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The Political Graveyard: A Database of American History
Witherell family of Detroit, Michigan

Note: This is just one of 1,164 family groupings listed on The Political Graveyard web site. These families each have three or more politician members, all linked together by blood, marriage or adoption.

These groupings — even the names of the groupings, and the areas of main activity — are the result of a computer algorithm working with the data I have, not the choices of any historian or genealogist.

  James Witherell (1759-1838) — of Fair Haven, Rutland County, Vt.; Detroit, Wayne County, Mich. Born in Mansfield, Bristol County, Mass., June 16, 1759. Democrat. Served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War; physician; member of Vermont state house of representatives, 1798-1802; member of Vermont Governor's Council, 1802-06; Rutland County Judge, 1803-06; U.S. Representative from Vermont 1st District, 1807-08; resigned 1808; U.S. District Judge for Michigan, 1808-28; served in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812; secretary of Michigan Territory, 1828-30. Died in Detroit, Wayne County, Mich., January 9, 1838 (age 78 years, 207 days). Original interment at Russell Street Cemetery, Detroit, Mich.; reinterment at Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Mich.
  Relatives: Son of Benjamin Wetherell and Sarah (Gilbert) Wetherell; married, March 11, 1790, to Amy Hawkins; father of Benjamin Franklin Hawkins Witherell; grandfather of Thomas Witherell Palmer.
  Political family: Witherell family of Detroit, Michigan.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — Find-A-Grave memorial
  Benjamin Franklin Hawkins Witherell (1797-1867) — also known as Benjamin F. H. Witherell — of Detroit, Wayne County, Mich. Born in Fair Haven, Rutland County, Vt., August 4, 1797. Delegate to Michigan state constitutional convention, 1850; justice of Michigan state supreme court, 1857; circuit judge in Michigan 3rd Circuit, 1858-66. Died in Detroit, Wayne County, Mich., June 26, 1867 (age 69 years, 326 days). Interment at Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Mich.
  Relatives: Son of James Witherell and Amy (Hawkins) Witherell; married 1824 to Mary Ann Sprague; married 1837 to Delia Ingersoll; married 1848 to Cassandra Smith Brady; uncle of Thomas Witherell Palmer.
  Political family: Witherell family of Detroit, Michigan.
  See also Find-A-Grave memorial
Thomas W. Palmer Thomas Witherell Palmer (1830-1913) — also known as Thomas W. Palmer — of Detroit, Wayne County, Mich. Born in Detroit, Wayne County, Mich., January 25, 1830. Republican. Merchant; real estate business; lumber business; member of Michigan state senate 2nd District, 1879-80; U.S. Senator from Michigan, 1883-89; U.S. Minister to Spain, 1889-90. Unitarian. Member, Freemasons; Sons of the American Revolution. Died in Detroit, Wayne County, Mich., June 1, 1913 (age 83 years, 127 days). Entombed at Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Mich.
  Relatives: Son of Thomas Palmer and Mary Amy (Witherell) Palmer; married, October 16, 1855, to Elizabeth Pitts 'Lizzie' Merrill; nephew of Benjamin Franklin Hawkins Witherell; grandson of James Witherell.
  Political family: Witherell family of Detroit, Michigan.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — U.S. State Dept career summary — Find-A-Grave memorial
  Image source: The Parties and The Men (1896)
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The Political Graveyard

The Political Graveyard is a web site about U.S. political history and cemeteries. Founded in 1996, it is the Internet's most comprehensive free source for American political biography, listing 320,919 politicians, living and dead.
 
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