bio_whitman

Dr. Thomas Campbell Whitman (1842-1914) Thomas C. Whitman was born on June 27, 1842 in Butler County Ohio to unknown parents. We do know that Thomas C. Whitman was actually born and named Thomas Whitman Campbell. Very little is known about Dr. Whitman’s younger days, some accounts say that he and his brother were raised in an orphanage and when old enough to leave they went to Texas while others say that he left his family during the Civil War.

According to the grandchildren of Dr. Whitman, Blonnie Bryant and Myrtle Helveston, in his early days Dr. Whitman was educated in his home state of Ohio and attended medical college. According to a 1909 letter written by Dr. Whitman, after receiving his education in Ohio he and his brother moved farther south to St. Charles, Missouri, where they lived on a farm located 30 miles north of St. Louis. The country of St. Charles, Missouri was filled was those who supported the Union cause including Thomas’ brother. At the start of the Civil War in 1861 Thomas espoused the cause of the Confederacy while his brother left the farm and joined the ranks of the 33rd Missouri Infantry, U.S.A. According to Dr. Whitman there was never a Confederate in the county of St. Charles during the war and for about the first year while Thomas supported the Confederacy he did not enlist in their army. On September 1, 1862 Dr. Thomas Whitman was captured as a Confederate Guerrilla and imprisoned at the Gatriot Street Prison in St. Louis, even though Thomas had never even taken an oath to support the Confederacy. In other words the U.S. Army had taken Dr. Whitman to jail for being a Confederate when he really wasn’t, locking up an innocent man.

At the Gatriot Street Prison in St. Louis Thomas was threatened with death and was confined with 1200 Confederate. For the first time in his life Thomas met a Confederate Recruiting Officer and finding one imprisoned with him, he and 40 others were sworn into Confederate Services on September 19, 1862 while imprisoned at the Gatriot Street Prison in St. Louis. According to Dr. Whitman, he was sworn into Confederate States Army as a Bushwhacker. On the night of October 4, 1862, only 15 days after being imprisoned, Thomas Whitman and 18 year old Bob Tanner, escaped from the Gatriot Street Prison. Thomas and Bob cautiously made their way to Bob’s home located in Callaway County, North Missouri. For a time Thomas and Bob fell in with Captain White’s Company of Bushwhackers where they are said to have had some exciting trials.

According to Dr. Whitman, on the night of November 4, 1862, one month after escape, he and 7 other Bushwhackers from his company got a skiff and swam their horses across the Missouri River, nearly freezing, near Bolla on the Pacific Railroad. At this time Bolla was under the control and occupation of Federal Troops and was considered to be one of their forts, this was a very dangerous event for these 7 men, which could have resulted in their death. For nearly a week these 7 men skulked through the Missouri countryside filled with Dutch-Home guards only traveling at night while during the day to avoid capture, again very dangerous for these men. On November 12, 1862 these 7 men fell in with the Regiment of John D. Burbridge (Mayor of Jacksonville after the War). That night the 7 men were assigned to messes. The next morning Burbridge broke camp and headed for Camp Mountain Home where the regiment was formed electing Burbridge to Colonel forming Company F. Thomas Whitman stayed with Col. Burbridge and the 4th Missouri Calvary C.S.A. until reorganization of the 3rd MO. Calvary when Col. Green succeeded Burbridge and the company became Company C of the 3rd MO. Calvary C.S.A. Major Smith, 1st Lt. Carrington and 3rd Lt. Chadrick of this company were all killed in the battle of Jenkins Ferry in March of 1864.

Under Col. Green, Thomas Whitman, took a new position in the Confederate States Army and began working as a scout and spy. According to Dr. Whitman, he was called and known in the regiment as Green’s Spy. In addition Dr. Whitman served as a spy for Lt. Gen. Holmes, after given a fine Sharps Rifle Thomas was sent into Little Rock, AK to carry out his mission and report back. Dr. Whitman also says that he carried out orders for Generals Taylor and Marmaduke. Among the last orders carried out by Dr. Whitman towards the end of the Civil War was with his company on outlook duty on the Mississippi River between Memphis and Vicksburg.

Sometime before May 26, 1865 when General Kirby Smith was surrendering in Shreveport, LA., Dr. Whitman, was given orders to choose 5 men and capture a boat to be used to cross stray bodies of Johnson’s men. He was given orders to use any means he thought available to carry out this mission. In the performance of these directions Dr. Whitman says that he disguised himself as a cotton trader and smuggled 5 men aboard a certain vessel at Vicksburg and through the capacity of vessels officers he induced them to go after cotton that he did not have. Dr. Whitman took possession of the vessel and expected the arrival of his company for every hour after, however they never came likely because of the surrender and end of the war. While waiting for his company the vessel was landed and a man set to guard the cable. Through the carelessness of the man set to guard the cable it was cut while all but Dr. Whitman, were ashore. The vessel quickly drifted offshore and Dr. Whitman became overpowered. The vessel drifted for hundreds of miles and after spending nearly a day floating aboard this vessel, Dr. Whitman was captured by Union Troops and taken before a Military Commission and once again tried for being a Confederate Guerrilla and Robber since he had stolen a vessel. According to Dr. Whitman’s 1914 obituary, when he was carried before the Yankee Officers his nerve never failed. The Yankee Officer asked Dr. Whitman, “If you were sitting here in my place and I in yours, what would you have done to me?” Dr. Whitman answered, “I’d have you shot, damn you!!” The Yankee Officer then carried out his orders and said, “It’s my order that you be shot at daylight tomorrow morning.” The prison guards were then instructed to put the prisoner to be placed in the middle cell on the third floor that he might not escape again.

That night he cut his blankets and sheets, tied them together and let himself down to the ground. The prison guards were on their beat on the other side of the prison. According to Blonnie Bryant and Myrtle Helveston, Whitman had jumped or fallen from atop of the prison stockade walls breaking his leg. As he lay only a few feet away from the prison guards he eventually crawled to a near-by house where the people took him in and he hid until his leg healed. Nearly a year after Dr. Whitman had escaped he was captured yet again by Union Troops.

Under the orders of President Johnson, Dr. Whitman was sentenced to 15 years in a Military Prison at Jefferson City, Missouri. After 11 months imprisonment at the Jefferson City Prison, Dr. Whitman was released in February of 1867 by Judge Kerkel of the U.S. Circuit Court under rights of Habius Corpus.

While being born Thomas Whitman Campbell, when he enlisted in the Civil War Thomas had changed his name taking his middle name as his last. While we do not know when Dr. Thomas made this change it is believed to have been done as protection to his northern families name as he enlisted and stayed loyal to the Confederacy. After the Civil War Dr. Thomas moved to Texas and eventually to North Arkansas. Sometime after the Civil War, Thomas met and married to Mollie Harris. Mollie and Thomas eventually had three sons, all whom died at a very young age. Thomas and Mollie’s fourth child was a daughter they name Lillie, who eventually married to Albert Meyer. While it is said that Mollie took the Whitman name there is no evidence of this and no records of the marriage that have been located yet. This family could have been enumerated as both the Whitman and/ or Campbell name however neither has been located through census records yet.

Eight years after the close of the Civil War, in 1874, Thomas and Mollie decided that they would move their family south to Florida. They loaded the family and their personal possession and by wagon they began their journey to Florida to start a new life. It is not known if Dr. Thomas knew where he was going or if he simply drove through the country side until he decided it was time to stop. Eventually the Whitman family reached Hernando County and decided to settle and stay near to Brooksville. Under an Act of Congress approved May 20, 1862, Thomas Whitman found a small section of property not yet homesteaded by anyone else. Here Thomas began the task of building his family a home and started to cultivate the land into a farm. Like most homestead acts the homesteader was required to live on the homestead property for a minimum of five years, only after building a home and cultivating the land. On June 13, 1883 Thomas C. Whitman received the deed and title to his 80 acre homestead, which was located in section 27, township 21, range 18 situated just northwest of present Brooksville. Here Thomas was neighbor to several other Confederate Veterans.

Once settled in the small neighborhood Thomas joined the local W.W. Loring Confederate Veteran Camp No. 13, which was established and started by local Brooksville resident and veteran Frank E. Saxon. Thomas remained a good standing member of the W.W. Loring Confederate Veterans Camp No. 13 for many years and eventually had Frank Saxon sign an affidavit for his Confederate Pension Application.

By 1879 Thomas had purchased additional property in Hernando County. On December 08, 1879 Thomas C. Whitman purchased 40 acres of property from the State of Florida for $1.00 per acre, this property was located in section 07, township 20, range 17. These 40 acres of property were located along the coast of the county just north of the Chashowitzka River and southwest of Homosassa along Mason Creek. While it is not known it is believed that Thomas used this property for farming and cultivation of crops. In addition to this purchase and the homestead, Thomas Whitman also purchased several tracts of property from local residents.

Sometime ca. 1879 Thomas suffered with the loss of his first wife Mollie Harris Whitman. The circumstances surrounding Mollie’s death are unknown, in fact there is very little known about Mollie’s death in general. The exact dates and location are also unknown. Not long after the death of his first wife Thomas remarried. On May 30, 1880 Thomas C. Whitman and Mary Elizabeth Gillett were married by Brooksville Justice of the Peace M.A. Aderhold. Thomas Whitman and his new wife, Mary Elizabeth, remained in Brooksville and continued to live for several years after their marriage.

As Thomas became established in the community and his farm and crops became his families’ livelihood. Eventually the small community, just outside Brooksville, where Thomas lived became known as Hunter Hill. The Hunter Hill community became a well established little community having its own school, churches and general stores providing for people so that they would not have to travel to Brooksville. By the late 1880’s to early 1890’s the Farmer’s Alliance and Industrial Union was established in Hernando County with C.T. Rogers acting as the Union President for the county. By 1891 the small community of Hunter Hill had formed their own office under the Farmer’s Alliance and Industrial Union. According to the July 25, 1891 Hernando News, Thomas C. Whitman was the acting president of the Hunter Hill chapter of the Farmer’s Alliance and Industrial Union with P.C. Dean as secretary.

In December of 1892 Mary Elizabeth Whitman made a purchase of property located in what was now Pasco County, formerly apart of Hernando County prior to 1887. According to Pasco County land records, on December 23, 1892 Mary received a deed to 40 acres of property she purchased from William B. Ellis. This 40 acres of property is located in section 29, township 26, range 19; southern Pasco County. William B. Ellis had actually purchased 80 acres from the State of Florida 10 years prior, in 1882, for $1.00 per acre; it was half of these 80 acres that William sold to Mary Elizabeth Whitman for $1200 in 1892. Almost immediately after Mary’s purchase of property the Whitman Family once again loaded up the wagon and headed south moving to their new 40 acres of property in Pasco County. After locating to Pasco County, some 30 miles south of Brooksville, Thomas no longer paid his due to the W.W. Loring Confederate Vet Camp No. 13 in Brooksville. According to an affidavit by Frank E. Saxon dated 1909, after several years Thomas Whitman’s name was removed from the camp rolls.

After moving to Pasco County, Mary Elizabeth and Thomas began making a new life for their family and started to build the small community around them. On July 24, 1893 Mary Elizabeth Whitman filed application with the Post Master Generals Office to establish a new post office. Mary Elizabeth decided and applied for the new post office to be called Myrtle, likely named because of the number of large and beautiful myrtle trees that grew in the area where the Whitman’s lived. Mary Elizabeth Whitman’s application to establish the Myrtle Post Office was granted and she immediately assumed the responsibilities as the Myrtle Post Mistress. As Mary Elizabeth operated the Myrtle Post Office her husband, Thomas, was busy building his new doctor’s practice in the new town of Myrtle. Dr. Thomas Whitman was the areas first doctor in Central Pasco County and was responsible for delivering many of the areas babies.

After settling and building the Myrtle Community, six years after relocated to Pasco County, Thomas Whitman would once again suffered the loss of his wife. It was sometime ca. 1900 that Mary Elizabeth Gillett Whitman passed away. Thomas again wasted no time in finding a new wife to care for his many children. According to Bryant and Myrtle Helveston, Thomas Whitman’s third wife was actually a mail order bride, her name Clara is noted in a family bible.

According to his pension application, Thomas Whitman married to Clara LePrise on January 25, 1901 in Pike County, Summit, Mississippi. Immediately following their marriage Clara was brought to Pasco County for the first time, in Thomas pension application Clara states that she has been a resident of Pasco County since January 27, 1901; two days after her marriage to Thomas. Thomas and his now third wife, Clara, continued to live at the Whitman home in the small community of Myrtle, which Thomas had built from nothing.

After the death of Mary Elizabeth, Thomas assumed the position as the Myrtle Post Master and carried out the small post office his second wife had started. In addition Thomas still served as the local doctor taking care of the community and surround areas minor medical needs. While we do not know the full circumstances surround Thomas’s third marriage to Clara, this marriage was short lived. However, Thomas and Clara did not get a divorce as Clara filed a widow’s pension claim in 1914. Under this claim Clara stated that she and Thomas were not divorced.

Ironically, sometime after the separation from Clara LePrise Whitman, Thomas found another woman, which he began to call his wife. Thomas met a woman named Latitia or Tachie and very little is known about her. It is believed that Thomas and Tachie were never actually married as there has not been any marriage records located, yet. It is believed that Thomas and Tachie were not married because Thomas had never divorced from Clara LePrise. If they had divorce she would not be allowed to file a widow pension claim as the wife of Thomas Whitman in 1914, which was granted!!

Regardless, Tachie and Thomas were very happy together living their simple lives in the small community of Myrtle in Central Pasco County. In 1909 Thomas used his position as the post master, of the Myrtle Post Office, to attempt to track down those he had served under in the Civil War for the purpose of obtaining a pension under the newly passed acts in Florida allowing Confederate Veterans to apply for pensions. Through a series of letter in 1909 that were mailed to several other post masters in Missouri, Thomas discovered that most of his commanding officers were long sine dead.

Thomas eventually received pension from the Government for his service in the Civil War and in the Confederate States Army, Thomas received $1200 a year for his service. It must be noted that Thomas was wounded during the Civil War but does not mention how he was wounded during his writing. According to a physicians’ report dated 1913, Thomas had lost his left eye and had lost his third finger on his left hand with injuries to the first and second finger. In addition the doctor also noted that under Thomas’ right axills or armpit that the glands had adenitis, which is a bacterial infection in the lymph nodes glands. The doctor who signed off on the physicians’ affidavit was Dr. John S. Helms and Dr. J.C. Vinson of Tarpon Springs. Thomas further states that the injuries to his hand were caused from a Spencer Rifle ball, which was still in his hand. Thomas also stated that he had contracted dysentery when Little Rock fell on September 10, 1863 and had it ever since with three to five spells a year. He also says that he had had rheumatism in the back of his knees and shoulder for nearly 35 years.

The following year in 1914 Thomas would face death for himself. According to his obituary Thomas died on June 6, 1914 at his home south of Ehren, known as Twenty- Mile Level. “The immediate cause of his death was rabies, caused by the bite of a pet puppy more than a year ago. After the puppy had bitten him, he killed the puppy and took the head to Tampa, where, on examination, it was found the dog was mad. He was treated but was never satisfied. He told his folks that the dog bite would be the cause of his death. He secured a number of books and posted himself as to the symptoms, told his wife [Tachie] what to do if he should develop rabies, that there would be no way to save his life and for her and the family to think only of their own safety, that the loving husband and tender father he had always been to them would do none of them bodily harm. Time passed and no trace of trouble came and he had almost decided that he would have no trouble. But Friday night, after the family had retired, he was writing some letters when the death messenger gave him the summons. He called his wife and his grown son and told them the time was at hand, send for the other children and bring him his medicine, already prepared by his own hand a year ago. He had already told his family that all they could do was give him Chloroform to keep him quiet. This they did by aid of a druggist who lived near. His business affairs had long since been arranged; he was a man who never owned a dollar of debt therefore his affairs were easily arranged. He remained conscious to the end, death relieving at 5:30on Saturday evening. Doctor Whitman was a man who placed hone above everything else in the world. He would have suffered death in any form before he would have been dishonest. He held many places of trust and at the time of his death was Postmaster at Myrtle, also Justice of the Peace in his district. He was in his 73rd year. The body was laid to res Sunday afternoon in the County Line Cemetery, followed to the last resting place by every family for miles around.”

Today Dr. Thomas Campbell Whitman, as he was known at the time of death, is buried in an unmarked grave in the County Line Cemetery; perhaps just the way this Confederate spy had planned!!!

By Jeff Cannon
Last revised March 11, 2008