WHITNEY. Will ION. 655 the conservative cast of the man, he has never been an extreme partisan. He had the rugged experience in early life of one who worked on the farm in summer and taught school winters in order to secure the necessary funds to pay for educational advantages. Ever since he has been a member of the state board of education he has been chairman of the visitors of the state nor- mal school at Westfield, and of the board of visitors of institutions for the education of deaf mutes, and of the blind who re- ceive aid from the Commonwealth. But while Mr. Whitney has given much time to uninterrupted and honorable edu- cational work, it is his thirty-six years' legal practice that has earned for him the posi- tion of one of the leading lawyers in west- ern Massachusetts. WHITNEY, SAML'EL BRENTON, son of Samuel and Amelia (Hyde) Whitney, was born in Woodstock, Windsor county, Yt., June 4, [842. His early education was obtained in the public schools. He afterward attended i In- Vermont Episcopal Institute, Burling- ton ; studied music first with local teach- ers, afterwards with Carl Wels in New York, and later still with Professor John K. Paine, of Harvard University, taking lessons on the organ, pianoforte, compo- sition and instrumentation. Mr. Whitney has been organist and di- rect! nof music of Christ church, Montpelier, Vt.: St. Peter's, Albany. N. Y.: St. Paul's church, Burlington, Yt.; is at present, and has been for the past eighteen years, organ- ist of the Church of the Advent, Boston, the choir of which church has become quite celebrated under his direction. He has frequently been engaged as conductor of choir festival associations in Massachu- setts and Vermont ; is first vice-president and one of the organ examiners of the American College of Musicians; has writ- ten church music quite extensively, also piano and miscellaneous music. He has been conductor of many choral societies in and around Boston, and has the reputation of being very successful in training and developing boys' voices. Mr. Whitney was for a time a teacher of the organ in the New England Conserva- tory of Music. He also established in this institution for the first time a church-music class, in which not only were the vocal pupils taught how to properly interpret sacred music, but the organ pupils as well, were instructed as to the management of the organ in church service. Among Mr. Whitney's compositions are a trio for pianoforte and strings, many solos and arrangements for both piano- forte and organ, as well as several church services, Te JDeums, and miscellaneous anthems, songs, both sacred and secular. WHITNEY, Wilbur F., son of John and Eliza (Cushing) Whitney, was born in Westminster, Worcester county, Decem- ber 9, 1839. He was educated at the common and high schools of his native town, at the Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, and passed the freshman year at Dartmouth College. He began business as a chair manufac- turer, in 1865, with a capital of three hun- dred dollars, and has continued throughout his life in the same business, at the pres- ent time manufacturing four hundred thou- sand chairs a year, at a wholesale value of three hundred ami twenty thousand dol- lars. The factory is situated at South Ashburnham, where two hundred hands are employed, and two hundred and fifty prisoners are constantly occupied in the same business. On the 17th of July, 1S66, Mr. Whitney married Emeline S., daughter of Dexter and Sarah (Mower) Jewell, of Jaffrey, N. H. Their children are : Oscar J., born January 22, 1S71, Celena M., Luella C, Ethel E., and Edith L. Whitney. Their son, Oscar, died January 2, 1886. Mr. Whitney was elected a member of the House of Representatives in 1875. He is a director in the Ashburnham National Bank, trustee of the Cushing Academy, and member of the committee on educa- tion. In religious associations he has always been an active and earnest Meth- odist. His present residence is at Ashburnham, where he holds an enviable reputation as a man who has always been successful in business. Politically he has been a strong adherent of the Greenback party, and is a vigorous and enthusiastic Prohibitionist. WHITON, STARKES, son of Moses and Ann (Stoddard) Whiton, was born in Hingham, Plymouth county, April 11, 1829, and is a direct descendant in the seventh generation of James Whiton, wdio settled in Hingham in 1647. His ancestors have always been referred to by historians as men of excellent character, upright and industrious, enjoying the confidence and respect of their townsmen. He attended the common schools of his native place, then Derby Academy from
