Babies - Not to be forgotten!

This week I discovered a great website called WRG or the Whitney Research Group. As I said before, my grandmother is Yoland Whitney. Her family is where I first dipped my fingers into genealogy. The Whitney family is a historic American family. The first Whitney family must of been the adventurous type, taking their chances in America, and arriving in Massachusetts in 1635, not too many years after the first Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. They served in all the major wars beginning with the Revolutionary War.

On a fluke, I decided to look up some information on my ancestor Joseph Whitney. The one that settled in Iowa. This is when I found the Whitney Research Group's website. It is set up as a wiki, so that all members can contribute to the wiki, to the research being done on the Whitney family. I am currently trying to become a member. As you can imagine, there are a lot of Whitney descendants, from every walk of life and from all over the United States. There is also a Facebook group for Whitney's. Note - the WRG was not started by Mormons, just people who like their family history.

As I began clicking on "my" Whitney people, I saw several children of Joseph Whitney that I did not know existed. I thought I knew everything I should know about Joseph Whitney. Well....apparently not! Joseph first married Martha Peterson 7 March 1850 in Lee County, Illinois. Not so fortunate - she had a short life and a short marriage, dying 25 April 1852. Previously unknown to me is that Joseph and Martha had a son together. His name is Henry B. Whitney born 3 June 1851 in Lee County, Illinois. He died 27 September 1852, at the very young age of almost 16 months. Lee County, Illinois does not have birth records available for this time period nor do they have death records. They have marriage records and cemetery records. I did not find Henry in the Evergreen, aka the Peterson cemetery where his mother is buried. So.... no record of Henry, right? Surprise! The Joseph Whitney Family Bible!

The woman who posted the information about Henry, found it recorded in the family bible that had been passed down to her through her maternal line beginning with Inez, Joseph's daughter. Recorded in the bible is Joseph's birth and death, his 2 wives births and deaths, his children's births and deaths, and his children's marriages. Bible records are considered a valid source and in the case of a lack of other records, they become the primary record. How grateful I am for the tradition of family bibles and genealogy.

The next surprise child I found is Joseph and Dorothy (Dorothy is Martha's sister) Peterson Whitney's first born child. After Martha died, Joseph married her sister Dorothy 30 December 1852. Their first child Jonathan was born 28 September 1853 in Lee County, IL and died in the same place 1 November 1853.

Two babies that would otherwise remain unknown, if not for family record keeping and the tradition of preserving and passing down family heirlooms. I wish I had that family bible to treasure and pass down but the descendants of Inez Whitney have done a fabulous job. What more could I ask.