James Scollay Whitney

Who was James Scollay Whitney?

James Scollay Whitney was an American business executive and politician. He was the father of Henry Melville Whitney and William Collins Whitney, founders of the Whitney family business interests.

Whitney was born in 1811 in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, the son of Stephen Whitney, a merchant manufacturer. The family were descended from John Whitney of London, who settled in 1635 at Watertown, Massachusetts.

In 1835, when he was only 24, Whitney was elected and commissioned brigadier general of the 2nd Brigade of the Massachusetts State Militia, which he was largely influential in reorganizing. Upon succeeding to the management of his father's manufacturing business in 1838, he moved it to Conway, Massachusetts, where he became a large manufacturer.

Whitney married Laurinda Collins, a descendant of William Bradford. The Whitneys were the parents of two sons and four daughters, of whom the following received historical mention:

Henry Melville Whitney

William Collins Whitney

Susan Collins Whitney - married Henry F. Dimock

Lucy Collins "Lily" Whitney - married Charles T. Barney

A Jacksonian Democrat, Whitney was town clerk of Conway from 1843 to 1852.