The Naming of the Canyon and John H. Whitney

On January 25, 1888, records show (see below) that John H. Whitney bought about 36 acres for cash from the government near the mouth of today's Whitney Canyon. On April 9, 1900, he bought 156 acres next to, and east of, his earlier purchase also for cash from the government. This map from between 1906 and 1910 shows the land that Whitney owned (from "Petroleum in Southern California", by Paul W. Prutzman, Bulletin 63, California State Mining Bureaum, 1913).

In the Twelfth Report of the State Mineralogist for the Two Years Ending September 15, 1894 (p. 354), the canyon is called "Mud Springs Canon", the earliest reference to that name that I can find. Bulletin 63, 1913, of the California State Mining Bureau says "Mud Springs Canyon". Bulletin 753 from 1924 says "Mud Springs Canyon or Whitney Canyon". In 1934, Walling writes of "Whitney (or Mud Springs) Canyon". In 1943, Kew in Bulletin 118 writes only of "Whitney Canyon". Only Whitney Canyon is used after that. Apparently, between 1934 and 1943 the canyon "officially" became Whitney Canyon.

John H. Whitney

John Henry Whitney was born on December 2, 1850, in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. He would grow to 5' 10" and had blue eyes.

1860 US Census for Camdon, Ohio, showing the Whitney family. John's father is Joshua and one of his brothers is William, who would be living with him in 1880. John was born in Pennsylvania. His mother's name is unusual.

According to Mrs. Whitney (in her divorce papers), they were married on February 6, 1875, in Canton (Stark County), Ohio. According to Ohio Marriages 1800-1958, Amanda Krum married John N. Whitney on February 8, 1875, with the marriage license obtained on February 6. Amanda was born about 1857 in Pennsylvania.

In the U.S. Census of 1880 for the San Fernando Township (see image below), there is a listing for 28-year old John Whitney born about 1851 in Pennsylvania. He has a 23-year old wife Amanda (poorly written). They also have a 5-year old son Willie, and a 3-year old daughter Mable. Also living with them is John's 26-year old brother William B (along with boarder Frank Horne). John's son Willie was born in California, so John must have been in the state by 1875, which is what Mrs. Whitney says in the divorce papers. A second daughter named Nettie was born in the early 1880's.

Los Angeles Voter Registers (1866-1898) show John, age 28, living in Ravenna as a carpenter in 1879. By 1884 the voter registers show him in Newhall as a carpenter. In fact, he was working at the refinery in Newhall (now the Pioneer Oil Refinery) some of the time. On the 1890 and 1896 registers, he is a farmer living in Newhall.

In the "History of Eternal Valley From 1769" booklet of 1958, A.B. Perkins writes

"J.H. Whitney, for whom Whitney Canyon was named, buried his three children in the cemetery one by one as they fell victim to the dread diphtheria plague. Willie, the first child of this early day homesteader and his wife, died just before his sixth birthday in 1881...then followed the tragic deaths of their daughters, Nettie at eight in 1884 and Mable 10, in 1888."

There is an error by Perkins here. The gravestones say that both girls died in 1888, Nettie on April 12 and Mable on April 18. There is an old photo (see below) showing both girl's gravestones, but not Willie's. Today, there is only one gravestone and it says Mable (see below). Perkins speculates that both the girls died from diptheria, but there is no documentation to support that. It could have also been the flu (sometimes called la grippe), which was also a problem in those days.

A (Amanda) E. Whitney filed divorce papers against J. H. Whitney on July 10, 1899 on grounds of mental cruelty (Case No. 33158, Dept. 5, Superior Court, Los Angeles County, California). She won her case and the decree of divorce was filed on August 10, 1899.

On August 15, 1900, John Whitney married Jennie Elizabeth Slocum in Los Angeles. She was born on October 11, 1859, in Austin Minnesota and would die in Los Angeles on September 16, 1939. The 1910 U.S. Census (see below) has 60 year old John living in Long Beach with his wife of 10 years, 51 year old Jennie E. They are also on the 1920 and 1930 Census in Long Beach.

On March 27, 1932, John Whitney died at the age of 81 (California Death Index for 1905-1939). Seven years later Jennie would die at the age of 79.

Whitney 1888 homestead patent for 35.32 acres (see the BLM/GLO land patent search page). He bought the land from the federal government. A patent gave him complete ownership of the land.

Whitney 1900 homestead patent for 155.79 acres bought for cash from the federal government

On the plat map I have enclosed the 1888 claim in green and the larger 1900 claim in yellow.

On a topo map, the two claims are shown. He owned a large part of Whitney Canyon.

The following two photos show Mable Whitney's headstone. Eternal Valley records for that burial Plot 118 only say that both site C and site D (of Plot 118) contain a baby Whitney, implying the remains of only two children. The problem is that there were three children and each had a headstone. Today, there is only one headstone. Are the two or three bodies in plot 118? An old photo of the original cemetery (see here for that photo) shows the second headstone for the other daughter - Nettie O. There was also a headstone for Willie, but it is gone, too. The old cemetery was located almost exactly where Eternal Valley is today. When the graves were moved to a new location, the headstones of Nettie and Willie Whitney were evidently discarded. Hopefully, all three remains are in this plot.

This small headstone in the middle of the picture is located in the Garden of Pioneers in the Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall, California. It hopefully marks the grave of all three Whitney children. (Photo taken on 9/6/2009.)

Moving closer, you can see how weathered it is, but you can begin to make out some of the words, in particular, the "J.H. & A. Whitney" in the middle. This stone is drenched with water when the sprinklers are on, so, unfortunately, it will eventually be unreadable. (Photo taken on 9/6/2009.)

Memory of [worn off]

Mable A.

Daughter of
J.H. & A. Whitney

Born
June 17, 1877
Died
April 18, 1888

Beneath this stone in soft repose,
is laid a mother's dearest pride
A flower that scarce had waked to life
and light and beauty ere it died.

Here is the Nettie's headstone from the old photo at the scvhistory website. Both girl's headstones were the same except for the names and dates. This headstone must have been disposed of when the new cemetery was built. Nettie O. died on April 12, 1888. The eulogy on both girl's headstones were the same. Since they died so close together, both headstones may have been made at the same time by the same person. That might explain both having the same eulogy on very similar headstones.

This is from the Newhall Signal of June 2, 1949. Here it is documented that all three Whitney had a headstone in the Whitney enclosure. It also gives the eulogy that was on Willie's headstone.

Here we have a comparison of the old Lyon's Station cemetery on the left (1933) and the outline of Eternal Valley Memorial Park on the right (1969). The old cemetery is within the boundary of the new cemetery.

On this 1927 trip to Hawaii, we learn the birthdate of John Whitney and his second wife Jennie.

From the California Death Index (1905-1939) we find both John and Jennie. Jennie died on September 16, 1939, age 79. John died on March 27, 1932, age 81.

From the Los Angeles Times of March 29, 1932. He died on March 27 not March 28. Whitney evidently worked at the Pioneer Oil Refinery in Newhall at one time. A story in the Los Angeles Times of November 6, 1930, reports that he attended the Pioneer Refinery dedication ceremony as one of the "pioneers".