Neil Whipple recently submitted a document to the Whipple One-Name Study (WONS) that gives information about three individuals named Nathan Whipple who lived in Upstate New York between the years 1770 through 1850. Those who have relatives named Nathan might want to study his document. Read his document on the Whipple One-Name Study web site.
Two years ago, the post entitled “Who Is Willard Whipple?” referred to the Whipple Avenue exit on U.S. Highway 101 south of San Francisco, on the west side of San Francisco Bay. Numbered 409, the led to Redwood City in San Mateo County.
Further study found another Whipple exit, across San Francisco Bay from Whipple Avenue. On the east side of the Bay, Interstate 880’s Whipple Road exit 24 leads to Union City.
Union City exit to Whipple Road on I-880
Because of its proximity to Redwood City (across the Bay), I initially imagined that Whipple Road might have been named after Willard Whipple.
It turns out that Whipple Road was named after three brothers who farmed on the Union City (east) side of the Bay:
The three were among the 13 children of Samuel Whipple and Phoebe Cleveland, both of whom were born in Duanesburg, Schenectady County, New York. Unlike the brothers Willard and Eli from Redwood City (who descended from Captain John Whipple of Providence, Rhode Island), Samuel descended from Matthew Whipple (brother of John) who migrated from Bocking, England, to Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1838.
John Cleveland Whipple and Edwin Whipple lived out their lives in California. (The San Francisco Chronicle, for example, reported John’s death date as 28 Aug 1905.) Their brother William married in San Francisco county, then returned to New York, where he died.
I was recently made aware of a page at the Historic Camera web site about John Adams Whipple (1822-1891) who pioneered photography in America during the 19th Century. He was the “first in the United States to take up the manufacture of chemicals that were used in the daguerreotype process.” He became the “most successful portrait photographer in Boston, with buildings and historical monuments his specialty.”
Mater certissima est – the mother is always certain.
The Facebook group of the Guild of One-Name Studies posted a link to an article by Nara Milanich entitled “Who’s your daddy? Don’t ask a DNA test.” It raises interesting questions about parentage. What is a father? Is biology the only way of determining who someone’s father is?
Several weeks ago Mona Leigh McCrea shared a link of a YouTube video of the life of her father, Joel McCrea, who has been called “One of the great stars of American Westerns, and a very popular leading man in non-Westerns as well.” — www.imdb.com
In 2010 I posted this photo of the Whipple Avenue exit in Redwood City California. At the time I wondered who the Whipple might be. Might it be Amiel Weeks Whipple, I wondered? He was an early explorer and surveyor of the American southwest.
Amanda (Whipple) White took these two photos while driving through Lingle, Wyoming, with her family on March 26, 2021. She sent them to the webmaster that same day. Continue reading Whipple Park, Lingle, Wyoming→
By the time of Amy‘s birth in 1606, the Matthew Whipple, Sr. family should have been able to celebrate Christmas in grand style. The citizens of Bocking and Braintree joyously celebrated the birth of Jesus. The inns, taverns, and alehouses were wreathed with Christmas greenery and within those warm, noisy, crowded places, good beer and ale and all the best wines were served. All houses from leading citizens to the lowly rat-catcher were open to hospitality. Few if any went hungry, including prisoners who received baskets of good things to eat and drink. Continue reading A Whipple Christmas in 1606→
There have been many Whipples named John, all of whom (hopefully) lived in house(s). This post discusses two of those houses, built in the 1600s in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island.
Recently Charlotte Gibbs Barsh posted two photos to the Whipple Website Facebook group. The photos were of a house in Glocester, Rhode Island. She also posted an email from Louis Doucett, the current owner of the house. Much of the remainder of this blog entry is quoted verbatim from Charlotte’s Facebook post. Continue reading Benajah Whipple House, Glocester, RI→
One of my relatives recently recommended a new book by David McCullough entitled The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal. (See the book at Amazon.com.)
On page 136 of the book, the author describes the difficulties of navigating the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to the Mississippi River. The “Falls” or “Rapids” at Louisville, Kentucky, were a dangerous two-mile stretch of whitewater rapids where the water level cascaded downward, ending up 26 feet lower. Experienced pilots were able to routinely guide smaller craft safely through the Falls. Continue reading Commodore Whipple vs. the Ohio River→
Twenty-two years ago in March 1997 (barely two months after the whipple.org domain was “purchased,” and before the Whipple Website existed), I received an email from Oscar Eduardo Whipple Ascui of Chile, telling of his ancestor John William Whipple, who emigrated from the U.S. to Chile in “about 1850.” I added John to my PAF database that I eventually used to create what is now the Whipple Database. A few years later he was among the initial Whipples to end up on the newly created Disconnected Whipples page. He has remained in the database unchanged since March 1997—until today. Continue reading Who Is John William Whipple, M.D., of Chile?→
Last week we visited the Grand Canyon (south rim) and nearby Sedona, Arizona, primarily to hike. Noting that Prescott is fairly close to Sedona, two of us drove to Prescott in search of Fort Whipple, named for Amiel Weeks Whipple.
By Weldon Whipple
As I was going through some old photos yesterday, I found a few that I took while visiting my daughter in England in August 2005. At the time I had realized that I am not a descendant of the Bocking/Ipswich Whipples, so I wasn’t particularly motivated to go see Bocking. Having a spare day, we decided to look for Bocking and St. Mary’s Church. (I am the Whipple Website’s Webmaster, after all, and I had already decided to accept all Whipples in the Whipple Genweb.) Continue reading Our Visit to St. Mary’s Church, Bocking, England→
SUMMARY: This post explores the possibility that young John Whipple of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and (later) Providence, Rhode Island, might be the same person as John Whaple or Whaples, who was baptized on 13 Dec 1618 at St. Mary and St. Lawrence Church in Great Waltham, Essex, England. (Great Waltham is about 10 miles — a 21-minute drive by car — from Bocking, Essex, England.)
Bennett Whipple recently submitted these two photos of the former home of Dr. Robert Lafayette Whipple. The home is now the property of the First Baptist Church of Cochran. The church named it “The Whipple House” in his honor. Continue reading The Whipple House in Cochran, Georgia→
I just received word that Blaine Whipple, perhaps the most prolific author of genealogical books on the Whipple Family, passed away on January 3, 2015. I will miss him! (Blaine’s wife Ines Mae [Peterson] Whipple passed away last year, on June 5, 2014.) Continue reading Blaine Whipple, 1930-2015, Genealogist Extraordinaire: R.I.P.→
Today as I was trying to answer an email question, I stumbled (again) across Appendix One (pp. 958-1015) in the first volume of Blaine Whipple’s monumental 4-volume work entitled 15 Generations of Whipples: Descendants of Matthew Whipple of Ipswich, Massachusetts, Abt 1590-1647 (Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9801022-0-8 [volume 1 only]; ISBN 978-09801022-4-6 [4-volume set]). While thumbing through its pages, page 969 caught my eye: Continue reading Thomas Whipple of Bishops Stortford Mentioned by Blaine Whipple→
We have more clues about Clara Whipple, the silent film actress blogged about on June 29. The following might help identify her:
Ancestry.com’s Motion Picture Studios Directory has two entries about the career of Clara Brimmer Whipple, born in Missouri, who attended school in a convent in Germany and finished her education in Switzerland.
During the rewrite of the Whipple Website over the past few months, I’ve rediscovered (and learned for the first time!) many fascinating factoids about Whipples. Here is one such example, submitted by Carla Armstrong in 1999. (See her original submission at on the main site). Continue reading Charles Whipple, Montana Bank Hero→
Addison Beecher Colvin “Cal” Whipple, war correspondent who became a Washington reporter for Life magazine in 1943, died on St. Patrick’s Day. Cal was responsible for publishing a controversial “Picture of the Week” in Life in 1943, next to an editorial about the reality of World War II. “War Bond sales skyrocketed; and the [government’s] censorship rule was abolished.” Continue reading A.B.C. Whipple, 1918-2013→
Frank Whipple, East [London] End legend, passed away on Wednesday, August 24, 2011, at the age of 103. He died at the Royal London hospital. He was known in East London as a “campaigner, football fanatic and devoted family man.” He was admired as the the U.K.’s oldest carer [caregiver] because of his dedication in taking care of his daughter Peggy, “born with severe special needs.” Read the entire article in the East London Advertiser. Continue reading Frank Whipple: Modern British Hero→
Bennett Whipple of Big Canoe, GA, forwarded me this account of his brother Lucian’s “experiences flying over Germany during World War II as a waist gunner on a B-24 from the 448th Group Air Base at Seething, England.” (The letter came to Bennett via email dated July 26, 2000.) Continue reading Lucian Whipple’s World War II Experiences Flying over Germany→
On a recent trip to California, I passed the Whipple Avenue exit several times when traveling between San Francisco and Silicon Valley on the U.S. 101 freeway. (Whipples are everywhere …) Continue reading Whipple Avenue→
Recent posts to Ancestry.com’s Whipple Message Board show ongoing confusion about the two Whipple families of Ipswich, Massachusetts and nearby Dorchester (now a part of Boston). A recent thread began on 9 Feb 2005:
The Whipples of Ipswich and Its Hamlet / as written and compiled by Raymond A. Whipple Jr. — 2d ed. — Beverly, MA : Minuteman Press, c2009. — 72 p. : ill. (some col.), coats of arms, facsimiles, genealogical tables, maps ; 28 cm. — ISBN 978-1-60402-000-7.
Which John?
I see there is still some doubt among Whipple researchers about exactly which John Whipple it was that sailed from England to New England in 1632. Since I am probably at least responsible for the continuing confusion, I should also help set the record straight. Continue reading John Whipple Sailed the Lyon to America→
Jeff Congdon sent this photo “from his iPhone.” This Whipple Street is in the Newport (RI) Naval Base. Jeff’s brother, Steven Whipple Congdon (a retired Coast Guard Commander), provided access to the otherwise restricted naval base. Continue reading Whipple Street in Newport, Rhode Island→
Last night I received the following query from a Whipple Website visitor:
Do you know of any tragedy to a child at any time on Whipple Road in Smithfield? We bought a house … and my daughter is “seeing” things and hearing things. Something about a young boy maybe around age 8 with blonde hair and brown eyes.
I received an email yesterday, telling me about Whipple cousin Noah Bean, who appears on the TV series Damages. (Hmmm… When was the last time I watched TV? I still have a television, don’t I? Does it still work?) Our cousin who sent this information says that Noah is the son of Ruth Harriet Whipple (/tng/getperson.php?personID=I121022&tree=whipple). Continue reading Noah Bean, Actor→
I just received a note from a (likely) cousin who traces her ancestry to the seventh son of Captain John Whipple. In looking at my database, I realized that there are currently 11 entries for Whipples named John with title of Captain. Here they are: Continue reading Captain Who?→
Robin Gilebarto submitted this photograph of pupils at the school on Lambtown Rd. in Ledyard, Connecticut, complete with names of just about everyone in the photo. (Submitted 1/27/2009.) Can you substitute a name for the question mark below? Miss Arliss Sutherland was the teacher. Continue reading Lambtown 1-Room Schoolhouse, circa 1943→
This is a photo of a Whipple’s Penstemon that appeared on the front of a packet of seeds I purchased last year, hoping to grow some of these wild flowers. Unfortunately, our attempts to grow them were unsuccessful. They are a native wildflower of the southwestern United States. Continue reading Whipple’s Penstemon→
I think that I shall never see
The finish of a family tree.
As it forever seems to grow
From roots that started long ago
Way back in ancient history times,
In foreign land and distant climes. Continue reading The Family Tree→
When I realized that today is Flag Day (in the U.S.), I immediately thought of Wayne Whipple and his “Whipple Flag.” Blaine Whipple wrote an article on the Whipple Flag some nine years ago. In 1912 (when the Whipple Flag was conceived), federal law allowed more flexibility in flag design. Those of us born after the Flag Code was passed by Congress in 1942 won’t remember the Whipple Flag. (From 1942 until Alaska and Hawaii joined the union, the official arrangement of the 48 stars was a 6 x 8 grid.) Continue reading Flag Day→
