When George Henry Whitney was born on 30 July 1830, in Washington, District of Columbia, United States, his father, William Whitney, was 30 and his mother, Permelia Cogswell, was 34. He married Caroline Amanda Shepard on 17 November 1858, in Newark Township, Essex, New Jersey, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son. He lived in Hackettstown, Warren, New Jersey, United States in 1880 and Union, New Jersey, United States in 1905. He died on 6 June 1913, in Plainfield, Union, New Jersey, United States, at the age of 82, and was buried in Fairmount Cemetery, Newark, Essex, New Jersey, United States.
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Convinced that a group of Native American tribes were hostile, The United States formed a frontier militia to stop them in their tracks. Even though Black Hawk was hoping to avoid bloodshed while trying to resettle on tribal land, U.S. officials opened fire on the Native Americans. Black Hawk then responded to this confrontation by successfully attacking the militia at the Battle of Stillman's Run and then left northward. After a few months the militia caught up with Black Hawk and his men and defeated them at the Battle of Wisconsin Heights. While being weakened by hunger, injuries and desertion, Black Hawk and the rest of the many native survivors retreated towards the Mississippi. Unfortunately, Black Hawk and other leaders were later captured when they surrendered to the US forces and were then imprisoned for a year.
February 20, 1839, Congress prohibits dueling in Washington D.C. It is inspired by the incident where William Graves, a Kentucky Rep. is killed by Jonathan Cilley, a Maine Rep.
Historical Boundaries 1857: Union, New Jersey, United States
English: habitational name from Whitney in Herefordshire, the etymology of which is uncertain. The second element is Old English ēg ‘island, piece of higher ground in a low-lying area’; the first appears to be hwītan, which is either the genitive singular of an Old English byname Hwīta (meaning ‘white’), or the weak dative case (originally used after a preposition and article) of the adjective hwīt ‘white’. The name may also derive from Whitney (now Whitney Wood) in Stevenage (Hertfordshire), probably named from Old English hwītan ‘white’ + (ge)hæge ‘enclosure’.
History: John Whitney came from London, England, to Watertown, MA, in 1635, and had numerous prominent descendents.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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