Aaron Whitteker (1790 - 1882)

Born 28 Feb 1790 in Princeton, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Betsy Dannenberry (Quarrier) Whitteker — married 27 Mar 1816 in Kanawha County VA

Descendants

Died 26 Feb 1882 at age 91 in Charleston, Kanawha, West Virginia, United States

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Biography

Aaron Whittaker, son of William Whittaker and Lydia Howe, was born in Princeton, Massachusetts on Feb 28, 1790. He was the second son named Aaron, the first one having died earlier. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ Vital records of Princeton, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849 by Princeton, Mass.; Publisher Worcester, Mass., F. P. Rice; 1902. Page: 69

• History of Princeton Massachusetts

• Tombstone in Spring Hill Cemetery, Charleston WV

NOTE

The Kanawha Spectator Vol. 1

AARON WHITTEKER

The man bearing the name above mentioned is the one to whom we referred, in our preface, as having killed bears in places in Charleston where now the streets have to be restricted to one way traffic.

Aaron Whitteker was a younger brother of William Whitteker, who had come to Charleston in company with Isaac Noyes in 1806, and settled here in that as born in Massachusetts in 1790. On a trip to New York in 1810, he met Bradford Noyes, a younger brother of Isaac, who was in a town near New York City at that time, to dispose of his furs. Mr. Noyes spoke so enthusiastically of the advantages of Kanawha Valley as a place to live that Whitteker decided to go back to Charleston with him. They traveled as far as Baltimore, Maryland on a sloop, and from Baltimore, they set out on foot, walking the 400 mile distance in 12 days, an average of 33 1/2 miles per day.

Aaron and William, together with a third brother, Levi, the youngest of the three, who also came out later still, to this valley, proceeded to engage in the drilling of wells for salt brine. A few years later, Aaron quit the work of drilling and contracted with Bradford Noyes to furnish wood for Mr. Noyes' salt furnaces, coal not yet being utilized for this purpose. It has been stated that Aaron Whitteker, during the period of time he was engaged in this work, "cleared all of the land from Magazine Branch on the Elk River to Wilson's Hollow on the Kanawha River. This hardly seems 1 CONT possible, with the methods of logging available in those days; he probably thinned out the growth a bit, but left quite a bit standing.

He was very successful at this, and while so engaged, he found time to construct a number of houses, in addition to his own store building, built of brick, and another brick building that was used by one of his competitors in the dry goods business; Arnold & Abney. Mr. Whitteker enjoyed a wide acquaintance, and was highly regarded. He lived to quite an advanced age, his time expanding from deer paths and Indian trails to brick pavements and gas lights.

Aaron also owned and operated a hotel; and, was a part owner of a steam boat.

Note: The above story of Aaron Whitteker killing bears where there are now one-way streets in the downtown section of Charleston was told in the Charleston Daily Mail of 03 Nov 1940 with even greater detail. The story came from Bradford Noyes, told to him by Mr. Whitteker himself. This was Bradford Noyes, the grandson of the Bradford Noyes who had come to Charleston with Aaron oh so long ago. Aaron told him how, when he lived on the Boulevard above Broad Street, he would just go out the back door of his home to hunt when the meat supply began to get low. Turkeys, deer, and bear had been abudant close by. When he had come to Charleston in 1808, there had been only 14 houses right on both sides of what is now Kanawha Boulevard, some being right on the river bank. Not far behind the houses, were miles of unbroken forrest in which wild animals were on the prowl. Aaron would take his trusty flint-lock rifle with him and always come back with something to bolster the larder.

Pioneers and Their Homes on Upper Kanawha by Ruth Woods Dayton:

MILLER HOUSE

One of the first of Charleston's early frame houses is still standing, although now it is indeed a sorry looking spectacle, with it's windows broken, and it's door swinging open in the wind. If it were in a more isolated spot, it could easily become a haunted house. Even in the eleven hundred block of Kanawha Boulevard on a sunny morning, one steps across the threshold in a sort of gingerly fashion, and doesn't have much enthusiasm for seeing what is on the second floor. There was a time when this residence, best known as the Miller House was shaded by elms like all the other elms that beautified Kanawha Street, which were recently killed by an incurable disease, leaving the street bare and the homes much less inviting.

This house was built about 1830 by Aaron Whitteker, the skillful builder of many of Charleston's early dwellings. His practice was to purchase a lot, erect a good looking house, and promptly sell. Broad Street, then called Summers Lane, extended only a short distance back from the river, and leading to the Summers and Ryan Houses, marked the eastern boundary of the town. The Miller House, facing Kanawha Boulevard and the river, is now the second one above the eastern corner of Broad, but originally it stood alone, as no other houses were built in the block until afterward when the brick dwellings of the Noyes brothers were erected. The Miller house was of excellent material and construction, much of it put together with wooden pegs. During plastering repairs in 1896, the wide and irregular shaped lathes were found to be riven and split by hand, some ten or more feet in length. Rather tall, with a steep roof above a full attic, there is a lower two story wing extending from the rear of the house. A porch across the front has interesting octagon-cut columns, and a dentil molding around the top. The porch was formerly on the upper side of the house, but was moved later to the front. Green shutters hang at the windows, which were the usual style of small-paned sash.

A white picket fence once enclosed the yard, but was replaced by a well-designed and, inci-dentally, very lovely one of iron--said to have been the first piece of ornamental ironwork made by the Thayer Foundry.

The entrance doorway is on the upper side of the house and large square rooms with fireplaces are on the left. The doors are fine and paneled, and the unusually wide floor boards are still intact. For all of it's having been open to weather and vandalism for several years, much of the woodwork is still surprisingly well preserved.

There was ample opportunity to demonstrate the durability of it's construction, however, years ago, for the house has had what sure must be a unique distinction, that of having been twice moved from it's original location. First, it was moved backward to the rear of the large lot, and turned around to face Broad Street. The land upon which it stood was later sold to the First Presbyterian Church for the erection of the church school building. So again the Miller house was hauled backward, and shifted about to its former location, except for being placed further away from Kanawha Street. It continued to be occupied as late as the early days of World War II, when it was used for headquarters of the "Bundles for Britain" organization, but the old "Miller House" is now destined in the near future to be demolished to make way for a large office building.

The Miller house was razed in the late summer of 1947.

LAND HOLDINGS:

According to the Index to Deeds of Kanawha County, starting in 1817 and ending in 1840, Aaron Whitteker purchased a total of 11 lots in the city of Charleston. These lots ranged in size from 1/2 acre to two acres at the largest. He sold one of these lots to his brother Thomas in 1830. In 1839, he sold two lots to Charles S. Whitteker. It is doubtless, that these transactions represent his purchasing land on which to build houses to sell.

Included in the Index to Deeds is the recording of an "Emancipation of Slaves" from Aaron in 1833 which is recorded in Book H, Page 389.

Departed this life yesterday morning at 6 O'clock at his late residence in this city, after a brief illness, Mr. Aaron Whitteker, one of the oldest, if not the very oldest of our citizens, aged ninety-one years.

He was born the 28th day of February 1790 in Princeton, Worcester County, Massachusetts, and came to this county in the year 1810, where he has ever since resided. He is the last, but one of a large family, a sister, residing in Massachusetts, several years his senior survives him. All contemporaries, who with him here at the earlier period of Charleston's and the County's history, the Noyes family, the Donnallys, the Ruffners, the Shrewsburys, the Quarriers, the McFarlands, the Lewis, and others have long since passed away, leaving him, the survivor, to follow them at last, in a much further advanced age than any of those had attained. He survived by many years four brothers, William, Levi, Charles, and Thomas, all of whom were residents of Kanawha. At the early age of 19 or 20, he engaged in the manufacture of salt with the late Isaac and Bradford Noyes and some one or more of his brothers. At that day coal was not utilized as a fuel very extensively, but salt water was boiled with wood. Mr. Whitteker was among the first to strip the bottoms and the mountainsides of Elk and the Kanawha of their timber, and furnished cord wood, not only to his own furnace, but had contracts to furnish it to others. In the later years, he engaged in merchandising in Charleston, and was one of the two who carried on that business more extensively. He was industrious and enterprising, and built many of the earlier dwelling houses in Charleston, some of which are still standing. He married Betsy D. Quarrier, youngest daughter of Col. Alexander Quarrier, deceased,( by his first marriage) whom he had survived but six months, she having died on the 15th of August last. They had passed their 66th year of married life, (rare instance of the present day), having had twelve children, five of whom only survive. Their descendants to the fifth generation are numerous, living in various parts of the country. Mr. Whitteker has always lived a moral life, temperate in his habits, but not until the Spring of 1876, in the 86th year of his age, did he unite with the First Presbyterian Church under the ministry of Mr. Barr. He lived the remainder of his life a devoted member of the church.

But two of his children, Mrs. Hubbell, of Cincinnati, and Mrs. Fontaine, with whom he lived, were with him at his death. His daughter, Mrs. Niles, of Boston, being absent in Europe.

The funeral took place at the First Presbyterian Church this afternoon at 3 O'clock, and his remains laid beside his wife, who so recently preceded him, at Spring Hill Cemetery.

From the Wheeling Register of Thursday, April 19, 1894:

"A reunion of the four survivors of the twelve children of the late Aaron and Mrs. Betsey D. Whittaker, deceased, is now being held at the home of Major Fontaine, on Capitol Street. These are Mrs. Niles of Boston, Mrs. Hubbell of Cincinnati, Alexander Q. Whittaker of Woodlawn, West Virginia, and Mrs. Fontaine of this city. Such an even is not likely to occur again in the lives of those four survivors - Charleston Mail."

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