her 50’s with their children
decided to move to Nebraska. The couple’s motivation for leaving
Illinois is not explicit; perhaps, they were they wanted to
take advantage of opportunities in this new state where cheap
and available land would help sons
Chesterfield and Jessie get
off to a sound start. Another factor for Christopher may have
been the
adventure
of starting off for a new land once again.
Economic motivation may well have tipped the scale.
During the
years 1873-1879, 1882-1885 and again 1893 -1896, American farmers
suffered a series
of sharp economic downturns where prices fell
for farm commodities such as wheat and corn, sometimes
as much
as 25%. Farmers in Illinois and Iowa often fell into debt and
then were forced to sell and move
on.
What
ever their motivation, in the 1880’s Nebraska was attractive
territory for farmers and still seen
very much as a land of
milk and honey. Many newspapers in Illinois and Iowa during
the 1870’s and
1880’s had advertisements
and articles broadcasting
the merits of the new state (Nebraska entered the
union on 1
March 1867). One of these ads announced Nebraska had “the largest
and finest crops, the
best class of settlers and the cheapest
land. This company offers long credit at a rate low interest.
Stop renting a farm and start now for Nebraska.”
The
1885 State of Nebraska Census reflects Christopher and Charlotte’s
family when enumerated at
Centre City, Butler NE as:
Christopher
age 68
Charlotte
age 55
Anzonetta
age 18
Ulyssess
age 16
David
age 12
Carrie
age 9
By
the 1890 Census, (Most all 1890 U.S. census documents were destroyed
in a fire, including those
for Nebraska. ) the
United States
government officially declared the American frontier closed.
The great
era of western migration and settlement
except for
Alaska was over. Nebraska was now a settled state
with many
of the amenities of the more populated east. Christopher and
Charlotte spent their latter days
secure in the fruits of their
labor and the love of their children, grandchildren and great
grandchildren.
After Christopher Whitmore died in on 11 July
1895 Charlotte lived near her daughter and her husband
Christian
Elgy where she remained until 1907 when she was reunited with
Christopher. They are now
buried together in Central
City Cemetery.
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Simon
Apr 16, 1839 May 03,
1841
John
Jan 03, 1841 May 15,
1841
Thomas
Jefferson May 13,
1842 July 14, 1867
Lovina
Ellen Aug. 18, 1844
Feb.16, 1873
Francis
Suella Sept
18,
1846 Jan 31,
1876
George
Washington July 29, 1849 Aug 31, 1928
Benjamin
Franklin May 15, 1851 Afr Aug
1928
Jonathan Edgar Jun 20,
1853
Nov 16, 1935
Ruth Emma Apr
15, 1855 Afr 1850
Warren
Chesterfield Sept 27, 1857 Aug 18,
1932
Warren
Chesterfield Whitmore
September
27, 1857 - August 18,
1932
Second
Marriage to Charlotte Caroline Keener ( March 02,1830 – March
25, 1907) Marriage January 18, 1858
Jessie Reno
Nov 25, 1858 Feb 19, 1915
Ella
Mary Oct 05, 1860 Jan 05
1884
Anzoinetta
Nettie Oct 21, 1866 Jan 16,
1925
Ulysses
Jacob Oct 01, 1868 Jun 14,
1944
Ely
Essau Apr 23, 1870 Jan 09,
1877
David Herman Mar 22,
1873 Aug 31, 1903
Carrie
Elnora Mar 19, 1876
May 06.1930
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Carrie
Elnora
Whitmore
Yeik
March
19,
1876
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May
06,
1930
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Anzonetta
"Nettie"
Whitmore
Egly
October
21,
1866
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January
16,
1925
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Notes
and Sources
Someone
once said that “genealogy is a collaborative enterprise” and
this is especially in case of the
Whitmore family.
The Whitmore’s
took the biblical injunction to go forth and multiply seriously
indeed,
today their extensive progeny lives
in nearly every
state. In writing this short summary of Christopher R.
Whitmore
and his family I owe a great debt of enormous gratitude to the
following people for so generously sharing family recollections
information, documents and photos with me.
First
our brief Whitmore family chronicle is dedicated to Lucile Whitmore
(1909 -2000), granddaughter
of George W. Whitmore
and Barbara
Ann Yordy. Lucile’s love of history and her strong desire to
preserve
the Whitmore story was my inspiration.
C.
Elizabeth Davidson, San Diego CA for photos and information
on Christopher and Charlotte Whitmore
and their daughters
Anzonetta
and Carrie Whitmore
Sharon
Olsen, Huffman Tx., for information on the Whitmore’s and Yordy’s
in Shannon Illinois and her
photo’s of Thomas
Jefferson Whitmore
George W. Whitmore and Barbara Ann Yordy grave stone.
Karen
Stafford, Grand Island NE for information and photo’s of Warren
Chesterfield Whitmore.
Joann
Teagarden, Anamosa IA., for her photos and information regarding
Benjamin Franklin Whitmore
and his family.
Roy
W. Johnston, for his photos and information on the headstones
of Christopher R. Whitmore and
Charlotte Whitmore
at Central
City Cemetery, Central City Nebraska.
Other
Primary and Contemporary sources Consulted
1840,
1850 & 1860 Census for Pennsylvania
1860,
1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 & 1920 Census for Illinois
1880
Census for Iowa
1885
State Census for Nebraska
1900
Census for Nebraska
Mount
Carroll Reporter May 17, 1905
Shannon
Express April 23, 1881
Shannon
Express July 7, 1898
Carroll
County Herald June 8, 1876
Carroll
County Mirror September 27, 1876
Military
Service Records from the National Archives and Records Administration:
*
Christian Yordy, 93rd Illinois Infantry Company D
*
John Yordy 26th Illinois Infantry Company B&D and
*
Thomas Jefferson Whitmore 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry Company
G and 6th Reserve Corps
Company E file under
Thomas J. “Whitmer”.
*
Civil
War Military Pension Folders National Archives and Records
Administration:
*
Christian Yordy VA File # XC 2-655-186
*
John Yordy VA Cert # 750141
*
Elizabeth Yordy VA Cert # 588983
Documents
and Photographs
Whitmore/Yordy
Family Bible, photograph (tintype & cdv) of C.R, George,
Francis, Lovina and
Anna Yordy Whitmore
collection Gene Kerr
Sharp.
Publications
The
Readers Companion to American History Eric Foner and John A.
Garrity, Editors, Haughton Mifflin Company , Boston 1991
The
Oxford Companion to United States History, Edited Paul S. Boyer,
Oxford University Press, New York 2001.
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