William Collins Whitney
| William Collins Whitney | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 31st United States Secretary of the Navy | |
|
In office March 7, 1885 – March 4, 1889 |
|
| President | Grover Cleveland |
| Preceded by | William E. Chandler |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin F. Tracy |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 5, 1841 Conway, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | February 2, 1904 (aged 62) U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Flora Payne (m. 1869-1893; her death) Edith Randolph (m. 1896-1899; her death) |
| Children | 5 |
| Parents |
James Scollay Whitney Laurinda Collins |
| Education | Williston Seminary |
| Alma mater |
Yale University Harvard Law School |
| Profession | Politician, Businessman |
| Net worth | USD $23 million at the time of his death (approximately 1/993rd of US GNP) |
William Collins Whitney (July 5, 1841 – February 2, 1904) was an American political leader and financier and a prominent descendant of the John Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration of President Grover Cleveland from 1885 through 1889. A conservative reformer, he was considered a Bourbon Democrat.
William Whitney was born at Conway, Massachusetts, of Puritan stock. The family were descended from John Whitney of London, who settled at Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635. William Whitney's father was Brigadier General James Scollay Whitney; his mother, Laurinda Collins, was a descendant of Plymouth governor William Bradford. William Whitney had a well known older brother, industrialist Henry Melville Whitney (1839–1923), president of the Metropolitan Steamship Company, founder of the West End Street Railway Company of Boston, and later founder of the Dominion Coal Company and Dominion Iron and Steel Company in Sydney, Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island. His sister Laurinda Collins "Lily" Whitney married Charles T. Barney, who became the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company. Another sister, Susan Collins Whitney, married attorney Henry F. Dimock.
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