ESECK WHITNEY.

The first settlement made in Massena township was that of Frank H. Whitney, who in the latter part of July, 1858, settled at his town of Whitneyville, which he had but just platted, and on section 8 erected a small board shanty. The land upon which it stood, for many years afterward, formed part of the estate of Samuel T. McCormick. Eseck Whitney, a cousin of Frank H., settled on section 8, in the fall of 1858 and was the second to permanently locate in the twownship.

They were both natives of Oswego county, N. Y., and, although Eseck was seventeen years the elder, he possessed the same family energy and intellectual restlessness which were such marked traits of Frank H. The elder cousin went to Colorado, after remaining three years on section 8, but returned in 1864 on account of Indian troubles, and died here in 1876. His son, William S. Whitney, served as postmaster of Whitneyville from 1866 to 1879.

From "Compendium and History of Cass County, Iowa." Chicago: Henry and Taylor & Co., 1906, pg. 186.