Brief Life History of William Wort
When William Wort Whitney was born on 18 August 1856, in Yolo, California, United States, his father, Ephraim Bennett Whitney, was 42 and his mother, Harriet Potter, was 32. He married Margaret Ann Norwood on 14 November 1880, in Red Bluff, Tehama, California, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. He died on 27 April 1908, in Red Bluff, Tehama, California, United States, at the age of 51, and was buried in Red Bluff, Tehama, California, United States.
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Family Time Line
Sources (16)
- W W Whitney in household of John W Canard, "United States Census, 1880"
- W. W. Whitney, "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952"
- William W Whitney, "California Death Index, 1905-1939"
Spouse and Children
Parents and Siblings
World Events (8)
1857 · 7.9 Earthquake In Fort Tejon
The Fort Tejon earthquake, on January 9, 1857, registered at 7.9, making it one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in the United States. Only two people were killed, largely due to the sparse population in the area where the earthquake occurred. As a result of the large scale shaking, the Kern River was turned upstream and fish were stranded miles from Tulare Lake as the waters were rocked so far from its banks.
1863
Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slaves in Confederate states to be free.
1870 · The Fifteenth Amendment
Prohibits the federal government and each state from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It was the last of the Reconstruction Amendments.
Name Meaning
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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