Henry Whitely
Henry Whitely was a businessman, railroad executive, and Federalist politician from the U.S. state of Delaware.
Henry Whitely | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | businessman, politician |
Background
In 1816, Whitely, along with James Price and eight others, were appointed commissioners of the planned Wilmington and Christiana Turnpike.[1]: 418
In 1818, he bought a stone house and 100 acres of land in Newark, Delaware. (The house still stands today; in 1983, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.)
From October 1817 through September 1821, Whitely served in the Delaware House of Representatives.[1]: 409
In 1824, he was elected to the state Senate as a delegate from New Castle County. (That same year, he was part of a group of dignitaries appointed to escort the Marquis de Lafayette from the Pennsylvania state line to Wilmington.[1]: 308 ) He served as the Speaker of the Senate in 1827, during the 51st Assembly.[1]: 407
In 1833, he became a director of the Farmers' Bank of Delaware.[1]: 739
In 1838, he was a director of two of the four railroads that together built the first railroad south from Philadelphia: the Delaware and Maryland Railroad and the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad. His service as an early railroad executive is marked on the 1839 Newkirk Viaduct Monument. Much of the right-of-way is today owned by Amtrak as part of its Northeast Corridor.