William Everett Whitener was my 2nd-great grandfather. He was the son of Phillip B. Whitener (1833-1865) and Levina J. Searcy (1830-?), both from North Carolina.
1855 – William was born in December, probably in Gilmer County, Georgia, as his parents were married there in 1852.
1860 – William appeared on the census in Gilmer County in the household of his father, Philip Whitener.
1865 – William’s father died in Ellijay, Gilmer, Georgia. He was supposedly killed by a roving gang of Union soldiers in the aftermath of the Civil War.
1870 – William was living in Gilmer County with his grandmother, Anna Searcy, at the time of the 1870 census. His mother and younger siblings lived two households away.
1872 – In about 1872, William married his first wife, Roxy Cynthia Sinyard in Gilmer County.
1873 – His first son, Harley, was born about 1873.
1876 – On October 14, William’s second son, Avery Pollian Whitener was born.
1878 – Brownlow Whitener, William’s third son was born about 1878.
1880 – William lived in the Boardtown District of Gilmer County, along with his wife, Roxey C. and sons, Harley, Avery, Brownlow, and baby Samuel who was born March 16th of that year.
1882 – On January 7, William and Roxy’s fifth son, William Adolphus Whitener, was born in Ellijay.
1882-1883 – Sometime in 1882 or 1883, Roxy died.
1883 – William married for the second time on July 3, 1883. His new bride was Mary Elizabeth Patterson (1867-1920), my 2nd great-grandmother. They were married in Gilmer County.
1883-1885 – Sometime between 1883 and 1885, the family moved to Murray County, Georgia.
1885 – William and Mary had their first child, a daughter, on August 27. This was my great-grandmother, Maud Angeline (1885-1975).
1889 – Four years later, a second daughter was born – Beulah Beatrice Whitener (1889-1966). She was born in Murray County.
1891 – In 1891, William and Mary had their third daughter, Minnie Louise Whitener (1891-1967).
1892 – John Arthur Whitener (1892-1950) was born on February 14th. He was William’s sixth son and Mary’s first.
1898 – Another son was born on October 6 in Murray County. His name was Rex Venable (aka Dewey Rex) Whitener (1898-1988).
1899 – William’s son, Brownlow, died in Guantanamo, Cuba during a yellow-fever epidemic that occurred in the midst of the Spanish-American War. Brownlow is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
1900 – In 1900, William appeared on the census in Murray County’s Doolittle District. He was farmer.
1901 – William and Mary’s sixth daughter was born in Murray County on May 6. Her name was Ethel.
1904 – Mary Theo, another daughter, was born on February 28. She was the last child born in Georgia.
1904-1907 – Sometime between 1904 and 1907, the family moved to Oklahoma.
1907 – William’s thirteenth and last child, Bertha Neoma, was born in Oklahoma on July 27.
1910 – William and Mary appeared on the census in Rogers County, Oklahoma. They had been married 24 years. William was a farmer. Arthur, Rex, Ethel, Mary Theo, and Bertha lived with them.
1920 – The family still lived in Rogers County in 1920. Dewey Rex, Theo, and Bertha were still at home with their parents.
1920 – However, on April 6, William’s wife, Mary died in Tulsa County. She is buried at Wards Grove Cemetery in Foyil, Rogers, Oklahoma.
1930 – By 1930, William had moved back to Georgia. He was 74 and living with his son William Adolphus.
1937 – William died in Murray County, Georgia at the age of 81.
William started and ended his life in the North Georgia mountains, with about twenty years 800 miles away in Oklahoma.
