Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Whitson, John H 1839 - 
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Author: Portrait & Bio Album, 1890

JOHN H. WHITSON. It is a pleasure to incorporate in this volume the biography 
of a gallant soldier, worthy citizen and enterprising farmer, to whom the town 
of Manhattan owes its existence and its name. The home of Mr. Whitson is on 
one hundred and ten acres of fine land on section 20, the buildings being 
within the corporation limits of Manhattan. The place has been thoroughly 
improved with a complete line of buildings, orchards, groves and fences, and 
is under complete and careful tillage. Grain and stock-raising are carried on 
by the owner, who operates some one hundred and sixty acres in all, and he 
also deals in real estate. Mr. Whitson is of English ancestry, his grandfather 
having removed from the mother country to Pennsylvania, where he was engaged 
in distilling. In that State, Benjamin Whitson, the father of our subject, was 
born and reared. From Lancaster County he removed to the vicinity of Reading, 
Ohio, but after sojourning there a few years only, continued his journey 
westward, locating in Lawrence County, Ill., about 1840. Paying $500 for 
eighty acres of land, he operated it until 1852 when he sold for 1,100. His 
purchase money had been secured principally by making apple butter and selling 
at from thirty-five to fifty cents per gallon. After selling his estate 
Benjamin Whitson removed to Iowa, but a year later returned to his former 
location, and after a short sojourn came to Will County. His new home was near 
Plainfield, where he continued his agricultural labors on one hundred and 
sixty acres of land for a number of years. He finally removed to Joliet, 
abandoned active pursuits and, enjoying the comforts of life, is still living 
there, aged seventy-seven years. He is a member of the Evangelical Methodist 
Church. His wife, who died in 1875, was a native of the Keystone State, and 
bore the maiden name of Leah Dudmore. Her father, Philip Dudmore, was an early 
settler in Lawrence County, Ill., whence he removed to Plainfield, and in 
which place he breathed his last. The parental family comprised nine children, 
of whom our subject is the third in order of birth; William is now living in 
Chicago; Mrs. Rebecca Cook in Joliet; David and Jacob in Manhattan Township; 
Mrs. Mary Fouser at Ringgold, Iowa; Jackson, in Frankfort Township; Libby is 
deceased; Benjamin lives in Frankfort Township; William was a Sergeant in the 
company to which our subject belonged and served the same length of time 
during the Civil War; David was a Corporal in the same regiment, enlisted for 
the same length of time and was wounded at the siege of Ft. Blakely. The 
subject of this sketch was born March 24, 1839, in Reading, Ohio. He was 
twelve months old when his parents journeyed westward by means of horses and a 
wagon, and his boyhood was spent in Lawrence County, Ill. He enjoyed the 
advantages of the free schools and acquired a good practical education in 
Lawrence and Will Counties. He was about fourteen years old when the removal 
to the latter took place and the family settled upon the wild prairie. In the 
intervals of study he was employed upon his father's farm, becoming thoroughly 
skilled in the details of agricultural labor and competent to judge of the 
relative value of lands and the best means of insuring good crops. When he had 
reached his majority, Mr. Whitson rented land at Rockville, Kankakee County, 
and there labored for his own advancement until the Civil War broke out. His 
heart was thrilled with patriotic fervor and, finding that the struggle was 
likely to be a more protracted one than was at first supposed, he and his 
brother David, who was his associate in business, enlisted in Company I, 
Seventy-sixth Illinois Infantry. They were mustered into the service at 
Kankakee, in August, 1862, and and sent to the Department of the Southwest, 
their duties for some time consisting chiefly of skirmishes throughout 
Tennessee and Mississippi and later in Missouri. They then took part in the 
siege of Vicksburg, the battles of Jackson, Holly Springs, and the others of 
that campaign, from which they returned to Vicksburg. The tedious and 
dangerous duties which devolved upon the soldiers during the Yazoo expedition 
and Bank's expedition up the Red River, were assisted in by our subject, who 
under all the trying circumstances by which he was surrounded, displayed the 
utmost devotion to the cause for which he was willing to risk his life. Having 
joined Farragut's expedition to Mobile, he and his comrades had a weary march 
to that city and to Ft. Blakely, where they lost more men than at any other 
place where they had been engaged. Subsequently they were sent to Galveston, 
Tex., where they spent three weeks doing guard duty. After this they returned 
to the North and were mustered out of service and honorably discharged at 
Chicago. At Holly Springs Mr. Whilson had been taken prisoner by the rebels, 
but was in the hands of his captors only one day when the prisoners were left 
by the retreating Confederate force. When his services were no longer needed 
to uphold the Government, Mr. Whitson returned to Will County and, with his 
brother David, bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Manhattan 
Township. He operated his own share of the farm, improving it and making it 
his home until 1880. He then sold it and bought one hundred and twenty acres 
where he is now living, and locating here began its systematic improvement, 
which he had continued but one year when the Wabash Railroad came through. He 
at once laid out about ten acres on the east side of the railroad, which is 
called J. Whitson's sub-addition. When the subject of a name for the village 
which sprung up was being agitated, he suggested Manhattan, and thus it was 
christened. An important step in the life of any man is his choice of a 
companion, and Mr. Whitson displayed good judgment in his selection. He won 
for his wife Miss Lucinda Etter, who was born in Cumberland County, Pa., 
November 5, 1842. She was educated in Ohio and Illinois, Richland Seminary 
having been her Alma Mater, and when eighteen years old began school teaching. 
Her professional labors were principally at Plainfield, Ill., where she enjoys 
an enviable reputation as an instructor, and was considered a valuable 
addition to society by reason of her fine education and pleasing traits of 
character. Her marriage to our subject took place in that town February 1, 
1866, and has been blessed by the birth of five children. The firstborn, 
George, attended Aurora College and spent one year as a teacher, but is now 
engaged in Beech's general store in Joliet; the second child, Nettie, is the 
wife of George Steele, of Chicago; Jessie, Walter and Edna are at home with 
their parents. The parents of Mrs. Whitson are Lewis and Mary (North) Etter, 
natives of Pennsylvania, the one of German and the other of Scotch descent. 
The father was a shoemaker in his native State, whence he removed to Stark 
County, Ohio, where he was engaged in farming a number of years. He then came 
to Plainfield, Ill., where he is now living, his age being four-score. He 
belongs to the Evangelical Methodist Church. The surviving brothers and 
sisters of Mrs. Whitson are Louis, Ezra, Jacob, Mrs. Elizabeth Wirtzbower, and 
Mrs. Marian Smith. The deceased are Samuel, and Mary, wife of David Whitson. 
Mr. Whitson has served as School Director. In politics he is a Republican. He 
belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church of which he is a most active member, 
being Trustee, Steward, Class Leader, and Superintendent of the Sunday-school, 
and bearing a part in every movement in which the congregation is interested. 
He gave an acre of ground upon which to erect the house of worship and served 
on the building committee while it was being constructed.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page 
Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens 
of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890

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