William Whiting II

William Whiting
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 11th[1] district
In office
March 4, 1883  March 3, 1889
Preceded by George D. Robinson
Succeeded by Rodney Wallace
3rd Mayor of the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts
In office
1878–1879
Preceded by Roswell P. Crafts[2]
Succeeded by William Ruddy[2]
2nd Treasurer of the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts
In office
1876–1877
Preceded by Charles W. Ranlet[2]
Succeeded by Charles W. Ranlet[2]
Massachusetts State Senate
In office
1873–1874
School Committee of the Town of Holyoke, Massachusetts
In office
1868[3]  1868[3]
Personal details
Born May 24, 1841
Dudley, Massachusetts
Died January 9, 1911(1911-01-09) (aged 69)
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Anna Fairfield Whiting[4]
Children William Fairfield Whiting, Samuel Raynor Whiting[5]
Residence Holyoke, Massachusetts
Alma mater Amherst College
Occupation Paper Maker
Religion Congregationalist[6]
Signature

William Whiting (May 24, 1841 – January 9, 1911) was an American businessman and politician from Holyoke, Massachusetts. Whiting descended from an English family who first settled in Lynn, Massachusetts during 1636.[4]

Whiting was born in Dudley, Massachusetts, May 24, 1841. Whiting attended public schools and graduated from Amherst College.[4]

Whiting worked for the Holyoke Paper Company and the Hampden Paper Company. At the age of 17 Whiting started at the Holyoke Paper Company working first as a bookkeeper. After three years working as a clerk, Whiting became a salesman first working out of the company's main office and later working as a commercial traveling salesman.[7] Whiting organized the Whiting Paper Company in Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1865.[8] In 1865, Whiting built his first mill followed by another in 1872.[8] When the Whiting Paper Company was first formed. L.L. Brown of South Adams, Massachusetts was president and Whiting was agent and treasurer. Whiting later became president and his son, William Fairfield Whiting, became treasurer.[8]

Whiting later organized the Collins Paper Company and built a paper mill in North Wilbraham, Massachusetts.[8]

Political career

Whiting was a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1873; city treasurer of Holyoke in 1876 and 1877; mayor of Holyoke in 1878 and 1879; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1876 and 1896; elected as a Republican to the Forty-eighth, Forty-ninth, and Fiftieth Congresses (March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1889).

After politics

Whiting was not a candidate for renomination in 1888. He was a commissioner to the Exposition Universelle in Paris, France, in 1900, and resumed his former manufacturing pursuits.

Whiting died in Holyoke on January 9, 1911 and was interred in Forestdale Cemetery in Holyoke.[4]

Family

William Whiting's son William F. Whiting was a close friend and adviser to President Calvin Coolidge.[4] Serving for a time as United States Secretary of Commerce.

William Whiting

References

  1. Poore, Ben: Perley (1884), Official Congressional Directory, Washington, D.C.: United States Congress, p. 42.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Copeland, p. 17
  3. 1 2 Copeland, p. 39
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Clark, p. 155
  5. Clark, pp. 155-156
  6. Cutter, William Richard (1910), Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts, New York, N.Y.: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., p. 980.
  7. White, James Terry (1910), The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time. Supplement 1, New York, N.Y.: J.T. White and Co., p. 481.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Weeks, Lyman Horace (1916), A history of paper-manufacturing in the United States, 1690-1916, New York, N.Y.: The Lockwood Trade Journal Company, p. 247.
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
George D. Robinson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 11th congressional district

March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1889
Succeeded by
Rodney Wallace
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