Woman of the Century/Mary Collins Whiting

WHITING, Mrs. Mary Collins, lawyer and business woman, born in the township of York, Washtenaw county, Mich., 4th March, 1835. Her maiden name was Collins, and her parents, George and Phebe Collins, were New Englanders, who settled in Michigan in 1832. Her ancestry runs back to the Pilgrim Fathers. MARY COLLINS WHITING. She received a liberal education in the normal school and afterwards taught for several years. In 1854 she became the wife of Ralph C. Whiting, of Hartford, Conn., and they settled on a farm near Ann Arbor. Mich. She kept up her literary work, writing for local papers, and in 1885 she began to study law, mainly for the purpose of handling her large estate, of which she took entire control. She entered the law department of Ann Arbor University and was graduated in 1887. She soon afterwards began to practice, and she now has a large and lucrative business. She is one of the busiest women in Michigan. She possesses decision of character in a marked degree.