One of the first attorneys to relocate from Urbana, Illinois to the newly formed city of West Urbana (in 1860 renamed Champaign), he and his father, Alfred M. Whitney, moved their law practice from Urbana to Champaign in 1855. He was one of seven charter members of Western Star Lodge No. 240 A.F. and A.M. in Champaign, Illinois. As a child, the family moved to Poughkepsie, New York where he began to work and earn a living when he was ten years old. He attended Augusta College, Augusta, Kentucky and, later, Farmers Colleger near Cincinnatti, Ohio. After his arrival in West Urbana, he met Abraham Lincoln and they became close friends. He married Sarah Anna Snyder on August 5, 1857. President Lincoln appointed him paymaster of volunteers during the Civil War. He served this post in the state of Kansas and remained there several years after the war. When the Whitney's moved back to Illinois, they settled in Chicago where he began practicing law. He authored a book, "Life on the Circuit With Lincoln", puyblished in 1895. For a time he relocated to Salem, Massachusetts, where he briefly engaged as a lecturer on Lincoln; however this venture proved to be unprofitable.
One of the first attorneys to relocate from Urbana, Illinois to the newly formed city of West Urbana (in 1860 renamed Champaign), he and his father, Alfred M. Whitney, moved their law practice from Urbana to Champaign in 1855. He was one of seven charter members of Western Star Lodge No. 240 A.F. and A.M. in Champaign, Illinois. As a child, the family moved to Poughkepsie, New York where he began to work and earn a living when he was ten years old. He attended Augusta College, Augusta, Kentucky and, later, Farmers Colleger near Cincinnatti, Ohio. After his arrival in West Urbana, he met Abraham Lincoln and they became close friends. He married Sarah Anna Snyder on August 5, 1857. President Lincoln appointed him paymaster of volunteers during the Civil War. He served this post in the state of Kansas and remained there several years after the war. When the Whitney's moved back to Illinois, they settled in Chicago where he began practicing law. He authored a book, "Life on the Circuit With Lincoln", puyblished in 1895. For a time he relocated to Salem, Massachusetts, where he briefly engaged as a lecturer on Lincoln; however this venture proved to be unprofitable.
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