Stories
Meet the People Who Shaped Our Family.
Discover the lives, memories, photographs, and experiences that shaped who we are today — from Halifax and Northern Ireland to Perth County, and every summer table since.
1789
John Seth Whitney is born
In Halifax, Nova Scotia. He'll live 82 years, cross a young country, and start a family that will still be gathering two hundred years later.
1848
Perth County, Ontario
The Whitneys settle in Mornington Township — the ground where most of the branches root themselves.
1871
John Seth Whitney passes
He leaves five children who each begin branches: Josiah, Sarah, John Guyan, and more.
1893
Maggy meets George Raycraft
Margaret 'Maggy' Whitney marries George Raycraft. The Raycraft branch begins.
1927
The first Whitney Family Reunion
The first summer gathering. Long tables, warm evenings, and the beginning of a hundred-year tradition.
1972
Cousins in three countries
By now Whitneys, Raycrafts, Orrs, Achesons and Davidsons are scattered from Ontario to Florida to British Columbia — and every summer, they come home.
2023
Neil's book of us
Neil Whitney publishes a careful, decades-long record of every descendant of John Seth Whitney — the seed that this website grows from.
2027
The 100th Reunion
One hundred summers. The next century begins.
A living history
Built on Neil's shoulders.
The 1,454 people in this family record — nine generations, 8+ branches — come from Neil Whitney's careful research completed in January 2023. Neil spent years compiling names, dates, and places from across the family.
What lives here is his book, made living. Every family member can suggest corrections, confirm details, and add photos and stories. Nothing becomes official until family confirms it. The record will always credit its source, and Neil's work stays at the root of it.