The Whittle Family Tree
As I mentioned previously, I received some information from Ruth the day after I drafted the Doubting Thomas post. I had also done a little more research and was trying to decide how to incorporate it into the post when the package from Ruth arrived. Finally, I decided to just handle the information in the next couple of posts. This post will deal with all the vital statistic things concerning Thomas and Sarah’s family, and the next post will deal with the family story of Thomas’ leaving and his military service.
Ruth Brooks has been researching the Whittle Family for years and Thomas is her husband’s great grandfather. She told me that she no longer actively researches and has been wonderful in sharing her research with me in hopes that putting it out here may lead us to some answers. She was quick to tell me that she is an amateur, but I will tell you that there is nothing amateur about her skills and her accomplishment in tracking down paperwork on this family is outstanding. Ruth is an accomplished genealogist and family historian, and I am grateful for all her help.
In the package Ruth sent me there were a couple of really important things that apply to the last post. First up is the marriage of Thomas Whittle and Sarah Flayhart in 1842. Ruth provided the following information. A marriage license was granted in Baltimore County 15 Oct 1842, and they were married at the 1st Methodist Episcopal Church on Light Street near Redwood by Isaac P. Cook, a prominent local Methodist preacher, on 20 Oct 1842.1 The online date is off by a couple of months.
Also in question was the date of death of Thomas and Sarah’s son Robert, shown on line with the unsourced date of 23 Apr 1864. Ruth offered this documentation from the Baltimore County Advocate dated 23 Apr 1864:2
In Towsontown, on the 29th ult. Robert Spencer Vinton Whittle died, 3 years, 11 months & 8 days old.
So the unsourced date is in error as it used the date of the article. The correct date of death for young Robert is actually 29 March 1864. Using the Tombstone Birthday Calculator we find his actual date of birth is 21 Apr 1860.
Ruth had told me that she had a news article about Sarah’s passing that gave a lot more information. The package included a copy of that uncredited and undated news article which provided some interesting family data.3
Death of a Former Resident of Towsontown. – Mrs. Sarah Whittle died at the residence of her daughter, in Baltimore, on Saturday evening last after a long illness in her 68th year of age. She was the eldest daughter of the late John Flayhart and sister of Mr. Edward Flayhart, of Towsontown. She was born in a house that formerly stood on the hill just below the residence of Judge M. C. Burke, and lived here until about twenty years ago, when she removed to Baltimore. Her husband was the late Thomas Whittle, who was a brother of Jeremiah Whittle of Long Green Valley. In the early part of the late war he left Towsontown for Pittsburg and the last heard of him was that he had left that city and had enlisted in a Kentucky regiment of the Federal Army and took part in the battle of Shiloh. A letter afterwards received from his captain stated that he was seen before entering the battle, but that his regiment had met with great loss and it was not known whether Mr. Whittle was killed, captured, or had deserted. As nothing more was ever heard of him there is no doubt that he was among the unknown dead. The deceased [unreadable] three children – E. Dorsey, Joshua T. and Mrs. William H Hoffman. Joshua T. Whittle is the well known ice-cream manufacturer in Glyndon. W.M.R.R.”
The article appears to have been published within a couple weeks of her 24 May 1890 death and is probably from a newspaper from Towsontown, based on the statement “…and lived here until about twenty years ….”.
I searched GenealogyBank and found this from The Sun, dated 15 Mar 1873, a news Article on Local Matters, page 1:4
Property Sale – Mrs. Sarah Whittle has sold her stone house and lot, 49 feet front, with a depth of 210 feet, in Towsontown, to Mr. Alfred Phipps, for $1,100 cash.
Using the article that Ruth sent we now have confirmed Sarah’s maiden name is Flayhart, daughter of John, and her brother Edward Flayhart is still alive in Towsontown. She was born in 1822 in Towsontown and the house is no longer standing. Thomas and Jeremiah of Long Green Valley are brothers. Three of her six children are deceased by 1890. Andrew Jamison Whittle, Robert Spencer Vinton died 1864, and Sarah.
Ruth’s documentation also provided the following information on Andrew Jamison Whittle. From the Batimore County Advocate dated 10 Apr 1852:5
In Towsontown, on the 29th, Andrew Jamison Whittle died in the 8th year of his age.
With that information I was able to locate this from The Sun, dated 2 Apr 1852, which specifically links this Andrew to Thomas and Sarah:6
At Towsontown, on the 29th ultimo, ANDREW JAMESON, in the 8th year of his age, eldest child of Thomas and Sarah Whittle.
In looking for Sarah, I started trying to track down Sarah R. Hunt (the name from the 1870 census), but there were at least two on the 1880 census that could have fit. Flipping through the information from Ruth, I found that she had Sarah married to William H. Greenfield, but she had no death date. I went back to genealogybank with the new information and brought up the following obituary in The Sun from 22 Jan 1880, Mortuary Notice, pg 2:7
GREENFIELD – On January 21, after a long and painful illnesss, SARAH REBECCA, aged 30 years, 6 months and 12 days, beloved wife of Wm. H. Greenfiled, and eldest daughter of Thos. and Sarah Whittle.
Above the blest and pearly gates,
Where Jesus, loving Saviou, waits;
Where all is peaceful, bright and fair,
My home is there, my home is there,Heaven retaineth now our treasure,
Earth the lonely casket keeps;
And the sunbeams love to linger
Where our living Sallie sleeps.Her funeral will take place from her late residence, No. 403 McHenry street, on to-morrow (Friday) afternoon, at three o’clock. Relatives and friends are invited to attend.
So we now have the last child missing from Sarah Flayhart Whittle’s news article; Sarah Rebecca Whittle Greenfield, born 9 Jul 1849 in Towsontown, Baltimore, Maryland, died 21 Jan 1880, Baltimore City, Maryland. I have not figured out when she was married or the confusion of the 1870 census where she is listed as Sarah R. Hunt. Obviously, I won’t find an 1880 census as she died in January, but we have the basics for now and can move on.
1. Marriage Record Information of Thomas Whittle; privately held by Ruth Brooks Wilmington, Delaware.
2. “Mortuary Notice,” (Baltimore) The Baltimore County Advocate, 23 Apr 1864.
3. News Article – Sarah Flayhart Whittle; privately held by Ruth Brooks Wilmington, Delaware.
4. “Local Matters,” The Sun, 15 Mar 1873, p. 1; digital images, Genealogybank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 12 Dec 2008), Historical Papers.
5. “Mortuary Notice,” (Baltimore) The Baltimore County Advocate, 10 Apr 1852.
6. “Mortuary Notice,” The Sun, 2 Apr 1852, p. 2; digital images, Genealogybank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 12 Dec 2008), Historical Papers.
7. “Mortuary Notice,” The Sun, 22 Jan 1880, p. 2; digital images, GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 12 Dec 2008), Historical Newspapers.