William Danforth Whiting was born in May 1823 in Massachusetts to Henry and Eliza Whiting. His father was a veteran of the War of 1812. He joined the United States Navy in 1841, and he spent the next three years serving with the Pacific Squadron. He attended the United States Naval Academy in the mid-1840s, and he became a passed midshipman in August 1847. He took part in the Mexican American War, and he helped capture Monterey, California.

 

He married Jane Stewart around 1849, and they had at least six children: Jennie, born around 1850; Henry, born around 1854; Eliza, born around 1855; William, born around 1856; Mary, born around 1858; and Florence, born around 1862. He spent the early 1850s working at the Naval Observatory, and he helped conduct coastal surveys from 1854 until 1857. He was promoted to lieutenant in September 1855. By 1860, he and his family were living in Castleton, New York, and he owned $2,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property. He employed a chambermaid, a waitress, a cook, two nurses, and a gardener.

 

He remained in the navy during the Civil War, and he took part in the Union blockade. He also participated in the siege of Charleston. He was promoted to lieutenant commander in July 1862. He served with the North Atlantic Squadron in the early 1870s, and he was promoted to captain in August 1872.

 

He became chief of the navy’s Bureau of Navigation in June 1878, and he held the position until October 1881. According to one writer, “failing health and almost total blindness…caused him to retire from the service” on October 12, 1881. He retired with the rank of commodore. He settled in New York City after leaving the navy, and he died there on March 19, 1894.

 

Image: William D. Whiting (New York Tribune, 20 March 1894)

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