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James Scollay Whitney (May 19, 1811 – October 24, 1878) was an American business executive and politician. He was the father of Henry Melville Whitney and William Collins Whitney, founders of the Whitney family business interests.
Early life
Whitney was born on May 19, 1811, in the part of South Deerfield, Massachusetts that was then known as "Bloody Brook". He was the son of Stephen Whitney (1784–1852), a merchant manufacturer, and his second wife, Mary (née Burgess) Whitney (1786–1868), the daughter of Dr. Benjamin Burgess. Among his siblings was Susan Whitney (wife of James I. Wakefield) and Mary Ann Whitney (wife of Theodore Billings). From his father's first marriage to Persis Locke, he was the younger half-brother of Stephen Whitney.
Through his maternal aunt, Mercy (née Burgess) Dawes, he was a first cousin of Republican Senator and Representative Henry L. Dawes. The Whitney family were descended from John Whitney (1590–1673) of London who settled in 1635 at Watertown, Massachusetts.
