In a message dated 9/14/98 5:36:28 PM US Eastern Standard Time,
kathleenrisk(a)email.msn.com writes:
<< Subj: John Whiteman
Date: 9/14/98 5:36:28 PM US Eastern Standard Time
From: kathleenrisk(a)email.msn.com (Kathleen Risk)
To: POGOMAN(a)aol.com (pogoman)
I am wondering if the John Whiteman in the 1895 Biographical atlas is one of
my ancestors, John Andrew Whiteman. Would you have any way of knowing?
Sorry if this leads you on a wild goose chase; I know time is limited. Get
back to me when you can! kathleenrisk(a)msn.com >>
JOHN WHITEMAN, one of the old soldiers now living in Rossville, Clinton
county, Ind. springs from an old American family, his grandfather on the
maternal side having been a soldier in the war of 1812. John Whiteman,
grandfather of our subject, was a pioneer of Carroll county, Ind., and was the
father of five children: William, Patterson, John, Lucinda and Elizabeth. Mr.
Whiteman was a farmer and lived to be an old man, and died in Carroll county.
William Whiteman, son of above and father of our subject, John, was a farmer
and married Barbara, daughter of Daniel Leslie, also a soldier of the war of
1812. To Mr. and Mrs. Whiteman were born three children: Amaretta, John and
Elizabeth. Mr. Whiteman. died when twenty-six years of age.
John Whiteman, whose name opens this sketch. was born in Tippecanoe
county, Ind., December 25, 1843, received a common education, and learned to
work in the woolen mills when young. He enlisted, at the age of eighteen, at
La Fayette, Ind., and was enrolled November 2, 1863, as a private in the Tenth
Indiana battery light artillery, Capt. Cox, for three years, or during the
war. He was at the battle of Lookout Mountain; at Missionary Ridge the
battery was held in reserve, but was present on the field. With the Fifth
Indiana battery, he was in the battles of Resaca, Buzzard's Roost, Kenesaw
Mountain, Peach Tree Creek and the battle in which Atlanta fell, and in many
skirmishes, and under fire for three months in this campaign. After this he
returned to the Tenth Indiana battery, was on a gunboat on the Tennessee
river, and was in a battle at Decatur. Ala.. and many skirmishes on the river.
He was taken sick while in this service, with rheumatism, and was at Bragg's
hospital, Chattanooga, when the war closed, and he was honorably discharged
July 10, 1865, at Indianapolis. He returned home, disabled from exposure, and
has never recovered his health. After the war he worked in the woolen mills a
few years, and married in Warren county, Ind., Catherine, daughter of Gideon
Boohee, and to Mr. and Mrs. Whiteman were born three children, who lived to
maturity: Edith, Elizabeth and Bruce. His first wife died in 1889, and he
married, June 16, 1890, Emma A., daughter of Matthias and Bernice (Musgrove)
Weidner. To Mr. and Mrs. Matthias Weidner were born seven children, six
reaching mature years: Francis M., Ida B., Mary M., Samuel (deceased at eight
years), Martha Jane, Emma and Retta B. Mr. Weidner was a soldier in the Civil
war, is yet living on his farm near Monitor, Tippecanoe county, Ind., and is a
respected citizen. Mr. and Mrs. Weidner are members of the Baptist church, and
Mr. Weidner is a member of Elliott post, No. 6o, G. A. R., at Dayton, Ind.
Bernice Musgrove, mother of Mrs. Whiteman, is the daughter of John and
Elizabeth (Kuney) Musgrove. John Musgrove, grandfather of Mrs. Whiteman, was
the father of six children--Samuel, Seldon and Jacob, who were soldiers in the
Civil war, and. Artemesia, Milton and Bernice. The Weidner family spring from
sterling German stock and were Scotch by inter-marriage. Lewis Weidner,
great-grandfather of Mrs. Whiteman, came from Germany before the war of the
Revolution, settled in Virginia, and moved to Tennessee. He married in
America and was a slave-owner and farmer in Grainger county. A copy of his
last will and testament is in the possession of Daniel Weidner, of Ross
township, Clinton county; it was executed in 1807 in Grainger county, Tenn.
By this will it is shown that his name was Louis Whitner, the name having been
corrupted to Weidner and Widner. It also shows that he had one son, Harvey,
who was made executor of his will, and five daughters: Eve Miller, Barbara
DeVolt, Catherine Clark, Mary Cox, and Elizabeth Roller. The name of his wife
was Barbara. He left to his heirs 2,000 acres of land on the Tennessee river
in Grainger county, Tenn., and he also left several negro slaves and a sum of
money. He was a carpenter by trade and left his tools to his son Henry, who
was the grandfather of Mrs. Whiteman, and was born in Tennessee, and married,
in that state, Margaret Glick, and to them were born Matthias, Lewis, Henry,
John, Roller and Michael. Henry Weidner remained in Tennessee until he was an
old man. In 1826 he sold his property and moved with three sons and one
daughter-John, Michael, Roller, and Barbara~to Indiana, and settled in Ross
township. There were probably three other families living in the township at
that time-the families of Sol Miller, Daniel Underhill and Peter Sink. The
country was a howling wilderness, with no roads, and the Weidners cut a trail
from Dayton, Ind., five miles through the woods, and lived the first winter in
a log shanty with no floor. Mr. Weidner entered 160 acres of land and all his
children likewise made entries. He was too old to do much work after he came
to the county, but hired his land partly cleared, and remained here until his
death, which occurred at the age of eighty-seven years. He was a typical
American pioneer, and in his last days became a member of the German Baptist
church. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was wounded in the
battle of Trenton and carried the scar on his face to his grave. Daniel
Weidner, of Ross township, remembers him well. From Henry, by his son Roller,
descends Mrs. Whiteman.
From:A Portrait and Biographical Record of Boone and Clinton Counties, Ind.,
Containing Biographical Sketches of Many Prominent and Representative
Citizens, Together with Biographies and Portraits of all the Presidents of the
United States, and Biographies of the Governors of Indiana.
Published by A.W. Bowen & Co. in Chicago 1895. pp.890-891.
transcribed by Chris Brown