Derby History Quiz

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Another Derby Diplomat

William Whitney

In earlier quizzes, we have featured a number of United States diplomats who hailed from Derby, and thanks to Marian O'Keefe of the Derby Historical Society, we can now add William Whitney to the list. The Whitney family was well established in Derby and were prosperous in the import business that was centered in the Lehman Stone house on the east side of town along the Naugatuck River. William Whitney took a slightly different track and owned a jewelry store on Main Street in Nathan's Hall which was recently torn down as part of the downtown redevelopment effort.

In 1872, William Whitney was named as the Deputy U.S. Consul to Bermuda. We have little knowledge of how he became involved, but thanks to Liz Kennard of Tele-Media Cable, we have two pictures from Bermuda that attest to Whiteny's tenure on the island. The recent pictures show the Whitney Institute and middle school which were originally established by Whitney.

 
Click images for larger pictures.

 Correct answers were received from: Jack Vagnini, Jay ?, Pat  Oates, Randy Ritter, Nick from Terryvile,  Margo Bondi, Jim Bartlett, Joe Dedo, Jack O'Callaghan, Bob Ahearn, Fred Grant, John Millea, Jack Skelding, Ann Searles, Millie from Ansonia, Ken Dupke, Joe Melewski, Kim Cannici, and John M. Rak.

To see our earlier quizzes and learn more about Derby's unique history, click here.

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