Notable Descendants of my 10th Great Grandfather, Captain John Whipple.
As an addendum to my recent post about my 10th Great Grandfather, John Whipple, I discovered that he is the ancestor of many notable people.
Meet some of my cousins from my Rhode Island line of Whipple's...
- Ipswich (Mass.) Whipples
- Rhode Island Whipples
Colonial America
Most present-day Whipples are probably descendants of immigrants to colonial America from England in the early 1600s. At least two groups of Whipples settled in America at that time. One is represented by Captain John Whipple, who settled in Providence, Rhode Island, after living for a period of time in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The other group is represented by John and Matthew Whipple (sons of Matthew "the Elder" Whipple), who migrated from Bocking, Essex, England, and settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Among the descendants of this group are U.S. Presidents, social reformers, inventors, manufacturers, statesmen, explorers, and many others.
Notable among Afro-American Whipples is Prince Whipple, originally a slave of (later freed by) General William Whipple, who signed the Declaration of Independence. Other Afro-American Whipple branches exist, but are not yet known to this website.
- Stephen Hopkins
- Signer of the Declaration of Independence and governor of colonial Rhode Island. (His brother, Esek, was Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy. Their niece, Sarah Hopkins, married Commodore Abraham Whipple,)
- Marion (Whipple) Rathbone
- Probably the first Whipple in America, Marion and her husband, Richard Rathbone, are believed to have sailed from England aboard the ship Speedwell in about 1621, settling in New England
- Abraham Whipple
- Commodore in the U.S. Navy during the American Revolution. (Visit The Commodore's Page on this site.) Abraham led the American colonies' first open, armed opposition to British forces in the burning of the ship Gaspee (see www.gaspee.org) on June 10th, 1772. (One of Abraham's ships--the Katy--was rechristened the Providence. See www.sloopprovidence.org.)
- John Whipple ("Captain")
- Previously thought to be the first Whipple in America. (In fact, he might still be the first!) As a youth, John sailed aboard the Lyon from England to Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1631 or 1632. Some 26 years later, in 1658, he moved with his wife and children to Rhode Island. (See this site's Two Immigrants Named John.)
- John Whipple ("Elder")
- With his brother Matthew, migrated from Bocking England to Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1638. Son of Matthew. This John is frequently confused with Captain John (the one who eventually settled in Providence, Rhode Island). (See this site's Two Immigrants Named John. John's will at https://www.hertge.com/wills/whipplej.htm)
- Joseph Whipple III
- Joseph III and his father Joseph Jr. both served as deputy governors of Rhode Island. Joseph III's portrait appears on this web site.
- Prince Whipple
- New Hampshire's foremost black representative of America's Revolutionary War. Named after his master, General William Whipple. (See more at https://www.whipple.org/prince)
- Samuel Whipple
- Settled near the Connecticut village of Poquetannoc in 1712. His descendants who remained in the Groton/Ledyard area became members of John Rogers' Rogerene community in Quakertown (in the southern part of Ledyard, Connecticut).
- William Whipple
- Signer of the Declaration of Independence from New Hampshire. (See William Whipple, Signer of the Declaration of Independence on this site.)
United States
As the colonies united to form the United States, Whipple ranks were joined by native Americans and immigrants from Ireland, Austria/Germany and Prussia. (View the U.S. distribution of Whipples in 1850, 1880, 1920 and 1990.) Whipples left the U.S. to settle in Australia, Chile and the Dominican Republic.
- Susan B. Anthony
- Pioneer in the women's rights movement.
- Latimer Whipple Ballou
- U.S. Representative from the 2nd Rhode Island district, 1875-1881.
- Clara Barton
- Founder of the Red Cross.
- William Jennings Bryan
- Husband of a Rhode Island Whipple, he was an American politician and orator who ran (unsuccessfully) for U.S. President three times. Read his biography by Doug Linder.
- John Lester Hubbard Chafee
- Governor of Rhode Island 1962-1969; U.S. Secretary of the Navy, 1969-1972; U.S. Senator from Rhode Island 1977-1999.
- Lincoln D. Chafee
- U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, elected 2000, to serve until 3 Jan 2007.
- Montgomery "Monty" Clift
- Acted in numerous movies, including Freud (1962), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Raintree County 1957), From Here to Eternity (1953), Red River(1948), and The Search (1948)..
- Calvin Coolidge
- 30th President of the United States (1923-1929). (Both of his parents are descendants; so is his wife!)
- Lloyd Espenschied
- Research and development engineer at Bell Labs. Among his 130 U.S. Patents are the coaxial cable, the radio altimeter, and radar.
- Arthur Fenner, Jr.
- Governor of Rhode Island, 1789-1805.
- James Fenner
- Elected as U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, he served from March 4, 1805, to September 1807, when he resigned to become Governor of Rhode Island 1807-1811, 1824-1831, 1843-1845. He was presidential elector, 1821 and 1837; and president of the Rhode Island constitutional convention, 1842.
- John Brown Francis
- Governor of Rhode Island 1833-1838.
- Robert Goddard
- Pioneer of rocket science (for whom NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is named).
- Ty Hardin
- Television and motion picture actor. His credits include Bronco Layne, Merrill's Marauders, PT 109 and others (see more complete list of credits).
- Charles W. Lippitt
- Elected governor of Rhode Island in 1895.
- Henry F. Lippitt, Sr.
- Elected governor of Rhode Island in 1875.
- Henry F. Lippitt, Jr.
- Served as a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island from 1911 to 1917.
- H.P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft
- Writer of "wierd fiction." (His tale, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, is reviewed on this site.) Visit his web site at www.hplovecraft.com.
- James Russell Lowell
- Best known as a poet, he was also a noted editor, literary critic, lecturer, teacher, scholar, reformer and diplomat who played an important part in the cultual life of the United States.
- Horace Mann
- Called the "Father of the Common Schools," Horace Mann played a leading role in establishing the United States' elementary school system. Visit PBS's page on Horace Mann.
- Joel McCrea
- Perhaps best known as a star in American Western movies, he also played leading roles in non-Westerns, and has a star in Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Among his numerous movies are titles like Ride the High Country (1962), Stars in My Crown (1952) and Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent. (See what Google's search service retrieves for Joel McCrea.) His wife Frances Dee and son Jody McCrea were/are likewise noted actors/personalities.
- Ransom Eli Olds
- Originator of Oldsmobile cars.
- John Sargent Pillsbury
- Governor of Minnesota from 1876 to 1882, he founded Pillsbury Mills with his brother George and nephew Charles.
- Charles Pratt
- One of the large owners of the Standard Oil Company (in association with John D. Rockefeller, Stephen Harkness, William G. Warden, and others), Charles founded and endowed the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Joe Redington
- Founder of Alaska's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome.
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- 32nd President of the United States (1933-1945).
- Tom Von Ruden
- A world class middle distance runner in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Tom was a member of the United States Olympic team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He twice (February 1970 and February 1971) set the world record in the 1000 meter run. On the latter occasion, he held the world record for almost five years.
- Henry Hastings Sibley
- First Governor of the State of Minnesota (1858-1860).
- Ryan Tedder
- Singer, songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic. He has an independent career as songwriter and producer for numerous artists. One of his YouTube videos has over 2 billion views. Read more in Wikipedia.
- James Alfred Van Allen
- In the 1950s, instruments he designed and placed aboard the first U.S. satellite, Explorer One, discovered the bands of radiation surrounding the Earth--now called the Van Allen Radiation Belts. The Van Allen Belts explain (for example) the aurora borealis ("northern lights") seen in the northern latitudes. Van Allen died 9 Aug 2006 in Iowa City, Iowa. Related sites:
- A.B.C. (Addison Beecher Colvin) "Cal" Whipple
- An executive editor at Time-Life Books. He authored a number of books on a variety of subjects, including some on ships and manners.
- Allen Oldfather Whipple
- Professor of surgery at Columbia University, 1921-1946, who developed the "Whipple operation" for treatment of pancreatic cancer.
- Amiel Weeks Whipple
- Explorer of the southwestern U.S., topographical engineer, and military general and defender of Washington, D.C., during the U.S. Civil War, where he was mortally wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. From the 1860s until 1881, Fort Myer (Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia) was named Fort Whipple, in his honor. Read more at https://www.whipple.org/amiel.
- Charles Ayer Whipple
- Portrait painter and mural artist. He spent seven years (1921-1928) retouching the famous Brumidi paintings in the first floor Senate wing of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. His portrait of President McKinley is in the the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
- Charles W. Whipple
- Appointed Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court in 1848. He was a delegate to the state Constitutional Convention in 1850 and served in a variety of other capacities.
- Chris C. Whipple
- Former producer at CBS News 60 Minutes and ABC News PrimeTime, and creator of the hit show What Would You Do?
- Edwin Percy Whipple
- Boston author and lecturer. His biographers state that (although "time has passed him by") in the mid-nineteenth century "he was surpassed only by Poe and James Russell Lowell [his 7th cousin, see above] as an informed, judicious, and comprehensive critic."
- Frances Harriet Whipple Green McDougall
- Poet, novelist, essayist, abolitionist, suffrage advocate, spiritualist. Active first in Rhode Island and New England, she migrated to San Francisco in 1861. Read Sarah C. O'Dowd's biography and analysis of her life and literary contributions.
- Frank Whipple, Jr.
- Creator of the "Whimsical Nuns" paintings sold at Laguna Originals Gallery (Laguna Beach, California). You can now purchase Frank's Whimsical Nuns paintings as greeting cards from Whipple's Wimples. Collectors of Frank's paintings include Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson, and others. (Source: lauraewc@aol.com)
- Fred Lawrence Whipple
- Astronomer. He was Chairman of Department of Astronomy, Harvard University, 1949-1956, and Director of the Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory, beginning in 1955. Arizona's Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory bears his name.
- George C. Whipple III
- New York society reporter. George hosts Whipple's World on NY1. (See George in the Photo Gallery.)
- George Hoyt Whipple
- Recipient of the 1934 Nobel Prize in Medicine. (See his biography and a photograph of his childhood home on this site. That home is now the Whipple House Museum in Ashland, New Hampshire.)
- Guy Montrose Whipple
- American psychologist and editor.
- Henry Benjamin Whipple (Bishop)
- The first Episcopal bishop of Minnesota.
- John Adams Whipple
- Boston photographer who was the first in the United States to take up the manufacture of chemicals that were used in the daguerreotype process. Read Historic Camera's biography of John Adams Whipple
- John N. Whipple
- The husband of Eva Dalton of the notorious Dalton Gang of Kansas and surrounding states.
- Joseph Reed Whipple
- Boston hotel owner and manager. (See his biography on this site.)
- Manley Nehemiah Whipple
- Manley (1814-1843) and two of his grand children, Charles Burgess and Ella Agnes Burgess Sneary, drew a series of pencil sketches that are the subject of a set of pages on the Whipple Website.
- Robert Eugene Whipple
- The first of a line of Irish Whipples that immigrated to the United States from County Cork, Ireland, in the early 1800s. (See genealogist Blaine Whipple's Why They Left The Emerald Isle.) Among Robert's descendants are one of two Whipple families that currently live in Australia. That family moved from Kansas to Australia via New Zealand in 1970. The other family migrated to Perth from Hawaii, about 100 years ago. (Source: Tricia Whipple)
- S.A. (Seth Arca) Whipple
- Born in Michigan in 1855, S.A. is noted for his paintings of ore boats and scenes in the Great Lakes region of the U.S.
- Sampson E. "Sam" Whipple
- "American actor best remembered for his role as Dr. John Ballard on the TV series Seven Days. His credits include The Doors, Airheads, This Is Spinal Tap, ... The Rock [and many others]." (Source: Wikipedia.) Additional credits appear at https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0924196/.
- Squire Whipple
- Civil engineer, "The father of American bridge building." (See his biography on this site.)
- Thomas "Red Legs" Whipple (Chief)
- Sioux Indian Chief who lived in southern Minnesota in the 19th century. "Forced" to take a "European" name, he chose Thomas Whipple, and named his son Benjamin Whipple, after Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple, Episcopal Bishop of Minnesota, a vocal advocate of the rights of native Americans. (Source: mrmickeyd@webtv.com)
- Walter Whipple
- Silent screen star who started his acting career on the stage in Oakland and San Francisco, Calif. He reportedly taught Lon Chaney how to mix and apply make-up. Walter starred in "Squaw Man" on the stage in San Francisco. Although not listed in the credits, Walter was in the silent film "Hell's Hinges" with Wm. S. Hart? (Source: Katherine Ruth Neal, Walter's granddaughter)
- Wayne Whipple
- Author. At age 49 he "began writing and gave up all other interests, ... producing the equivalent of fifty books, including newspaper and magazine syndicate articles, and at sixty began writing for the motion picture industry." He designed the Whipple Flag.
- William Denison Whipple (Major General)
- Chief of Staff in the Army of Cumberland in the Civil War, and later on the staffs of Generals Sherman and Sheridan. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington Virginia .
- Winfield "Win" Whipple
- Born in Crowley, Louisiana, Win grew up in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He is remembered in Arkansas sports history for The Jump, on May 5, 1933, at the annual state high school track meet at the College of the Ozarks at Clarksville. Read his biography by Larry Don Frost.
- Tennessee Williams
- American playwright best known for The Glass Menagerie (1945) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1947).
- Lothrop Withington, Jr
- Harvard freshman and football captain and noted goldfish swallower. After earning an extra $10 for swallowing a goldfish at the Harvard's Freshman Union on 3 Mar 1939, Lothrop remarked, "The scales caught a bit on my throat as it went down." (See Swallowing Goldfish.)
- Brigham Young
- Colonizer of the American West and second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Edson Whipple (of Rhode Island descent) accompanied Brigham on his first journey to the Salt Lake Valley. (Edson's autobiography appears on this site.) Nelson Wheeler Whipple and Eli Whipple followed soon after.
- Steve Young
- Quarterback for the San Francisco '49ers.
