Oliver Cromwell WHITNEY ^{2 3}

   Cause of his death was Pneumonia.

   Another name for Oliver was "Doc" WHITNEY.

  General Notes:

(See Notes for Isaac E. Whitney for early years in Iowa.)

Served with Company C, 1st. Nebraska Cavalry. This information comes from tombstone on grave in Cody, Wyoming.

Dad had grey eyes light brown hair, was square shouldered and six feet tall, and his mother was that type. (excerpt from letter written by Mrs. R. D. Atherton who was a daughter from his second marriage)

OBITUARY
From Cody Wyoming Enterprise--1928
VETERAN OF CIVIL WAR ANSWERS LAST REVEILLE
"Doc" Whitney Dies of Pneumonia--Fought in Civil War and Indian Wars--Early Settler of Sunlight

Oliver "Doc" Whitney answered the last summons on Tuesday evening, and following a two-weeks' attack of pneumonia, passed on over the Great Divide. Cody and the Buffalo Bill country loses one of its oldest and most interesting characters. Tall and straight as a sycamore tree, carrying his eighty odd years, Doc Whitney was indeed a character. Few if any of the oldest of the old timers of this section can recall when he first came here. At this time it is impossible for The Enterprise to give any great amount of authentic information regarding his early life, but it is hoped that his war records will give his exact age and birthplace, as well as his war record.

According to the meagre information received from some of his close friends, deceased was born in 1847. He is said to have fought four years in the civil war, and in many of the skirmishes which the government had with the Indians of the west in the early seventies. According to a statement made last summer he made his first trip to Yellowstone park with General Miles, but just what year it was the Enterprise at this time has no record.

According to information given to some of his friends, Mr. Whitney lived many years in Montana, being a sheriff in that state at one time and a member of the police force of the city of Billings in its early day. For more than twenty years he had lived in Sunlight, coming to Cody at infrequent intervals. Twelve years ago he sold his Sunlight ranch to Cy Evans, and then made his home on Hart mountain, spending one year on the John Chapman ranch.

"Doc." as he was familiarly known to most Cody people, took life pretty easy. He was not one to go into life very seriously, had never married, and in his later years, when his wants were few, his pension kept him in very good circumstances, and with little effort on his part.

Remarkable, at his advanced age, was his spryness. He would come onto the streets and jump around like a kid, joshing with his friends and acquaintences. Yet for all of his friendliness, he was not much to speak for himself, and very little information is at hand of his early life. He would speak occasionally of soldiering in the Civil war, of some of his Indian experiences, and it is told that he was a member of a small band of men that made history of what was called the "Wagon Box Fight," when a handful of rangers stood off several thousand Indians with their repeating rifles.

"Doc" Whitney is to be accorded a military funeral which will be held under the auspices of Fred Coe Post, American Legion, on Friday morning, from Vogel's funeral chapel, and burial will be made in the American Legion plot at Riverside cemetery.(Cody, Wyoming)
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The following was handwritten on the article and sheet to which it was attached by Frances Whitney, his daughter:
"My Father Oliver Cromwell, Hope also William Whitney was born in Newark, New Jersey August 31, 1848, Past away April 24, 1928. 1st marriage to Elisebeth Ellen Polen 2nd marriage to Marion Cameron. Was married twice father of 9 children, 6 first marriage, 3 2nd. Could jump 20 ft straight out at the age of 80."
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His Declaration for Pension as a Civil War Veteran indicates that he enlisted in Company C, 1st Regiment, Nebraska Cavalry at Omaha, Nebraska on April 2, 1864 and was discharged in October 1866. He had some problems getting his pension, because he had lied about his birthdate in order to enlist at 16 years of age. His official service record, issued to confirm his right to a military funeral, shows that he enlisted on June 13, 1864 and received an honorable discharge on October 1, 1865.

He stated on his Declaration for Pension that his places of residence since leaving the service were: Grand Island, Nebraska to 1874; Little Sioux, Iowa to 1878; Black Hills, South Dakota to 1885; Billings, Montana to 1899; Cody, Wyoming thereafter.
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The 1880 United States Census of Little Sioux, Harrison Co., Iowa - Family History Library Film 1254343, NA Film T9-0343, Page 12 A - Household Record shows:
Oliver WHITNEY Self M Male W 32 NJ Labourer England England
Elizabeth E.
WHITNEY Wife M Female W 25 OH Keeping House OH PA
Oliver WHITNEY Son S Male W 1 IA At Home NJ OH
Ruth KENNEY Dau S Female W 6 IA At Home NY OH
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The 1920 Federal Census for Election Dist. # 26, Park Co., Wyoming shows him as a boarder in the unnumbered residence of Jefferson W. Chapman and family. Whoever provided the information to the census taker gave his age as 70, birth place as New York, parents birth place as United States.
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  Noted events in his life were:

• Military Service, 13 June 1864, , , Nebraska. ¹¹ C Company, Nebraska 1st Cavalry Regiment, Enlist Rank, Private - Enlist Age, 18

• Residence, 10 August 1870, Jackson Twp., Harrison Co., Iowa. ¹²

• Residence, 1910, Sunlight Twp., Park Co., Wyoming. ¹³

• Residence, 31 January 1920, , Park Co., Wyoming. ¹⁴ Boarding with the Jefferson W. Chapman family near Cody, Wyoming.

Oliver married Elizabeth Ellen POLEN, daughter of William Wheeler POLEN and Elizabeth CRUMRINE, on 22 March 1877 in Probably Little Sioux, Harrison Co., Iowa.¹ (Elizabeth Ellen POLEN was born on 17 April 1855 in , , Ohio ⁵ and died on 21 October 1899 in River Sioux, Harrison Co., Iowa ¹⁵.) The cause of her death was Tuberculosis.

  Marriage Notes:

Harrison County Marriage Register 1875-1877

WHITNEY, Oliver & E. E. KINNEY License issued 22 March 1877.
Marriage reads E. E. Poland 22 March 1877 by L. Bassett, J. P. p. 259

Oliver next married Marion CAMERON on an unknown date. (Marion CAMERON was born about 1872 ¹⁶ and died on an unknown date.)