Whitman, Alfred, 1842-1907

Alfred Whitman became acquainted with Louisa May Alcott while he was a pupil at the Sanborn School. Alcott's character "Laurie" is modeled in part on Alfred Whitman and also Ladislas Wisniewski.

ALFRED WHITMAN, junior member of the firm of Gleason & Whitman, dealers in real estate, is a son of Edmund Burke Whitman and Nancy Russell. Edmund was one of the Kansas pioneers of 1854, and prominent in connection with the E. A. S. and all the movements attendant to the settling of Lawrence.<p>
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Alfred was born in Cambridge, Mass., October 8, 1842. He was educated in his native town and in Concord, Mass. - in the latter place, being under the instruction of Mr. Frank Sanborn, the noted John Brown man.
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He moved to Kansas in 1858, the family settling on a farm in Douglas County. In 1862, his father was appointed Assistant Quartermaster, with the rank of Captain, in the Army of Ohio and the Army of the Tennessee, continuing in the government service until 1868, the last three years being devoted to the organization of National Cemeteries, Alfred Whitman acting as Chief Clerk for his father during this period.
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About 1868, the subject of our sketch located in Louisville, Ky., being engaged in book-keeping in a wholesale house of that city about four years. He was then appointed manager of the Louisville Lithographing Company, a position he retained until 1877, when he traveled in connection with the Travelers Insurance Company, of Hartford, Conn., as special agent for the Southern States, his field covering ten States. Resigning January 1, 1883, he settled in Lawrence, Kan., and became connected with Mr. Gleason.
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Mr. Whitman was married in Lawrence, Kan., April 4, 1867, to Miss Mary W. Brown ( b. 1845, NH), daughter of Rev. John Stillman Brown and Mary Ripley. Rev. John was one of the pioneers of 1857. (Rev John Brown and Mrs. Mary Ripley Brown are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Lawrence, KS.)
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Alfred and Mary have four children - Russell R., John P., Ruth H. and Waldo. Mr. Whitman is a member of the A., F. & A. M.
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Source - William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas, published 1883.