Grundy County IL Archives Biographies.....Whitmore, Benjamin Franklin 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 13, 2006, 8:33 pm

Author: History of Grundy County, 1914

Whitmore, Benjamin Franklin – Among the citizens of Grundy County whose 
careers are worthy of more than ordinary mention because of the success they 
have attained, is Benjamin Franklin Whitmore, now living retired at Gardner, 
Ill., who for more than a half century was engaged in agricultural pursuits 
here. During this time he secured financial independence, reared a family that 
did credit to him and his community, and at all times has conducted himself 
according to the highest ideals of citizenship. Mr. Whitmore was born at 
Hagerstown, Md., September 12, 1841, and is a son of Daniel and Nancy (Lehmen) 
Whitmore, natives of Maryland, who removed to Ohio in 1843. There were twelve 
children in the family, namely: John, deceased, who was a resident of Ohio; 
Abraham, who is deceased; Isaac, Jacob and Daniel, all of whom died in 
infancy; Samuel, deceased; David, a retired farmer living near Youngstown, 
Ohio; Joseph, deceased; Benjamin Franklin; Noah, deceased; and Elizabeth and 
Ann, twins, both of whom are deceased.

Benjamin Franklin Whitmore was but an infant when taken by his parents to 
Ohio, and there he received a liberal public school education, in the meantime 
assisting his father in the work of the home farm. He was twenty-one years of 
age when he came to Illinois, locating in Greenfield Township, where he hired 
out on a farm. In the following spring he rented a farm, which he conducted 
for two years, and then purchased 160 acres of good land. This he brought to a 
high state of cultivation, but after ten years sold it and bought 120 acres in 
Mazon Township, which he still owns. He retired in 1891, although he still 
resided on the farm until 1899, when he bought property in the village of 
Gardner, erected a modern home and moved his family here. He is a member of 
the Church of God. In political affairs he is a stalwart Republican, although 
he has taken only a good citizen's interest in public matters. During his long 
residence in Grundy County, he has formed a wide acquaintance in which he 
numbers many friends, who have been drawn to him by his many admirable 
qualities of mind and heart.

On November 29, 1866, Mr. Whitmore was married to Matilda Shelby, a native of 
Pennsylvania, who came West with her parents, Milki and Lavina Shelby, to 
Livingston county, Ill., in 1855. To this union there were born two sons and 
one daughter: Nathaniel, who died May 15, 1912; William Wallace, an attorney 
of Bloomington, Ill.; and Iva, deceased, who passed away in infancy and was 
buried at Round Grove cemetery, Livingston County. Dr. Nathaniel Whitmore was 
born September 25, 1867, and was given his preliminary educational training in 
the public schools of Mazon Township. At the age of seventeen years he 
commenced his veterinary studies under the preceptorship of Dr. J. Y. Lehman, 
his father's cousin, at Sterling, Ill., and after one year of preparation 
entered the Chicago Veterinary College, where he was graduated at the age of 
twenty-one years. He then returned to Gardner and entered upon the practice of 
his chosen vocation, in which he gained widespread reputation. In June, 1908, 
he built a veterinary hospital in Gardner, which is second to none in the 
State. Here he had his laboratory, operating room, office, sleeping 
apartments, and full equipment for the successful practice of his calling, the 
barn being fitted with electric lights in order that he might work at nights 
to save the life of a stricken animal. He became known as one of the foremost 
veterinary surgeons in the State and as a man who at all times honored his 
profession.  He was buried in Wheeler Cemetery, Mazon Township. Dr. Whitmore 
is survived by his widow and ten children.

pages 924-925

Additional Comments:
Source:  History of Grundy County, Illinois, Chicago: Munsell Publishing Co. 
Publishers; 1914

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