Son of Samuel Whitney and Susannah Kimball

Married - Elizabeth Ann Smith, 20 Oct 1822, Kirkland, Lake, Ohio
Children - Moudalina Whitney, Mary Jane Whitney, Orson Kimball Whitney, Anna Maria Whitney, Newel Melchizedek Whitney, Joshua Kimball Whitney, Don Carlos Whitney, Franklin Kimball Whitney, Sarah Ann Whitney, Horace Kimball Whitney, John Kimball Whitney, Mary Elizabeth Whitney

Married - Emmeline B. Woodward, 7 Jan 1846, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois
Children - Melvina Caroline Whitney, Isabel Modalena Whitney

Married - Elizabeth Almira Pond, 07 Jan 1846, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois

Married - Henrietta Keyes, 26 Jan 1846, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois

Married - Anne Houston, 8 Feb 1846, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois
Child - Jethro Houston Whitney

An Enduring Legacy, Volume Three, p.138 - Newel Kimball Whitney was the eldest son and second child of nine children born to Samuel and Susannah Kimball Whitney. His birthplace was Marlborough, Windham County, Vermont; the date of his birth was February 5, 1795. At an early age he left his parents and, when nineteen, was engaged as a merchant in the village of Plattsburg, New York. It was here that the second battle of Champlain was fought in which the British were defeated, September 11, 1814. Newel took part in this battle. After losing his property because of the war, he next established himself as an Indian trader on Lake Michigan. Here an incident occurred which almost cost him his life. He refused to give liquor to a savage, who obtained it from someone else, then returned to wreak vengeance on him. The Indian, weapon in hand, was pursuing him when an Indian girl named Mandoline seized the Indian at peril of her own life, and held him until Newel Whitney could get away. He never forgot this girl, and later named one of his daughters for her.

Leaving Lake Michigan, he located at Painesville, Ohio, where he clerked in the store of Algernon S. Gilbert. Due to his out-[p.139]-standing business ability, he was soon a junior partner in the firm of Gilbert and Whitney, located at Kirtland, Ohio. Here he met a young lady by the name of Elizabeth Ann Smith, a native of Connecticut, and they were married October 20, 1822.

Although up until this time neither of them had been very religious, they joined the Campbellite Church and remained members until Parley Pratt and other Mormon elders preached in Kirt-land. In November, 1830, they were baptized members of the Latter-day Saint Church. December 4, 1831, Newel Whitney was ordained a bishop and from that time on was closely associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith, even entertaining the Prophet and his wife in their home for several weeks. Because of Newel's dependability and monetary expertise, the Prophet gave him many important assignments.

Bishop Whitney stayed true to the Prophet at the time of the apostasy in Kirtland. The Whitneys left Kirtland in the fall of 1831 for Missouri. They found that fifteen thousand Saints had had to flee from Missouri, so the family continued on to St. Louis where they heard of the outrages to the Saints there. The family then resided temporarily in Green County, Illinois. Bishop Whitney returned in the spring to join the family in flight across the Mississippi where they were helped by many kind friends. They were next heard of in Quincy, arriving at Nauvoo on May 6, 1839. Here his mission was to act in unison with other bishops in locating and settling the Saints on lands purchased in that locality. On the fifth of October he was appointed bishop of the Middle Ward, where he served until he became the second Presiding Bishop of the Church in the spring of 1840.

When the Whitney family with the other Saints had to leave Nauvoo, Bishop Whitney sent his two eldest sons with the first pioneers to help cut the roads, but Brigham Young asked him to stay at Winter Quarters to care for the Saints there. After a son born to his wife, Elizabeth Ann, died at Winter Quarters, Elizabeth Ann never fully regained her health. The family crossed the Plains in 1848 and built their home on the corner of Main Street and North Temple in the area where the Relief Society Building now stands.

Bishop Whitney did not live long after reaching Salt Lake. His death occurred September 30, 1850. Eliza R. Snow, who had crossed the Plains with his family, said, "He has gone to the grave leaving a spotless name behind him, and thousands to mourn the loss of a very valuable man." —Ruth Groo Taylor Johnson

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, Heber C. Kimball Company (1848); Age at Departure: 53