Whitney

Warren, Whitney, 1864-1943, American architect, b. New York City, studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. He began practice in New York City in 1894. Later he joined with Charles D. Wetmore in a firm that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and was known for the designing of large hotels. Warren and Wetmore's New York works include the Grand Central Terminal (1903-13, built in collaboration with the firm Reed and Stem), the New York Central office building, the Chelsea docks, and the Ritz-Carlton, Biltmore, Commodore, and Ambassador hotels. After World War I they were entrusted with the reconstruction of the historic library of the Univ. of Louvain, Belgium, which had been destroyed by the Germans who again demolished it in 1940.

Whitney, Asa, 1797-1872, American merchant and transcontinental railroad projector, b. North Groton, Conn. He entered the mercantile business in New York City, acted as a foreign buyer for several years, and then was (1842-44) a merchant in China. Upon his return, he toured (1844-51) the United States, carrying on an extensive publicity campaign urging the construction of a railroad from Chicago to the Pacific; he also petitioned (1845) Congress to support his plan. Whitney's proposed route from Lake Michigan through South Pass to the Pacific was not accepted mainly because of the growing sectionalism before the Civil War. He also presented to the British in 1851 an unsuccessful plan for a Canadian transcontinental railroad. He retired in 1852, a decade before the U.S. Congress passed an act for the construction of a transcontinental railroad. He wrote National Railroad Connecting the Pacific (1845) and A Project for a Railroad to the Pacific (1849).

Whitney, Eli, 1765-1825, American inventor of the cotton gin, b. Westboro, Mass., grad. Yale, 1792. When he was staying as tutor at Mulberry Grove, the plantation of Mrs. Nathanael Greene, Whitney was encouraged by Mrs. Greene and visiting cotton planters to try to find some device by which the fiber of short-staple cotton could be rapidly separated from the seed. Whitney, whose creative mechanical bent had been evident from boyhood, completed his model gin early in 1793, after about 10 days of work, and by April had built an improved one. With Phineas Miller, Mrs. Greene's plantation manager (and later her husband), he formed a partnership to manufacture gins at New Haven. He was unable to make enough gins to meet the demand, and although the partners received a patent in 1794, others copied his model and soon many gins were in use. After much litigation the partners received (1807) a favorable decision to protect their patent, but Congress in 1812 denied Whitney's petition for its renewal. His invention, which had immense economic and social effects, brought great wealth to many others, but little to Whitney himself. In 1798 he built a firearms factory near New Haven. The muskets his workmen made by methods comparable to those of modern mass industrial production were the first to have standardized, interchangeable parts.

Whitney, John Hay, 1904-82, American public official and newspaper publisher, b. Ellsworth, Maine. After an active career in business and in various government posts, Whitney served (1957-61) as ambassador to Great Britain. In 1958 his company acquired control of the New York Herald Tribune, and in 1961 he became publisher of the newspaper, which ceased publication in 1966. The company continued to publish its Paris edition, which became the International Herald Tribune (now owned by the New York Times).

Whitney, William Collins, 1841-1904, American financier and political leader, b. Conway, Mass. After attending (1863-64) Harvard law school, he moved to New York City, became successful as a corporation lawyer, and was associated with various public utility companies and transportation interests. He helped lead the fight that brought about the downfall of William Marcy Tweed and the election (1874) of Samuel J. Tilden as governor. As city corporation counsel (1875-82) he helped save New York City much money. Whitney, important in Democratic politics, served (1885-89) as Secretary of the Navy under President Cleveland and secured legislation for the making of armor-plated war vessels. In 1892 he supported Cleveland for the presidency, but in 1896 he refused to support the candidacy of William Jennings Bryan. He was a society leader and an outstanding sportsman.

Whitney, William Dwight, 1827-94, American Sanskrit scholar and lexicographer, b. Northampton, Mass. After studying in Germany, Whitney became professor of Sanskrit and of comparative philology at Yale. He was outstanding among American Orientalists and philologists and wrote A Sanskrit Grammar (1879) and Language and the Study of Language (1867). He was also brilliantly successful as editor of The Century Dictionary.

Whitney, Mount, peak, 14,494 ft (4,418 m) high, E Calif., in the Sierra Nevada at the eastern border of Sequoia National Park; the highest peak in the contiguous 48 states (Mt. McKinley, Alaska, is the highest peak in the United States). It is connected by a scenic highway with Death Valley. The peak is named for U.S. geologist Josiah D. Whitney, who surveyed it in 1864.

(born July 5, 1841, Conway, Mass., U.S.—died Feb. 2, 1904, New York, N.Y.) U.S. politician. He practiced law in New York City, where he helped Samuel Tilden overthrow the corrupt political boss William Magear Tweed; he also served as corporation counsel for the city (1875–82). As U.S. secretary of the navy (1885–89), he rebuilt the neglected fleet with a major shipbuilding program that included the battleship Maine (see destruction of the Maine). He returned to New York, where he became co-owner of the city's first rapid-transit system.

Learn more about Whitney, William C(ollins) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born July 5, 1841, Conway, Mass., U.S.—died Feb. 2, 1904, New York, N.Y.) U.S. politician. He practiced law in New York City, where he helped Samuel Tilden overthrow the corrupt political boss William Magear Tweed; he also served as corporation counsel for the city (1875–82). As U.S. secretary of the navy (1885–89), he rebuilt the neglected fleet with a major shipbuilding program that included the battleship Maine (see destruction of the Maine). He returned to New York, where he became co-owner of the city's first rapid-transit system.

Learn more about Whitney, William C(ollins) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Peak in the Sierra Nevada, southeast-central California, U.S. Located in Sequoia National Park, it is 14,494 ft (4,418 m) high, the highest point in the continental U.S. outside of Alaska. It was first climbed in 1873.

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(born Aug. 17, 1904, Ellsworth, Maine, U.S.—died Feb. 8, 1982, Manhasset, N.Y.) U.S. multimillionaire and sportsman. The son of Harry Payne Whitney and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, “Jock” Whitney attended Yale University and later the University of Oxford, which he left to manage the family fortune on his father's death. He became an internationally ranked polo player, his stables produced notable racehorses, he invested in successful films and Broadway plays, and he boasted one of the finest art collections in the U.S. As a combat-intelligence captain in World War II, he was captured in France but escaped; he was later awarded the Legion of Merit. He served as ambassador to Britain (1956–61). As publisher and (from 1961) editor in chief of the New York Herald Tribune, he tried to revitalize the paper, but it folded in 1966. He founded the John Hay Whitney Foundation in 1946.

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(born Dec. 8, 1765, Westboro, Mass., U.S.—died Jan. 8, 1825, New Haven, Conn.) U.S. inventor, engineer, and manufacturer. He is best remembered as the inventor of the cotton gin (1793), which led to greatly increased production of the short-staple cotton grown in much of the South, making the region prosperous. The most important innovation credited to Whitney may be the concept of mass production of interchangeable parts. His idea of manufacturing quantities of identical parts for assembly into muskets, after undertaking in 1797 to supply the U.S. government with 10,000 muskets in two years, helped inaugurate the vastly important American System of manufacture.

Learn more about Whitney, Eli with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Peak in the Sierra Nevada, southeast-central California, U.S. Located in Sequoia National Park, it is 14,494 ft (4,418 m) high, the highest point in the continental U.S. outside of Alaska. It was first climbed in 1873.

Learn more about Whitney, Mount with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Jan. 11, 1873, Huntington, W.Va., U.S.—died Oct. 5, 1931, Englewood, N.J.) U.S. lawyer and diplomat. He practiced law in New York City (1905–14), helping draft a workers' compensation law (1911). He became a partner in J.P. Morgan & Co. (1914–27) and organized the Kennecott Copper Corp. During World War I he was an adviser to the Allied Maritime Transport Council, and after the war he helped devise a national aviation policy. He served as ambassador to Mexico (1927–30). He briefly served in the U.S. Senate (1931) before his death. His daughter Anne married Charles A. Lindbergh.

Learn more about Morrow, Dwight W(hitney) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Aug. 17, 1904, Ellsworth, Maine, U.S.—died Feb. 8, 1982, Manhasset, N.Y.) U.S. multimillionaire and sportsman. The son of Harry Payne Whitney and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, “Jock” Whitney attended Yale University and later the University of Oxford, which he left to manage the family fortune on his father's death. He became an internationally ranked polo player, his stables produced notable racehorses, he invested in successful films and Broadway plays, and he boasted one of the finest art collections in the U.S. As a combat-intelligence captain in World War II, he was captured in France but escaped; he was later awarded the Legion of Merit. He served as ambassador to Britain (1956–61). As publisher and (from 1961) editor in chief of the New York Herald Tribune, he tried to revitalize the paper, but it folded in 1966. He founded the John Hay Whitney Foundation in 1946.

Learn more about Whitney, John Hay with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Dec. 8, 1765, Westboro, Mass., U.S.—died Jan. 8, 1825, New Haven, Conn.) U.S. inventor, engineer, and manufacturer. He is best remembered as the inventor of the cotton gin (1793), which led to greatly increased production of the short-staple cotton grown in much of the South, making the region prosperous. The most important innovation credited to Whitney may be the concept of mass production of interchangeable parts. His idea of manufacturing quantities of identical parts for assembly into muskets, after undertaking in 1797 to supply the U.S. government with 10,000 muskets in two years, helped inaugurate the vastly important American System of manufacture.

Learn more about Whitney, Eli with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Jan. 11, 1873, Huntington, W.Va., U.S.—died Oct. 5, 1931, Englewood, N.J.) U.S. lawyer and diplomat. He practiced law in New York City (1905–14), helping draft a workers' compensation law (1911). He became a partner in J.P. Morgan & Co. (1914–27) and organized the Kennecott Copper Corp. During World War I he was an adviser to the Allied Maritime Transport Council, and after the war he helped devise a national aviation policy. He served as ambassador to Mexico (1927–30). He briefly served in the U.S. Senate (1931) before his death. His daughter Anne married Charles A. Lindbergh.

Learn more about Morrow, Dwight W(hitney) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Whitney is a village in Dawes County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 87 at the 2000 census. Originally called Dawes City, then Earth Lodge, it was renamed in honor of a railroad official. East of Whitney is the site of Old Fort Useless, built for settlers' protection but never used.

Geography

Whitney is located at (42.784024, -103.257281).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 87 people, 34 households, and 24 families residing in the village. The population density was 551.2 people per square mile (209.9/km²). There were 40 housing units at an average density of 253.4/sq mi (96.5/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.70% White, 2.30% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.30% of the population.

There were 34 households out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 17.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the village the population was spread out with 28.7% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 102.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.7 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $28,333, and the median income for a family was $20,625. Males had a median income of $11,667 versus $10,625 for females. The per capita income for the village was $11,107. There were 22.2% of families and 13.7% of the population living below the poverty line, including 6.7% of under eighteens and none of those over 64.

References

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