John and Anna Whistler
This information comes from research done
by Margaret Thatcher and is in the family files at the Campbell County
Historical Society
Among the many famous persons who were at the Newport Barracks were the Whistler men. Major John Whistler, dubbed "Red Coat Johnny" was born 1756 at Ulster, North Ireland. He first came to this country as a British Red Coat under General John Burgoyne, and fought the cause of the empire on our shores. He was wounded and taken prisoner of war at Saratoga. He returned to England after the war and was honorable discharged. He married Anna Bishop, daughter of Sir Edward Bishop in 1780.
Whistler and his wife came to America where he joined the American Army as a private, and was wounded while in St. Clair's campaign against the American Indians in 1791. After 1797, with the rank of major, he became the Commandant of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where his four sons were born. In 1803, as a captain, he was ordered with his troops (among them was his twenty year old son, Lt. William Whistler) to go to the mouth of the Illinois River on Lake Michigan and built a fort. This frontier fort, built of logs cut from the forest, consisted of rough quarters for the officers and their families, the troops and a stockade enclosing the building. There were no horse. This was called Fort Dearborn, on which Chicago now stands. The fort was a means of protecting the early settlers from marauding Indians and from the British who remained in the Great Lakes Region after the close of the American revolution.
In the autumn of 1812, he was appointed as a "Military Storekeeper" at Newport Barracks. John and his family lived at the Barracks. Some time after 1815 he was transferred to Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis. He was later transferred to the same position at Fort Bellefontaine, Missouri, where he died September 2, 1829.
Children of Major John Whistler and Anna
Bishop
1. William Whistler-1783 Baltimore MD; d-4 Dec 1863 in Newport; moved to
Evergreen Cemetery after original burial in Bishop's Cemetery; m-Julia Fearson
15 May 1802 at Detroit
2. John Whistler Jr. West Point graduate; killed in Battle of Maguago 1812
3. James Whistler-died Baton Rouge La
4. . George Washington Whistler-b 1800 Ft. Wayne Indiana; m-Anna Matilda
McNeill of Lowell Mass; d-1849 in St. Petersburg Russia
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George Washington Whistler, who attained the rank of Major, attended school in Newport during his youth and it was from Newport that he enrolled at West Point. Major Whistler and his wife Anna were the parents of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, the famous artist who is best known for his portrait of "Whistler's Mother". He graduated West Point as a topographical engineer and was assigned to lay out much of what is now the B&O Railroad routes in this country.
In 1842, as Colonel Whistler he accepted a commission from Czar Nicholas of Russia to build a railroad from St. Petersburg to Moscow. He lived with his second wife and one son in Europe until his death in 1849. His remains were brought back to America and buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Stonington Connecticut.
Children of George Washington Whistler and Anna Matilda McNeill
1. James Abbott McNeill Whistler-b-1834 d-1903 Lowell Mass
Colonel William Whistler graduated from the United States Academy at West Point on June 18, 1801 as 2d Lt. His first assignment was in his father's regiment, when they were sent to build a fort on Lake Michigan. He married Julia Fearson, born July 3, 1787 at Salem Mass. and who died Feb 12, 1878 in Newport. She was the daughter of John Fearson, a British subject and captain in the Merchant Marine service and ____ LaDuke of Montreal Canada. They were married in Detroit, Territory of the Northwest.
He made 1st Lt. March 4, 1807; captain Dec 31, 1812; major April 28, 1826; colonel July 15, 1845; and was retired as Colonel of the 4th Infantry on Oct 14, 1861. William was also a "Military Storekeeper" at the Newport Barracks early in his career.
Children of William Whistler and Julia Fearson
1. John Harrison Whistler-b-1804 first white
child born at Ft. Dearborn Michigan; d-Burlington Coffey Co. Kansas; br-Mount
Hope Cemetery in Burlington Kansas; m-Marie Boye of Windsor Canada; daughter
Mary lived with her grandparents in Covington
2. Eliza Whistler-b 1806 Ft. Dearborn Michigan; m-___ Clench of St. Catherine Canada;
daughter Caroline B Clench also lived with her grandparents in Newport
3. Gwenthlin Whistler-m Robert A Kinzie; daughter Nettie Kinzie
4. Joseph Nelson Garland Whistler-graduated from West Point and rose to rank of
General
5. Daughter m-___ Bloodgood of Albany NY
6. Mary Ann Whistler b-1815 in Newport; m-Gabriel
Rene Paul 24 Mar 1835 at Ft Gibson Oklahoma; d-11 Nov 1871 in Burlington
Coffey Co. Kansas; buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Burlington Kansas.
7. Louise A Whistler
b-1827 in Green Bay Wisconsin; m-Charles John Helm; died 17 Aug 1883 in
Detroit Michigan; br-3 Sep 1883 in Newport Cemetery (now Evergreen)
On October 16, 1856, William purchased the property at 208 Kentucky Drive, South Newport, a private residence. That area became known as Buena Vista. Upon his retirement from the Army in 1861, this became his permanent residence. Behind this house is the burial place of "Willie" which tradition tells us contains the remains of a seven year old lad who, while visiting his grandparents here, fell from a cherry tree and was killed. He was buried where he fell and the stone inscribed as a caution to other children the danger in climbing trees.
OUR WILLIE
son of
J N G and Eliza C Whistler
Born in Cibolleta, New Mexico
Feb. 24, 1850
Died in Newport, Kentucky
July 11, 1857
Sleep Willie dear, and take your rest, God called you home.
He thought it best, "Twas hard indeed to lose you thus
But Christ's strong arm supported us.
The Lord giveth and the Lord hath taken away
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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Children of John Harrison Whistler and Mary Boye
1. Mary Whistler b-9 Oct 1836 in Chicago Illinois; d-22 Nov 1911 in Covington; br-Evergreen Cemetery
Children of Joseph Nelson Garland Whistler and Eliza C
1. Garland Nelson Whistler b-10 Aug 1847 in
Schenectady NY; m-Ellen Everett
2. Willie Whistler b-24 Feb 1850 in Ciboleta New Mexico; d-11 July 1857 in Newport
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Children of Mary Ann Whistler and Gabriel Rene Paul
1. Julia Paul b-1836 in Arkansas
2. Harriet Paul b-1838 in Arkansas
3. Gertrude Paul b-1840 in Albany New York
4. Augustus Chouteau Paul b-16 Apr 1842 in Albany New York; d-19 Sep 1904 in
Hampton City Virginia; m-Josephine C Bradshaw 21 Jan 1866
5. Gabriel Paul b-10 Oct 1849 in St Louis Mo. d-10 July 1853 in St Louis; br-St
Vincent Cemetery in St Louis
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Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, Monday, 9 June 1862, page 2
On Saturday, Major Whistler, one of the oldest retired officers in the US Army, fell near his residence and severely fractured one of his legs.
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On July 9, 1858, Colonel William Whistler purchased the building at the south east corner of sixth and York streets, which was partly occupied by Dr. Stewart as a drug store. Colonel Whistler died on December 3, 1863 at his home and was buried in Bishop's Cemetery in Cincinnati. After Julia died, his body was removed to the Helm lot in Evergreen Cemetery with his wife.
Colonel William Whistler Obituary
Julia Fearson Whistler Obituary and Life Story