Born to William Whitney (1817-1895) & his first wife, Mary A. Russell/Ressell Whitney (1822-1858), who married Dec. 25, 1838, in Chillicothe, Ohio.

William Henry Whitney was an accomplished carpenter and builder in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

He married 1) Ann Deline Miller (1837-1864) on Jan. 15, 1860, in Mount Pleasant, IA.

Two children:
• Mary Frances Whitney Lamm (1861-1940)
• William Arthur Whitney (1863-1872)

After Ann died at age 27, William married 2) Nancy Ann Lambert (1848-1930) on Dec. 6, 1867 in Mt. Pleasant, IA, and they were living on S. Jefferson St. in Mount Pleasant in 1874. William & Nancy moved to Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa, about 1900. They settled in Kewanee, Henry County, IL, by 1910.

Four children:
• Charles Henry Whitney (1868-1931)
• John Louis Whitney (1870-1946)
• George Wesley Whitney (1871-1936)
• Edward Austin Whitney (1873-1936)

William & Nancy appear together in the 1910 Henry County, IL, census in Kewanee.

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From "Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County, Iowa," Chicago, Acme Publishing Company, 1888, p. 357:

WILLIAM HENRY WHITNEY, architect, carpenter and builder, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, was born in Ross County, Ohio, Feb. 7, 1840, and is the son of William and Mary A. [Ressel] Whitney, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Pennsylvania. They were married in Ross County, Ohio, to which point their respective families had moved at an early day. William, who traces his ancestry back to nearly 1400 -- is of English descent, and early in life learned the trade of a blacksmith, at which trade he worked for many years.

In 1845 he moved with his family to Indiana, locating first in Putnam County, where he remained a short time, and then moved to Montgomery, and later to Tippecanoe County, in the same State. While in Indiana, he combined farming with blacksmithing. In 1854 he moved to Mt. Pleasant, Henry Co., Iowa, where he remained a short time, working at his trade, and then moved to a farm in Marion Township, having entered 160 acres of land. Later he sold sixty acres, retaining the remainder till his removal to Nebraska, in February, 1888.

To William and Mary A. Whitney were born six children, of whom five are yet living. Mrs. Whitney dying in 1859, in 1861 Mr. Whitney wedded Ann Eliza Miller, by whom he had two children. For many years William Whitney has been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

When the family came to Iowa, William H. Whitney, of whom we write, was fourteen years of age. He soon afterward engaged to learn the carpenter's trade, which he mastered, and in 1860 married Miss Angelina (Note: should be Ann Deline) Miller, daughter of Arthur Miller. Two children were born of their union: Mary F., born Nov. 15, 1861, and William A., born June 21, 1863. The former is now living in Colorado, and the latter died July 15, 1872. Mrs. Whitney died shortly after the birth of her second child, and Dec. 6, 1867, Mr. Whitney wedded Miss Nancy A. Lamb (Note: should be Lambert), daughter of Jacob and Sidney [Terrell] Lamb. She was born March 10, 1848, in Fulton County, Ill. Four children were born of the latter marriage, all sons. Charles H. was born Sept. 25, 1868; John L., Jan. 12, 1870; George W., July 17, 1871; Edwin, March 2, 1873.

Mr. Whitney has been engaged in his occupation of contracting and building for upward of twenty-five years, and in that time has erected many of the best public and private buildings in Henry County, among which may be mentioned the residences of P. Summers, Walter Gamage, James Harlan, Jacob Housman, Le Grand Chandler, Wesley Greenfield, Daugherty and Comick. The Catholic Church, at Mt. Pleasant, destroyed by the cyclone of July, 1882, was rebuilt by him (Note: demolished in 2011), and in the summer and fall of 1887 he erected a handsome church building for the Methodist Episcopal Society of New London (Note: 7 miles E of Mt. Pleasant). He is a first-class mechanic and a fine draughtsman.

Politically Mr. Whitney is a Democrat, and socially a member of the K. of L. and the Good Templars. In the latter body Mrs. Whitney is also a member. Both are members of the Christian Church, at Mt. Pleasant, in which they take a lively interest, generally being found in their accustomed place during the hours of worship.

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Some biographical info above confirmed through "The Whitney Family of Connecticut & its Affiliations from 1649 to 1878" by Stephen Whitney Phoenix, 1878:

William Henry Whitney, b. in Kingston, Ohio, 7 Feb. 1840; a carpenter and builder; married (1st) 15 Jan. 1860, in Mount Pleasant to Ann Deline Miller, who was born in Columbia, Indiana, 13 Dec. 1837, dau. of Rev. Arthur and Rebecca (Wherret) Miller. Ann died 28 June 1864 in Mount Pleasant.

He was married (2d), 6 Dec. 1867, in Mount Pleasant to Nancy Ann Lambert, who was born in Fairview, Ill., 3 March 1848, dau. of Jacob and Sydney (Feral) Lambert (b.1813 in IL. They were living in S. Jefferson Street, Mount Pleasant, in Aug. 1874.

Children of William Henry and Nancy Ann (Lambert) Whitney:
1. Charles Henry Whitney, b. at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, 25 Sept. 1868.
2. John Lewis Whitney, b. at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, 12 Jan. 1870
3. George Wesley Whitney, b. at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, 17 July 1871
4. Edward Austin Whitney, b. at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, 2 March 1873