TROUP COUNTY, GA - BIOS Oroon D. Whitaker Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Typed by Carla Miles Table of Contents page: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/troup.htm Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm Memoirs of Georgia, Vol. II, Atlanta, Ga., page 932 Published by The Southern Historical Association in 1895 TROUP COUNTY Oroon D. Whitaker, farmer, West Point, Troup Co., Ga., son of Samuel T. and Maria L. (Thornton) Whitaker, was born in Troup county in 1849. His paternal grandfather, Oroon Whitaker, was a native of Virginia, a soldier in the last war with Great Britain, came to Georgia in 1820, and settled in Putnam county. Mr. Whitaker’s father was born in Putnam county, Nov. 7, 1825, and two years later came to Troup county with his parents, where he grew to manhood. For many years he was a large and prosperous merchant at West Point, with which he conducted a banking business. He was an enthusiastic politician, but never allowed his name to be used for office. He was a master Mason, and reputed to have been one of the brightest in the state. He was also an ardent member of the Baptist church. His mother was a daughter of Reuben and Mariah L. (Winston) Thornton, natives of Virginia, who were among the pioneer settlers of Greene county, Ga. Her father was the first white man to run a boat on the Chattahoochee river, which he did conducting trade with the Indians. When he died he left a large and very valuable estate. Mr. Whitaker was reared and received a good common school education in West Point. With no patrimony he began life there as a clerk in a drug store, and in 1870 engaged in the dry goods trade, in which he continued two years. Abandoning mercantile life he turned his attention to farming, which he has followed since with satisfactory success, having a fine, excellently well-improved farm of 450 acres, and ranking high as a farmer and citizen. Mr. Whitaker was married in 1870 to Miss Dona Holston, born in Chambers county, Ala., daughter of Stanmore and Satira (Grigsby) Holston, natives of South Carolina, and pioneer settlers of Chambers county. Ten children have blessed this union: Wm D., Reuben T., Carrie D., Mary J., Stanmore, James H., Samuel H., O.D., Ira L. and Maria L. Himself and wife are members of the Baptist church, and he is a member of the Royal Arcanum.