by Mildred (Whitney) Flake
John William (Bill) Whitney was born on January 31, 1866 to Darius Thomas and Abigail Brumley Whitney on a farm near Iowa City, Iowa. He was Abigail’s youngest child and only boy, but she was not to know the joy of raising her little son, for her life was cut short when he was only ten months old. Surely she would have been deeply grieved had she known the cruelties he would later suffer.
When Bill was two, his father moved the family to a farm near Eagle, Nebraska. By then there was a stepmother in Bill’s life who caused the children much heartache and suffering. There were times during his childhood, when his father was away working, that his stepmother made sure her children got enough to eat by locking Bill and his older sisters, Emma, Ida and Adell, outdoors where they could only watch through the window as the rest of this dysfunctional family enjoyed their meal.
Darius and the stepmother had several children, but only the two girls, Minnie and Jessie, survived as all of the boys died of diphtheria. Bill became deathly afraid of the dreaded disease as he saw little brother after little brother being buried.
Bill loved going to school, where he was a good student, but because of his duties on the farm he did not get to attend for more than about four years. He had to endure many hardships to get the education he did, like walking two miles each way with his sister Adell just to attend. Sometimes they would walk through deep snow with no feet in their stockings. These children were deprived of so many of the necessities of life such as stockings and underwear.
The schoolhouse also doubled for a church building. Bill loved attending the services and taking a part. He earned a New Testament for learning the most Bible verses. That was a great blessing to him. One day he responded to the invitation to receive Jesus. He felt so happy and told his father about it when he arrived home. His father’s response was, “You’re too young; you don’t know what you’re doing.” Because of his father’s attitude, he lost his newfound joy.
He continued to attend other meetings at the schoolhouse, and he was even given a part to perform in a program. He was so excited until he realized that he did not have clothes suitable to wear. Thankfully, his older sister Emma cared enough for her little brother that she used some of her own clothes to make something for him. She used a heavy petticoat to make some pants and a blouse to make a shirt. He went to that program feeling that he was the best-dressed boy there.
When Bill was nineteen, he and his father traveled to Western Kansas to claim a homestead. Land was free for the taking in those days if a farmer was willing to work the land for a number of years. They both took claims in Rawlins County near Atwood. By this time his father’s second marriage had ended and he had married a woman by the name of Mary Ella Glidden. Three children were born to that union: Don, Mae and Edward.
Bill built a sod house on his claim. He soon met and fell in love with a young lady named Anna Innes who became his bride. Bill’s joy seemed complete in October of 1887 when a little boy, Hugh Innes, was born. But that joy was short-lived, for Anna passed away two weeks later. What a heartbreaking time for Bill and Anna’s family. Things were beginning to look up for him, and now this. Being a busy farmer, Bill could not possibly take the place of both parents, so Grandma Innes took little Hugh into her home to love and care for him. Bill loved his son and continued to keep in touch with him.
Some time later two brothers by the name of Weatherbe came from Illinois with their sister to take a claim. They brought Mary to keep house for them. Keeping house for her brothers didn’t last long, for she and Bill soon fell in love and were married. Sadly that did not last long either. They were still newlyweds when she announced to him that she was going back to Illinois. She did not tell him that she was pregnant with their first child.
It looked as though life would never bring him much happiness, so beaten and discouraged, he left his ranch and moved to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he got a job in a meat packing plant. While living there, he married Jennie Adel (Della) Brumley Cline. She had two daughters by a former marriage, Ethel and Opal. Once again the marriage was cut short by the illness and untimely death of Della.
Nothing would have prepared him for the shocking news he received in 1902. By then the Weatherbe brothers had returned to Illinois, and one of them had become a believer in the Lord Jesus. Being a new Christian, he could no longer conceal information that Bill should know. So Mary’s brother sent a letter to Bill with the surprising news that he had a 12-year-old daughter, Essie Estella, in Illinois. Mary was no longer living. She had remarried and given birth to a son, so these two children were left motherless.
Bill immediately went to Illinois to meet his precious daughter. They treasured their time together and bonded right away. Even her little brother called Bill, “Papa.” Sadly this one visit was the only time Bill ever got to be with Essie. She had always hoped to visit him in Kansas, but that was never to be, since she married as a teenager and had seven children by age 28.
They continued to correspond over the years. Once she wrote to him, disappointed that her planned visit to Kansas was not going to be a reality saying, “Papa, if we never see each other again in this life, will you meet me in Heaven?” Sadly, Essie died at the age of 29, pregnant with her eighth child. Even though Bill never got to see his daughter again, he did get to meet most of her children, and one of her sons came to live with him for several years.
Bill always kept close to the family of his first wife, Anna. One of her brothers lived on a farm near the small town of Melvern, Kansas, so Bill moved close to him and got a job on a ranch. There was a young lady living in Melvern named Cora Greenwood. In fact she was nearly seventeen years younger than Bill. Cora’s sister and brother-in-law lived close to their friend, Anna’s brother. They spent many Sunday afternoons playing croquet together. Cora spent several weekends with her sister, thus becoming acquainted with Bill. In spite of the great difference in their ages, they were attracted to each other and were married on December 7, 1903.
What happiness for Bill! The following year a baby girl, Mabel Leona, came into their home. He was now doubly blessed. From the beginning, he and Mabel shared a special relationship. Then in 1906 a little boy arrived, Lowell Bryan. Their life was full of happiness. His son Hugh, who lived nearby, was a big part of his new life. Hugh was very fond of Cora and enjoyed being with the family. He loved his little brother and sister. Eleven years later another baby girl, Inez Mildred, was welcomed into the family. Bill kept his older daughter Essie well informed of events in his life up until her death.
In 1920 the family moved to a farm several miles from Melvern. Providentially there was a caring pastor in the country church there who visited Bill and his family several times and always invited them to services. Bill informed him that he was too busy to go to church. Not since childhood had he attended church except for a short time after Anna’s death. That pastor was not one to give up easily, so he started helping Bill with his farm work. Cora wanted to attend services because her mother had raised her to honor the church, despite the fact that her father was an atheist.
Eventually the church scheduled revival meetings. Cora took the children and started attending, but Bill stayed at home. One evening though, as she was getting ready to leave, he told her that if she would wait until he got ready, he would go with her. God got hold of him during the course of those meetings and granted Bill saving faith. He repented of the sins of his old life and became a new creature in Christ. Before this time Bill often used the Lord’s name in vain and lived a proud life away from God, but now his desire was to please and honor God. His former pride was changed to humility. In the past he was very vain about his neckties, but now to avoid that temptation, he decided to stop wearing them altogether.
It wasn’t long before Bill became a strong active worker in that church. He began to sense God’s call on his life to go into special ministry, and the believers encouraged him to obey that call. He held back for a while for he wanted to be sure that he was truly being led of the Lord. In time though, he realized it was a call to the preaching ministry. He began to read and study more, spending much time in prayer.
By this time they had moved back to the Melvern area and became active in the church there. It was here that severe testing came into his life. The hardest test was the loss of his teenage son. When Lowell first became ill, the doctor thought it was just an intestinal problem and treated him accordingly. Lowell did not get any better, but instead the discomfort increased until it was apparent to all that the problem was more serious than it was first believed to be. The doctor sent him to the hospital in Emporia about thirty miles away. When the surgeon attempted surgery, he discovered that it was too late, for Lowell’s appendix had already burst and there was no way to save his life. At that time there were no antibiotics like those available today. Bill and Cora were crushed; this was a terrible loss for both of them.
A couple of year later, Bill faced another test. Due to a health problem, he had to quit farming. They had a sale to dispense of the farm equipment and moved to Burlington, Kansas about twenty-five miles south of Melvern. Then Bill had to find other work, so he became a salesman of home care products. In addition to his selling, he started pastoring in churches near Burlington. After being ordained he became the pastor of the church the family had attended near Melvern.
He later started a little mission church in Burlington. He and Cora were always available to help anyone in need. Bill put his whole heart into his preaching. He never just stood in one place, but paced back and forth across the platform fervently proclaiming God’s Word.
In addition to his preaching, Bill was also elected Probate Judge of Coffey County and served in that position for several years. His life in Burlington was full and busy.
His lack of formal education did not mean that he was uneducated, for he was a self-taught individual, spending many hours at the public library and at home reading and learning all he could. There were few subjects that he was not knowledgeable about to some extent at least.
After retiring from the pastoral ministry, Bill kept busy with gardening, reading, writing sermons, and preaching whenever the opportunity arose. There were a few years though that these activities had to be limited due to his failing eyesight. Cataract surgery restored vision to one of his eyes, and he was back at his usual activities as vigorous as ever.
Hugh, Essie, Mabel, and Mildred all married. Hugh had two sons and two daughters. One son died as an infant and the other was killed in a car accident while in his teens. Essie had seven children. Mabel had two daughters, but Mildred never had any children. Bill would be pleased if he could know how well his grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren, and great great great grandchildren are doing today. One of his great grandsons has followed in Bill’s footsteps by answering the call of the Lord to preach. Those who have heard them both can see a similarity in their preaching ministries.
Early on the morning of July 12, 1957 about an hour after suffering a heart attack, the Lord took him to his eternal home. His last audible words to his companion of fifty-three years were, “I am ready to go but I hate to leave you.”
A short memorial service was held at the home on July 14th, and a larger memorial service was held in Melvern at the Methodist Church. He was buried in the Melvern cemetery close to his son, Lowell. Thus ended a long life of ninety-one years that knew cruelty, sadness, hardship, illness, and loss but was truly blessed with many years of happiness and much love. All of Bill’s descendants who remember him will always have happy memories of him. He had a tremendous impact on their lives.