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My geneology is posted elsewhere in these pages. But as everyone knows there is more to an individual than ones pedigree.
I was born near Hidden Timber, SD at my Uncle Stan Whiting’s ranch. My mother and I were then taken to Valentine, NE to the hospital. Thus, ole Doc Farner put my birthplace as
Valentine. My father, LeMoyne Whiting, ranch was located about three miles east of my uncle’s ranch. Both my grandfather Edward and his brother Thomas lived and raised families around the Hidden
Timber area. Great Uncle Thomas Whiting was the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Chairman for two terms from 1936 to 1940 (2nd & 3rd terms after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act allowed tribes to establish
constitutions and by-laws and tribal governments). Thomas and his wife, Sadie, operated the only business in Hidden Timber. It was a gas station, grocery and general mercantile, and the U. S Post
Office.
Edward and Thomas had three other brothers who also lived on the Rosebud. Jacob, William and David lived in the St. Francis area. Although there was also five sisters, two
of them died a young ages. The other three were Harriet, Nellie, and Louise.
Harriet married William J. Whitcher and lived on a ranch at the confluence of Antelope and Rock Creeks, the
beginning of the Keyapaha River. Their ranch, the H-T, was located about a mile east of Hidden Timber. Great Aunt Hattie and ole WJ never had any children. The primary operating forman of the H-T
ranch, Clarence Whiting (my father’s youngest brother and his three sons), where in charge of the day to day operation of the ranch. After Great Aunt Hattie past away, WJ sold the ranch to the president of the
Nebraska State Bank of Valentine.
The new owner and his “Straw Boss,” also from Valentine, left the daily operation to my uncle and his three boys. The new owner had a liking for race
horses. I guess he got behind financial and ended up in jail because he confused the banks money and his money. This caused a foreclosure on the H-T and the ranch was no longer operated by the family.
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Great Aunt Nellie married Fred Larmer. She past away about the same time as my Great Aunt Hattie and I never really got to know
her.
Great Aunt Louise married Harry Furrey. They ranched east of Hidden Timber, southeast of Okreek near the Todd and Tripp County border. She was the youngest of the family
and my grandfather left home while she was very young. She never got to know the older siblings until they moved to Todd County. The thing I remember about Aunt Louise was her dill pickles, the finest I
have ever tasted. Aunt Louise past away in 1994. Her sons, Harlan and Bill, still operate the family ranch.
My Great Grandfather, Edward L. Whiting, Sr., is originally from New York
State. After the Civil War he was still in the U. S. Calvary. He was dispatched to either Fort Ripley or Fort Snelling in Minnesota to deliver some troops that were AWOL or something like that.
From there he was dispatched to Fort Randall in South Dakota doing similar duty. During this trip his enlistment in the calvary ran out and he mustered out but stayed in civil employment for the government as
a blacksmith. While their he met and later married Mary Louise Tesson at Fort Laramie in Wyoming.
Retiring around Fort Randall, he owned and operated a toll bridge across the Niobrara River in
Nebraska. Another gentleman built a store near the bridge which now is Spencer, Nebraska. After Ed, Sr. pasted away he was buried in the Fort Randall Cemetery which is located downstream from Fort
Randall Dam on the west abutment.
Ed, Sr. was the son of Theodore David Whiting and Harriet Elizabeth Thomas. She was a first cousin to Seth Thomas, the famous clock maker. I have used my
software, Family Tree Maker, to trace these people (on CD’s that come with the software).
There is a Theodore, David. and Edward L Whiting listed on a 1855 census from West Bloomfield. Family
research hits a dead end because the Court House there had burned down with all the records also going up in smoke.
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My Grandfather, Ed, Jr., was born in 1885. That is four years before the Agreement of 1889, which created the Rosebud Sioux
Reservation. South Dakota also became a state that same year (go back to the links/history lesson if you are interested in a little history of the area). He married Irene Clara Giroux (Crazy Bear) known
by here friends as “Rena.” Her father was named George Giroux, his father was Francis Napoleon Giroux. A few years back one of my father’s sisters was contacted by a man from Texas, also with the name
Giroux. He was tracing his family tree and followed one of the branches to Rena’s brother and sister, Claude and Ida. He was retired and cruised his motor home around looking and doing research on his
relatives. He said he planned a trip to this area in the next coupe years but has yet to show up. He claimed to have documentation proving direct linage to France’s Napoleon Bonaparte. I would have
confidence because it would justify the use of the name down the line.
Ed, Jr. ranched his entire life without ever owning a tractor. He preferred to feed his cattle with a team and wagon,
pitching the hay with a fork. My father had a Ford Tractor, mower, rake and haysled, he preferred small square bales to feed his livestock.. Another neighbor had a bigger tractor, baler and also did
custom farming and stacking hay. The system worked out well for all three of them.
My father is a WWII veteran. He survived the Battle of the Bulge when the Germans tried to break out to
the Atlantic in a desperate attempt to gain a seaport to provide a place to import fuel.
As you can see with this many Whiting’s living around the Rosebud makes for many relatives. This is
further complicated by my mother’s side of the family. I is also large and most of my elder ancestors have resided in the area.
In the next issue or should I say extention of this part
of my personnal pages I shall continue to shed some light on my ancestors hoping that those that also have common branches with my family tree will step forward and offer more incite to what I have started.
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