THOMAS WHITTLE
Captain THOMAS WHITTLE, chief mining captain of the Quincy
Mining Company, located in Houghton, Houghton County, Michigan, in August, 1877, since which
time he has been identified with this section of the State. Captain Whittle was born January
1, 1845, near Truro, in Cornwall, England, and was reared in the Cornwall mines as he began
work in them at an extremely early age. The exigencies and surroundings of his youthful life
made it impossible for him to obtain any educational advantages, but with indomitable energy
and resolution he supplied all deficiencies later in life and stands to-day on the same plane
as do many others with shadows of collegiate walls behind them. In the early "seventies"
Captain Whittle went to South America, where he first engaged in copper mining in the upper
mining district near the seaport of Chanaral, Chile. There he spent five years and then came to the Lake
Superior copper mining regions, settling at Houghton. His first work
was
with the Quincy Mining Company in 1877. It was in 1880 that he accepted
the position of assistant mining captain under Capt. John Cliff, and
when
he went to the Pewabic Mining Company in 1882 it was as chief mining
captain. The Pewabic mine is now called the North Quincy, it having
been
purchased some 10 years ago by the Quincy Mining Company. His
connection with the Huron mine lasted five years, from 1885 to 1889,
his association with Capt. Johnson Vivian continuing seven years. In
1889 he was requested to accept his present position. At that time the Quincy mine
was
only about one-eighth its present size or capacity, the output having
been
increased, during our subject's connection, from 400 to 3,200 tons per
month.
Stamp mills and new smelters have been erected, also new shaft houses,
and
the mine has been enlarged fully eight times its old size. Captain
Whittle
is now operating five shafts, the deepest being down some 5,000 feet.
In 1866 Captain Whittle married a lady from his native locality, and
their seven children still survive, two of them being married. The
record
is as follows: William H., cashier of the Mass City Bank in Ontonagon
County, Michigan; Bessie, wife of John F. Ryan of Hancock, Michigan;
Alice, wife of John C. Jeffrey, teller in the Superior Savings Bank of
Hancock, Michigan; and Lavina (Vinnie), Belle, Albert Melvin and Lina
May,
who are at home. The family residence is on Quincy Hill. Politically Captain Whittle is a stanch Republican,
and he has most acceptably served as justice of the peace, as school inspector and in other
township offices. Fraternally he is a charter member of Quincy Lodge, No. 172, Ancient Order
of United Workmen, which has a membership of 200 with a ladies' auxiliary. For the past 35
years he has been a member of the Methodist Church, and has served repeatedly on its official
board. Captain Whittle is a notable example of a successful, self-made man.
Source: Biographical Record, Houghton, Baraga and Marquette Counties. Chicago: Biographical Publishing
Company,
1903. |