William Henry Whitmore had been born in 1820 in Hanover, Grafton, New Hampshire, United States. He had come to the colonies from England. By the time of his majority, new lands were being opened for settlement in Lower & Upper Canada. After the hostilities of the War of 1812-14, many Americans immigrated across the border. William came with his American-born wife Jane Warren (1822-1887) and they settled in the Township of Allumette Island, Lots 5 & 6 W, and he was listed as an owner farmer of those lands in the 1894 List of Voters, for the electoral District of Pontiac, Quebec. William is the only Whitmore listed for the area. At that point he would have been 74 years old and all of his children had left home.
Large-sized Allumette Island lies in the Ottawa River channel and settlers travelled frequently on business, attend church or to socialize, back and forth between the island and the shoreline of Westmeath Township to the south and east, across Lower Allumette Lake, (a widening in the Ottawa River).
William died in 1896 and the death registration stated the cause as “Gravel about two weeks“- a curious entry. William Whitmore death May 6. In the 1871 Census for Allumette Island the surname is spelled Whittimore, by census enumerator Terence Smith. At that time, William and Jane have 9 children still at home, plus a 77 year-old Jane Whittimore, presumed to be William’s widowed mother. This was a devout Wesleyan Methodist family and they came across the river to attend church at Greenwood.
William Whitmore (1820-1896) m. Jane Warren (1822-1887) and their children are:
1. Henry Whitmore (1844-1909) m. Jane Murphy (1848-1925). They had one son John McLeod Whitmore. Jane had a twin sister Hannah who married Gideon Adams of Westmeath Township. See ADAMS entry.
“Margaret Fraser married John Murphy and after the birth of three children: twins Hannah and Jane and John, he went off to sea and nothing more was heard of him afterwards. Hannah Murphy m. Gideon Adams, Jane Murphy, twin of Hannah, married Henry Whitmore. John, unmarried, went to Western Canada with Hugh Coburn and family and worked with the Coburns. After John Murphy’s departure, Alexander Fraser took Margaret’s three children: Hannah, Jane and John to Ottawa to live with them. They all received good educations, Hannah studied music and became an accomplished pianist. When she married Gideon Adams and came to live in Westmeath, she taught piano to many village children.”
2. Clarissa Warren Whitmore (1847 – ) m. Isaac Newton Bogart (1839 – 1910) on Christmas Day of 1871.
3. Jane Whitmore (1850 – 1889) m. Thomas Lee. She died at age 33 years and is buried at Greenwood.
4. Lemuel G Whitmore (1853 – 1908) m. Mary Cotnam (1854-1929) a daughter of George Cotnam (1828-1895) and Catherine Lee (1825-1897). See COTNAM entry. They lived in Pembroke and raised their children:
i. Albert George Whitmore (1884 – 1932) m. Lydia Isabella ‘Bella’ Ostrom(1882 – 1955) became a butcher and lived in Pembroke. Albert George Whitmore
ii. William “Leonard” Whitmore (1884 – 1954) m. Christena Tennant (1886 – 1972) and lived in Saskatchewan.
iii. Annie Ethel Whitmore (1885- ) m. Robert Davidson
iv. Allan W Whitmore (1887 –
v. Edith “Irene” Whitmore (1889 – ) m. Donald Kennedy
5. Charles Whitmore (1855 – ) was born on Allumette Island, Pontiac, Quebec, and it is undetermined when he moved across the river to Westmeath Township. In 1879 he married Emma Jane O’Brien (1861-1953). She was the daughter of John O’Brien (1829-1904) and Elizabeth Jackson (1932- ) and would live to 92 years of age. The first of two marriages between the O’Briens and the Whitmores – a brother marrying a sister occurred twice over.
The children of Charles Whitmore and Emma Jane O’Brien are:
i. Ada Whitmore
ii. Delmer Whitmore
iii. Jane Elizabeth Whitmore
iv. Effie J. Whitmore (1882-
v. Charles H. Whitmore (1886-1935) m. Elizabeth “Eliza” Robinson (1883 – 1946) in 1909 in Perretton. She was the daughter of John Robinson and Mary Ann Margaret McGonegal. See ROBINSON entry
The only post office in tiny Pembroke township outside of Pembroke itself was Alba, on what is now Highway 17, at the southern boundary road. It opened as Alexander Station in 1893, becoming Alba a year later, in the home of Charles Whitmore. Mrs. Whitmore was postmistress for 17 years. The mail bag was tossed from the train at Government Road crossing a mile northwest and brought to Alba by a mail carrier, who continued on to Perretton.
vi. Willard Noah Whitmore (1888- ) m. Elizabeth “Bessie” Coffey (1893-1977). She died in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. She was the daughter of George and Elizabeth Coffey of Pembroke, Ontario.
vii. Vira Elizabeth Whitmore (1891-1916) m. James Walter Thresher (1883-1977). They had two children: Almira Thrasher (1911-1940) and a baby who died in 1916 with Vira also dying then. They are buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Westmeath Township.
viii. Emma Lillian Whitmore (1894- )
vix. Stella Alida Whitmore (1897-1981). Died at age 84 in Santa Clara, California, United States.
6. Robert Whitmore (1857 –
8. Gordon Whitmore (1860 – ) m. Annie Jackson. – this branch is followed in more detail below.
9. Harriet Whitmore (1862 – ) m. Thomas Alfred O’Brien (1857-1914). He was a son of Elizabeth Jackson (1832-1929) & John O’Brien (1829-1904) – the second marriage with the O’Brien family. See JACKSON entry.
10. Edward Whitmore (1864 –
11. George Whitmore (1869 –1895) died age 26. George nursed in last illness.
Descendants of Gordon Whitmore and Annie Jackson
This Westmeath Township branch of the Whitmore’s would continue to farm the Whitmore homestead on the shores of Lower Allumette Lake. Gordon Whitmore at age 31 years had his father William living with him in 1891. Mother Jane Warren had died in 1887 – 4 years earlier.
1891 Census Westmeath Township
| WHITMORE | William | M | 70 | W | USA | USA | USA | METH | Farmer |
| WHITMORE | Gordon | M | 31 | S | PQ | USA | USA | METH | Farmer |
The 1893 Voters List for Westmeath Township, shows the two bachelors: one Whitmore landowner and his son listed: William Whitmore and son Gordon Whitmore. They are farming on South-Half of Lot 26, Concession Front B. East of Muskrat Lake.
In the 1901 Census for Westmeath Township Gordon Whitmore (1859 – ) was 42 years old and Annie Jackson (1863- ) was 38 years old, and Methodist farmers, are listed with 4 young children still at home: Retta J. Whitmore, 6 years; Ann B. Whitmore, 5 years; Gladys E. Whitmore, 3 years and Gordon A. Whitmore, 1 year. Annie Jackson was the daughter of another local Greenwood family.
The 1921 Census for Westmeath Township
Gordon Whitmore 61 years Born in Quebec, Father born in USA
May A Whitmore 54 years Born in Ontario, Father born in Ireland
Allan G. Whitmore 21
W. Elmer Whitmore 16
E. Rueben Whitmore 13
The Whitmore homestead Lot 26, Conc.B.EML; is located just south of the Township Line with then Pembroke Township; now Laurentian View Township. This land runs back from the Ottawa River Shoreline and has remained in the family through successive generations of farmers. Currently, local residents are very familiar with the large-scale, modern, Whitmore dairy operation, straddling the Beachburg Road between Flinchley Road and Cemetery Road in the Greenwood area of the Township.
The children of Gordon Whitmore and Annie Jackson are:
1. Elmer Whitmore Whitmore, Elmer m. Gladys Francis in 1938.
Their children are:
i. Gordon Whitmore
ii Donald Whitmore
iii. Wayne Whitmore m. Carole Jackson, and they are the current owner-operators on the homestead; along with their two sons.
iv. Hayden Whitmore
v. Margaret Whitmore m. Garnet Mitchell and she lives in Eganville, Ontario
2. Allen Whitmore
3. Reuben Whitmore
4. Osborne Whitmore
5. Beatrice Whitmore
6. Retta Whitmore m. ____Dunn