1. Harry Whitney was an American sportsman, adventurer, and author.
18 Facts About Harry Whitney
1. 2.
Harry Whitney traveled to northern Greenland with Robert Peary in 1908, staying over the winter with the Inughuit at Etah and Annoatok.
3.
Harry Whitney is sometimes confused with his contemporary Harry Payne Whitney, who was no relation.
4.
Harry Whitney was born on December 1,1873 in New Haven, Connecticut, to a wealthy family.
5.
Harry Whitney's given name was "Henry", but he was known professionally as "Harry Whitney" throughout his adult life.
6.
Harry Whitney's great-grandfather was Stephen Whitney, one of the first millionaires in New York City.
7.
Harry Whitney's mother was Margaret Lawrence Johnson, a daughter of Bradish Johnson who had owned a sugar plantation in Louisiana, and distillery and real estate in New York.
8.
Harry Whitney returned to the United States in 1905, where he spent some time ranching in the West.
9.
Harry Whitney eventually became known as a big game hunter, or "sportsman".
10.
In July 1908, when Harry Whitney was 34 years old, he and two "sportsman" friends found berths on the Roosevelt and the Erik, the ships carrying Peary's expedition north for his final attempt to reach the Pole.
11.
Harry Whitney decided to overwinter in a small shack made from packing materials on the shore.
12.
Harry Whitney's friends returned to New York aboard the Erik.
13.
Harry Whitney attempted to keep a musk ox calf alive to bring back to the Philadelphia Zoo, but the calf did not survive.
14.
When Peary came south on the Roosevelt later that summer, he refused to allow Harry Whitney to bring Cook's belongings on his ship.
15.
In 1910, Harry Whitney went back to Greenland with his friend Paul Rainey.
16.
In 1916, Harry Whitney married Mrs Eunice Chesebro Kenison, with Captain Bob Bartlett serving as an usher.
17.
Harry Whitney continued to hunt in Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, and the Arctic, providing skins and specimens to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and the Philadelphia Zoo as well as the Bronx Zoo.
18.
Harry Whitney died at a hospital in Montreal on May 20,1936.