Ohio Whitney Jr. (1813-1879)

From the History of Ashburnham, Massachusetts, 1887.

  For many years a leading resident in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, Ohio Whitney Jr. shares his first name with the Buckeye State, but left his mark in the state of his birth, where he was a banker, civic leader, and member of both houses of the state legislature. A lifelong resident of the Bay State, Ohio Whitney Jr. was the son of Ohio Whitney Sr. and the former Mary Bolton and was born in Ashburnham on June 9, 1813.

  Little is known of Whitney's early years, and at a young age, he was apprenticed to local carpenter Josiah White and later removed to Worcester to continue carpentry for several years. Around 1840 Whitney returned to Ashburnham where for decades afterward he followed a career as a contractor and builder, and gained distinction in a variety of endeavors in that town. A former president of the Worcester North Agricultural Society, Whitney also was a member of the Fitchburg Board of Trade and was affiliated with the Cushing Academy. Prominent in local financial circles, Whitney served an indeterminate period as trustee of the Fitchburg Savings Bank, was a vice president of the Ashburnham Savings Bank, and was a director of the Ashburnham National Bank. 

  Ohio Whitney Jr. married in Massachusetts in 1839 to Mary Brooks (1818-1904). The couple were wed for nearly forty years and had six children, Ellen (1840-1865), Mary Josie (born 1843), Sarah Georgianna (born 1845), Lydia Ann (born 1846), Clinton Ohio (born 1850), and Walton Brooks (1859-1952).

  Whitney began his political career as moderator of the Ashburnham town meetings, serving in that capacity for 18 years. He was also a justice of the peace, township assessor, and selectman, and in 1855 was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Serving during the 1856 session, he was elected to one term in the state senate later that year.

  Following his terms in state government Whitney was a director in the Ashburnham Railroad Company in the 1870s, and died in Ashburnham on February 6, 1879, aged 65. Following funeral arrangements, Whitney was interred in the "family lot" at the New Cemetery in Ashburnham. He was later memorialized by the Fitchburg Sentinel as a leading citizen of Worcester County, noting:

"Ashburnham has lost by the death of Ohio Whitney a worthy citizen, a friend of progress and good order, and one who in many positions of trust has discharged his duties with fidelity and high purpose."

From the Boston Evening Transcript, February 7, 1879.