Whiting, Charles E.

WHITING, CRINER

Posted By: Linda Ziemann (email)
Date: 7/24/2005 at 14:28:14

Hon. Charles E. Whiting. No man in Monona County enjoys a more wide spread and merited reputation than the old pioneer of Monona County whose name heads this sketch, and a condensed epitome of whose life it is our honor to present for the perusal of the rising generation. Coming to this county in its infancy in 1855, Judge Whiting has seen this county progress from an absolute wilderness to a prosperous and fertile land, covered with a numerous population, and has been a very important factor in its growth and development. After holding some of the more important offices in the gift of the people of the county, at the convention held by the State delegates in the summer of 1885, he received the nomination of Democratic candidate for Governor of the State, and willingly accepted the unthankful, unremunerative and almost desperate duty of acting as standard bearer of party largely in the minority in Iowa. Notwithstanding this or his defeat, he can proudly point to the fact that although his own county is largely Republican, still his majority herein was almost one hundred over his more fortunate opponent, and that he reduced the majority against the party from 79,000 in 1880 to 5,349, coming the nearest to success of any of the candidates who preceded him.
Judge Whiting, as he is familiarly called, was born in Otsego County, N. Y. January 17, 1821, and is the son of Charles and Lorinda (Eveleth) Whiting, natives of Princeton, Worcester County, Mass., who had settled at the town of Butternuts, in the Empire State, in about 1815. When About three years of age, he was taken by his parents to Wayne County, N.Y., and in the spring of 1837 to Lake County, Ohio, where, upon a farm and pursuing the daily avocations of agricultural and bucolic life, as he has all his life, he remained with his parents until April 13, 1843. Having enjoyed excellent facilities for acquiring an education, of which he freely availed himself, he took up the burdens of life, and leaving the parental roof tree removed to Madison County, in the Northern part of Alabama, where, engaged in the dry goods and cotton trade, he remained until 1850. Reports from the golden lands of the West induced him to make the trip to California, by way of New Orleans and the Isthmus of Panama, and in that “land of the summer sun,” remained until the spring of 1853. Returning, via Panama and Aspinwall to New York, and thence to Ohio, to visit his parents, returned to Alabama, but closing up his affairs in that locality, a few weeks later came to Iowa, and locating in Iowa County, purchased a large tract of land known as the Old Homestead Place, formerly the reservation of the Musquakie Indians. Returning to Alabama for a short trip, he came back to this state, reaching Keokuk the morning of March 1, 1854.When he left his “sunny southern home” the air was balmy and sweet and the grass and trees wore their summer colors, but when he arrived at Keokuk, he found everything covered with snow and ice, and the biting chill of winter’s breath filled the air. On July 4, 1855, Mr. Whiting disposed of his place in Iowa County to its present owners, the Amana Society, a colony of German socialists, and investing his money in land warrants in Alabama, to which he took a trip for the purpose, came to Monona County, and with them in company with his brother, Newell A., purchased some 7500 acres of land. Here he had the usual experience of pioneer life, for there were then but few settlers within the limits of what is now Monona County, and in common with them suffered all the hardships attendant upon frontier life.
At the April election in 1857, Mr. Whiting was elected to fill the then very important office of County Judge of Monona County, and for two years presided at the head of its government. In 1864 he was elected member of the board of supervisors, and the next year chosen Chairman of that body. From that period until the close of 1870, he was found in his place upon the board, and most of the time in the chair. In 1874, receiving the nomination of the Democratic party for the position of Member of Congress, he made the race with Hon. Addison Oliver, and although suffering defeat in the district, carried his home county, where they both lived, by some sixty-three majority. In 1883 the Judge again met his old opponent, Judge Oliver, in the political field, and from him, this time, captured the office of State Senator, and served the district in that capacity for four years. Of his candidacy for Governor, we have already spoken.
Judge Whiting, September 7, 1848, was united in marriage with Miss Nancy Criner, a native of Madison County, Ala., and daughter of Isaac and Nancy (McCain) Criner. They have been the parents of six children: Julia C., the wife of M.B. Pullen, of Onawa: Ida (Mrs. E.M. Cassady) of Whiting: Will C., who married Miss Mamie Elliot, and lives in Whiting: Ella and Woodson, at home: and Edwin C., who married Miss Helen Waldron, and still makes his home with his parents.

Source: History of Monona County, Iowa 1890
Chicago National Pub. Co.
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NORTHWESTERN
IOWA
ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION
VOLUME III
1804-1926

C. E. WHITING

An important chapter in the annals of western Iowa is that which takes into
account the life and work of Charles E. Whiting. He was a man of ideals and
bent every energy toward their accomplishment. Moreover, his ideals were
attended by the most practical and beneficial results, and there stands today
not only a splendid modern town but also an equally splendid farming community
as the result of his labors and his progressive spirit. Investigation into
such a career as that of Judge Whiting is a verification of the words of George
Washington that farming is the most useful, as well as the most honorable,
occupation of man. A native of New York, Judge Whiting was born in Otsego
county, January 17, 1821, a son of Charles and Lorinda (Eveleth) Whiting, both
of whom were natives of Princeton, Worcester county, Massachusetts. They
became residents of Otsego county, New York, in 1815, and in 1824 removed to
Wayne county, New York, while in 1837 they became residents of Kirtland, Lake
county, Ohio.

Judge Whiting, who was reared upon the home farm near Kirtland, acquired an
excellent education, supplementing his public school course by study in the
Western Reserve Seminary. On the 13th of April, 1843, he left home and became
a resident of Madison county, Alabama, being at that time but twenty-two
years of age. There he engaged first in teaching school, but soon afterward
established a business for the sale of dry goods and the purchase of cotton. It
was at that period that the Mississippi was the great highway of trade
between the north and the south. In Alabama, Judge Whiting was joined by his
brother, Newell A., who became his partner in business; but there were various
reasons which tended to prove to him that it was wiser for him not to continue
a resident of the south and in 1850 he went to California by way of New
Orleans and the Isthmus route. He staked out a claim in that state and remained
there for three years. He was a man of determined purpose - men knew that
what he said he would do. In an age when crime of all kinds was rife and when
it seemed that might made right, he had no trouble in retaining possession of
his claim and did this without having to use a gun. The party to whom he
sold his claim, however, was unable to hold it long against the claim jumpers.

After three years spent upon the Pacific coast, Judge Whiting returned to
Alabama and closed out his affairs there, after which he made a visit to his
parents in Ohio and then came to Iowa and established his home in Iowa county, a
little west of Iowa City. There by purchase and preemption he secured a
large tract of land, but in 1855, two years after his arrival in Iowa, German
socialists representing the Amana colony began buying land all around him and
he felt that it was only a question of time when he would be forced to move.
Receiving an advantageous offer for his property, he sold out. All through
the years he was entertaining high ideals concerning farm life, but up to this
time he had not found the opportunity to bring his ideals into play. He
wished to find an extensive tract of fertile land which he could obtain cheap and
upon which he and his brothers might work out for themselves and their
descendants their idea of rural civilization. He remembered the tales of an old
trapper, whom he had met in Iowa county, that between the Missouri river and
the hills was a great valley in which two kinds of grass were growing. The one
was the bluestem, which is an indication that the land is well drained, and
the other the slough grass, indicating the need of drainage. Feeling that he
might have a chance to work out his idea if he could get several thousand
acres of that well drained Missouri valley land, Mr. Whiting started out in
search of it, following the wagon trail which is now the main line of the
Northwestern Railroad. He chanced to come across John I. Blair, then president of
the Northwestern, who was following the same trail and, broadminded men as
both were, they found much of common interest between them. At length Mr.
Whiting left the wagon road and made his way northward into Woodbury county. Still
he was not thoroughly satisfied and turned south again until he reached West
Fork township in Monona county, where the ground stretched away level,
covered with the tall bluestem grass, indicating little need of artificial
drainage. He started for Council Bluffs, determined to preempt and buy for himself
and his brothers as much of the land as he could get. In the evening he ran
across another party and incidentally learned that they were bent on the same
errand. This party had a light rig, while Mr. Whiting and his friends were
driving a heavy one. He knew that if they started at the same time in the
morning the other party would outdistance him, so in the night he drove on,
reaching Council Bluffs first and securing for himself and his brothers seven
thousand acres, some of which he preempted, while the remainder he secured at
the government price of a dollar and a quarter per acre.

The next year four of his brothers joined him, leaving one son in Ohio to
care for their mother. The five men started to make homes on the wild prairie.
All the hardships and privations of pioneer life confronted them. There was
no market for farm products. There were no railroads; mosquitoes and flies
were a great pest in the low lands; and when they planted corn the harvest
proved of poor quality, but every fall Mr. Whiting picked out the best raised
and used it for seed in the spring. There was no imported stock and he sent
to the east for pure bred shorthorn cattle and Berkshire hogs. It was the
common opinion that the tame grasses would not grow in that region, but during
the period of his early residence there Mr. Whiting sent east for blue grass
and clover seed and with the building of the railroad in 1867 he brought in a
carload of blue grass seed. From the time of his arrival he continuously
carried forward the work of development along all lines leading to the
improvement of a model farm. He cared little for the towns and cities, but made the
most of his opportunity for farm development. However, when it was proposed to
build the Northwestern from Sioux City to Council Bluffs, Mr. Blair learned
that Mr. Whiting and his brothers were settled on land across which the
railroad must pass and established the town which he called Whiting in compliment
to his acquaintance of former years.

Judge Whiting was a great lover of flowers, fruits and trees. In the early
days his garden and orchard were noted throughout the country around. He had
to experiment with fruit before he could find the qualities which would do
the best. The rich prairie soil would cause very rapid growth, but the hard
freeze of winter would kill the stock. At length he learned from the Iowa
Agricultural College to use the Russian varieties of apples, which proved hardy,
and by experiment he found that if he planted grapes at more than the ordinary
depth they would survive the winter. He experimented with other fruits
until he found what could be produced upon his land and he had every reason to
feel justifiable pride in his orchards and vineyards. He also sent out
hundreds of walnut trees and many acres were planted to cottonwoods and maples. In
some places where they have been planted on both sides of the road their
branches now interlace.

Judge Whiting was also largely interested in live stock and became one of
the big cattle feeders of western Iowa, feeding as many as eight hundred head
of cattle at a time. These he would buy in Minnesota, the Dakotas and
northern Iowa. The improvements which he placed upon his farm, too, were of the
best. He used the best machinery which he could secure and erected substantial
buildings, and at the time he built his residence it was probably one of the
ten finest homes in the state and was the first in Monona county to be
equipped with water, gas light and furnace heat. The interior finishing is black
walnut, which gives to the house a most handsome appearance. Of the seven
thousand acres of land which Judge Whiting secured practically all is still in
possession of the family at the present time, and the ideas which dominated
his work are still in force in the Whiting community.

On the 7th of September, 1848, in Madison county, Alabama, Judge Whiting was
united in marriage to Miss Nancy Criner, a native of that county and a
daughter of Isaac and Nancy (McCain) Criner. She passed away in Whiting, Iowa,
and was the mother of the following children: Julia, who is the widow of M. B.
Pullen, of Onawa, Iowa; Ida, who gave her hand in marriage to E. M. Cassady,
of Whiting; Hon. Will C. Whiting, merchant, banker, lumberman, landowner and
stock breeder of Whiting and former state senator; Ella, the wife of Charles
G. Holmes, who is proprietor of the Wayside farm of the Whiting settlement
of Monona county and is known as a prominent agriculturist and a successful
dairyman and breeder of registered pure bred Holstein cattle; Woodson, who gave
her hand in marriage to Chalmer S. Cozine, of Whiting; and Edwin M., a
resident of Whiting, Iowa.

While never a lawyer, Mr. Whiting was elected the first judge of Monona
county, being called to the office in 1857. He filled the office of supervisor
from 1864 to 1870, and in 1874 he was the democratic nominee for congress. In
1883 he was elected a member of the state senate and in 1885 he was a
candidate for governor. Although the state gave a large normal republican
majority, he succeeded in reducing this from seventy-nine thousand to five thousand,
three hundred and forty-nine - a defeat amounting almost to a victory and one
which indicated his wide personal popularity and the high regard entertained
for him. Judge Whiting was ever deeply interested in the welfare of county
and state and cooperated in many plans for the public good, yet his chief
interest was in the farm, and the standards which he established and inculcated
in Monona county have had a most farreaching influence in keeping high the
standards of farm labor and methods in his part of the state. His life was
indeed an element for good. He pushed forward the wheels of progress, and it
will be long ere the influence of the impetus which he gave will cease to be
felt.
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The Whiting Family

The Whiting family name has been prominent in the agricultural and commercial development of Monona County since 1855 when brothers Charles E., and Newell A. Whiting invested in farm lands in the Whiting vicinity. Concluding the wagon making business near Huntsville, Alabama, the families in 1857 established residence locally. Charles E. developed the Whiting Settlement engaging in farming while Newell A. pioneered a hardware business in Onawa.

Newell A and Eliza Whiting were the parents of Charles I and Eva (Whiting) Pike. Charles I Whiting, after attending business school in Des Moines set out to expand the family business into new areas. Impressed with the potential of the New Mapleton community, he with his uncle Baxter in the fall of 1877 built a two story building in Mapleton to house the hardware establishing of Whiting & Company, and later that of the Mapleton Bank. Charles I. Whiting continued as president of the Bank for the remainder of his lifetime.

In 1879 Charles I, married Flora E. Giddings, daughter of James D. and Mary Giddings of Onawa. To this union were born, Mary, Flora and Charles G. Whiting. Following his graduation from the University of Iowa Law School Charles G. married Agnes Hester, daughter of the Wm. Hesters of DesMoines, and became associated with his father in the Mapleton Bank. Born to Charles G. and Agnes were Flora (Whiting) Baker and James G. Following a period of service with the Army Air Corps James G. Whiting with his bride Jean Stewart (Wilson) purchased a home in Mapleton where James gained employment with the Mapleton Bank.

James and Jean raised three children, Sue Hoyt, James Thomas and Craig William. Charles R md Sue Ragan and live with their daughters Lisa Merideth and Laura Jean in Elk River, Minnesota. Craig is married to Julie (Ponath) residing with their daughter Elizabeth in Lakeshore Village, Minnesota. James T. and his wife Diane (Peld) and the two boys, Christopher Rodney and Spencer Charles maintain their home in Hudson, Wisconsin.

Charles G. Whiting continues his duties as Chairman of the Board of the Mapleton Trust & Savings Bank, James G. of Mapleton and Lakeshore Village, Minn. Continues as President of the institution. Craig W. is a vice president of the Nisswa State Bank of Nisswa, Minn. And James T. is an officer with the Minnesota Federal Savings and Loan Assn. of the Twin Cities, Minnesota.

Submitted by James G. Whiting
Source: History of Monona County, Iowa 1982
Taylor Pub. Co.
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Charles Edwin Whiting
My grandfather, Charles Edwin Whiting, was born in New York State but went to Alabama as a young man to teach school. He married one of his pupils, Nancy Criner, who gave a touch of the South to our family. At the time of the gold rush Grandfather went to California by way of the Panama Canal to earn his fortune.
Before the Civil War Grandfather and Grandfmother moved north to Ohio and then on to Iowa. As the Amana people began moving in around them they decided to go further west. According to family tradition Grandfather rode his horse to Council Bluffs where he spent the night. There he was told by others who were also searching for land that he should look for grass that grew as tall as his horse. That was the good land. Early the next morning he rode up the Missouri Valley and came to what is now the Whiting Settlement where the tall grass grew. There he settled in 1856.
When the railroad came through the valley the town that had grown up was named after Grandfather. In 1880 he built “Woodlawn”, a house of 19 rooms, large enough for his six children and all the guests who came in those days. By the time I was born Aunt Woodson, the youngest daughter, and Uncle Chalmer Cozine had taken over “Woodlawn.” My mother, Ella Whiting Holmes, inherited “Wayside”, a mile to the east. “The other brothers and sisters were settled around us so we had a very large Whiting family. All the cousins were a part of it.
I grew up on a farm with three older brothers, Edwin, Russell and Whiting. With no sisters to play with I spent most of my time with Whiting. We grew up almost like twins, hunting rabbits, fishing, riding horseback and playing baseball. I started school in the old brick school house at the age of four.
Whiting and I drove in to town from the eighth grade on. To this day I am grateful for a good basic education I received in the Whiting Public Schools. I am also grateful for the influence the Whiting Congregational Church had on my life.
On July 8th, 1925, I was married to Paul Anderson at “Woodlawn” where my mother and father had been married in 1889. The ceremony was performed by Uncle George Croker who married and buried all our family over a period of fifty years.
Many people will remember the day of our wedding as there was a hailstorm late that afternoon that wiped out all the crops.
John Holmes and his family are the only ones left in Whiting of our branch of the family to carry on the family traditions.
My life took me to Paris for 14 years and then to White Plains, New York. Now we are living in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. But after all these years my memories of those early days in Monona County are still green.

Contributor: Margaret Holmes Anderson
Source: History of Monona County, Iowa 1982
Taylor Pub. Co.
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