William Durant Green Whaley

William Durant Green Whaley, born 1864 in Onslow Co., North Carolina; died at age 70, July 11, 1934.
He was 6'4"

The son of Durant Green Whaley 1825-1864, and Mary E. Jones 1832-1898.

Father of Mary Samatha, Wm Tammy and Lucien Orville Gail.

He is buried in the Whaley Cemetery in Richlands, Onslow Co., NC

Papa's sister
Elizabeth, N.C.

Married Ida Spencer in 1909
in Bowie County Texas (Maude/Redwater)

De Queen, Horatio and Frog Level are all possible locations where they first settled.
I think I remember being told they had a strawberry farm and a general store.

DG bought the first automobile in the area, a Studebaker, though he couldn't drive it. He had a relative in Florida (cousin?) and decided to move his family there. He hired a driver for his car and when there were no roads, they loaded the car on a train.

He prospered in Florida as a cattle rancher, it is said that at one time he was considered one of the wealthiest men in Florida. He lost his money in the great depression and died a few years later. Ida, 20 yrs younger, struggled to keep the farm together but Tammy had to come home from the University of Florida in Gainesville to help when it was discovered that the foreman, a black man, was rustling their cattle.

From "Family Tree Maker"
WDGW left North Carolina after leaving the Baptist Ministry and moved to Bowie Co., Texas at Texarkana. From this prior info showed him born in 1864. From his tombstone record, he is buried in the Whaley Cemetery in Richlands, Onslow Co., NC. He would have been 71 on his next birthday. Info by Carolyn Harmon.

According to info by Carmen Lyons, he was a tobacco farmer and preacher in Onslow County, NC. He founded Whaley Chapel [Hargetts Crossroads] in Jones County, NC. He is supposed to have owned 1000 acres in Jones County. It is rumored that Nancy Ann his first wife was Mean as a Snake. It is told that on coming home from an extended preaching circuit that he found that his wife had given birth to a red-headed baby that looked much like the hired farm hand. Shortly after, William took a 100 pound salt bag that was full of Money and left for Texas. In Texas he met and married Ida Spencer and moved from there to Frog Level, Arkansas and then to Shady, Marion County, Florida. Supposedly he lost everything in the stock market crash.

According to info by Pamela Griffin, her father-in-law gave a little bit more on the Whaley House in the picture. He believes it was built around 1900. He lived there with his first wife and she lived there until her death. Pamela's father-in-law was born there but never lived there. His mother, Robena Whaley Griffin went home to give birth with the help of her mother, Nancy. My father-in-law said that WDG did not die in NC., but was sent back from Florida by his second wife to be buried in the family cemetery. He said he remembered seeing him in a coffin and that he was a 'very big man' and that he was around 6'4". According to the story Nancy passed on, and some of WDG and Nancy's children lived the house until they passed on. Nobody lives there now, but some descendents live next door. Pamela posed the question of exploring the house to her father-in-law, but he didn't respond. He was not sure how his extended family would feel about it. It looked like there were lots of things still in the house.

Notes for NANCY ANN JONES:
There was a Jerry Merritt born 1883, that lived with them in Richlands, Onslow Co., NC in 1900, from the 1900 Census ED 80, page 1. from a Soundex by Jackie Weeden. She is showed on a tombstone record buried with her husband William Durant Green Whaley in the Whaley Cemetery at Richlands, Onslow Co., NC., she would have been 81 on her birthday in 8 more days.

Marriage Marriage Notes for WILLIAM WHALEY and NANCY JONES:
Nancy and William Durant Green Whaley are buried in the William Durant Green Whaley Cemetery, Onslow Co., NC.

Notes for IDA [WILLIAMS] SPENCER:
Ida was born on a farm near Black Warrior River near Tuscaloosa, Ala. Her family traveled by covered wagon to Bowie County, Texas when she was under 10 years of age. Info by Carmen Lyons.