Gaston, Joseph.  "The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912."  Vol. 3. 
Chicago, Clarke Publishing Co., 1912. p. 719.
 
THOMAS WHITING

     Eastern Oregon was settled by sturdy pioneers who came from different
sections of the United States and, braving the dangers of primitive travel and
the perils of sickness, opened up and developed a new land in America. The
qualities, which made their work lasting and their activities useful, they have
passed on to their sons, who are now the citizens of Oregon and active in the
promotion of its progress and prosperity. One of the earliest settlers in Harney
county was Thomas Whiting, whose life was conspicuous for its activity and
usefulness in the early development of this region. He was born in Somerset
county, Maine, May 25, 1836, and was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Bryce Whiting of that
state. He received his early education in the public schools of Somerset county.
He moved to California with his father in 1850 and after spending a year in that
section of the country returned to Maine. In 1859 he and his father again went
to California, where they engaged in business until 1874. In that year they
moved to Oregon, making the journey by wagon, and arrived in the Harney valley
October 14 of that year. They located on Rock Point, on the site where the town
of Burns now stands. For the first winter they lived in a rude dugout with no
conveniences other than a roof and a fireplace. On the 23d of March, in the
following year, they located on the homestead which is now occupied by Thomas
Whiting's son Schuyler, and here our subject spent his life cultivating the land
and raising high-grade horses and cattle. His death occurred October 17, 1891.
His wife survives him and is the oldest resident of Harney valley.
     Thomas Whiting was married December 23, 1865, to Miss lone McClintock, a
native of Van Buren county, Michigan, where she was born February 8, 1847. She
is a daughter of Sarah and John McClintock. Her mother removed to California in
1861, where she was joined by two of her daughters in 1863.  Mr. and Mrs.
Whiting were the parents of five children, Elizabeth, Schuyler, Frank, George
and Ellen.
     Schuyler Whiting was born in Nevada county, California, on August 14, 1868.
He came to Oregon with his parents when he was six years of age. They made the
journey with six horse teams and came direct to Harney valley, where they
located on Silvies river, two miles north of the town of Burns, where the mother
still resides. Schuyler Whiting received his early education under very
primitive conditions. He received instruction from Mrs. Sally (Bates) Latham,
who was the first teacher in the district. The school was held in a small stone
building located on what was then known as Jim Shepherd's Knoll. Later the
classes were removed into the building erected by Joe and Jim Baird which was
called the Stone Mansion. Schuyler Whiting was one of a very small number of
pupils and received such education as possible in an undeveloped country. He
remained upon the homestead with his father who was engaged in stock-raising
until the year 1877, when he purchased a small herd of horses, which were put up
for sale upon the death of their owner, Jesse Cook, who had been killed by a
team. His father during his life had been an extensive owner of high-grade
horses. In 1879 Thomas Whiting had made a trade by which he became possessed of
a blooded mare, which had been ridden by Sally Winnemuck, an Indian squaw, who
had been a guide for the soldiers in this district.  The mare was of Morgan
breed and was the beginning of Schuyler Whiting's interest in the horse-raising
business. At the time of Thomas Whiting's death in 1891 he and his son Schuyler
together were running nearly four hundred head of high-grade stock, and many of
the descendants of the Indian mare are in Schuyler Whiting's herd today.
     Schuyler Whiting now gives most of his attention to the breeding of draft
horses and in the past few years has won many blue ribbons for this grade of
stock. He owns a ranch twenty miles north of Burns on a tributary of Emigrant
creek and here he runs about two hundred head of high-grade horses. He puts them
out to pasture during the summer and brings them down to the old homestead in
the winter time. He has planted the acres surrounding the house principally to
barley, and has been very successful in the cultivation of this grain winning in
the year 1911 a blue ribbon for his threshed and unthreshed barley.
     On the 12th of April, 1911, Mr. Whiting was married in Burns, Oregon, to
Miss Leota Rentfro, who was born in Champaign, Illinois, February 26, 1893. She
is a daughter of M. F. Rentfro, a prominent citizen of Effingham, Illinois. Mr.
and Mrs. Whiting are the parents of a daughter, Carrol Elaine, born May 22,
1912. Mr. Whiting is a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and is well known in fraternal circles of this city. He is one of the most
extensive ranchers and stockraisers in Harney county. He threshed in 1911 six
thousand bushels of a high quality of grain and is constantly adding to his
blooded horses.  He is a progressive, prominent and successful man and his
prosperity is founded on his industry, integrity and broad intelligence.


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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in March 2007 by Diana Smith. Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.