Biography of Charles Edward Whaley
FROM: History of Livingston County,
New York
By James H. Smith
Assisted by Hume H. Cole
Published By D. Mason & Co. 1881
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Charles Edward Whaley Charles Edward Whaley is a son of Edward A. Whaley, and grandson of John P. Whaley, who in 1805, with his family,
consisting of his wife, eight children, and an aged mother, emigrated from Massachusetts. and settled on a farm
in the eastern part of the town of Avon. This farm has always been retained in the family name, and apple trees
are still standing which he raised from the seed. John P. Whaley was a ship carpenter by trade, and many of the
frames of old buildings now standing were shaped by’ his mallet and chisel. Of the eight children, four were sons,
all of whom married and raised families. Robert settled in Castile, Wyoming county. John studied medicine and practiced
that profession through life, while the younger brothers settled on farms in Avon, which they cleared, and both
were identified with the war of 1812. Edward A. was drafted but furnished a substitute. Caleb J. enlisted and served
his time, receiving a wound from which he suffered for fifteen years, and which finally caused his death.
Of the ancestors of the Whaley family, Edward Whaley was born in Northamptonshire, England, in the year 1615. Arriving
at maturity he was married to Elizabeth Middleton, and when the war broke out between King Charles and Parliament,
he espoused the Parliamentary cause, and served under his cousin. Oliver Cromwell, until 1649.
By Cromwell, he was advanced to the rank of Major-General, and was entrusted with the government of five counties.
He was afterward appointed Commissary-General for Scotland, and was called into the upper house, where he sat as
"Edward. Lord Whalley.”
After the death of Cromwell, Whaley was the main-stay of that dynasty until the Restoration was accomplished. When
England was no longer a place of safety for those immediately concerned in the execution of King Charles. Whaley,
together with his son-inlaw, Goffe, who had played an important part in the same cause, embarked in a swift sailing
vessel to America, arriving in New England July 27. 1660. They remained in various places of concealment, and in
1664, removed to Hadley. Mass., where Mr. Russell, the minister of the place, had previously consented to receive
them
Edward A., father to Chas. E. was born Jan. 17, 1786. in Berkshire county, Mass. April 30. 1809, he was married
to Isabella, daughter of Gardner Scott of Conn. They had eight children the youngest of whom, Chas. E., was born
in Avon, Nov. 14, 1825. In July, 1867, he was married to Ella P., daughter of Thomas St. John. of London, England.
He has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits. In 1866 he purchased the property in Avon, now owned by him,
and erected the commodious building known as the “Sanitarium.” Upon this property he also developed and made available,
two sulphur springs. The place is largely patronized by patients from all sections of the country. In politics
Mr. Whaley is a Republican, and was drafted to serve in the war of the Rebellion, but furnished a substitute whom
he trusts, rendered as effectual service as he himself could have done. In religious belief he is a Spiritualist.
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