Mary Watson Whitney (1847 - 1921)

Mary Watson Whitney was born September 11, 1847 in Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. She was a daughter of Mary Watson Crehore and Samuel Buttrick Whitney.

She went to school in Waltham where she excelled in mathematics and graduated from the public high school in 1863.

She was privately tutored for one year before she entered Vassar College in 1865.

She obtained her degree in 1868.

She became a teacher at her hometown high school until she became an assistant of Maria Mitchell in Vassar.

In 1888, she became a professor and the director of the observatory there until she retired in 1915 for health reasons

In 1889, her mother and sister both became ill and Whitney moved them to the Observatory where she could care for them and continue her work part-time.

When the Maria Mitchell Association was established in Nantucket, Massachusetts in 1902, Whitney became its first president

Whitney died on January 20, 1921 in Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States of pneumonia.

Sources

"Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4KQ-489 : 10 November 2020), Mary W. Whitney, 10 Sep 1847; citing Birth, Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston

"Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FXW8-ZP7 : 20 February 2021), Mary W. Whiting, 10 Sep 1847, Waltham, Massachusetts; citing reference ID #item 1 p86, Massachusetts Archives, Boston

"Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQXW-KSZ : 14 January 2020), Mary W. Whiting, 1847.

"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDSS-BPC : 22 December 2020), Mary W Whitney in household of Sam B Whitny, Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

"United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZCQ-5ZK : 18 February 2021), Mary W Whitney in entry for Saml B Whitney, 1860.

"United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDQM-Q4T : 29 May 2021), Mary W Whitney in entry for Mary W Whitney, 1870.

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH61-PCQ : 19 February 2021), Mary W Whiting in household of Mary W Whiting, Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district ED 416, sheet 433C

"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSXS-PYG : accessed 24 October 2021), Mary W Whitney, Poughkeepsie Township, Dutchess, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 33, sheet 5B, family 104

"Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, 1921-1924", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZX8-GW4W : 8 April 2021), Mary Watson Whitney, 1921.