John Hay Whitney - Family

Family

Born on August 17, 1904, in Ellsworth, Maine, Whitney was a descendant of John Whitney, a Puritan who settled in Massachusetts in 1635, as well as of William Bradford, who came over on the Mayflower. His father was Payne Whitney, and his grandfathers were William C. Whitney and John Hay, both presidential cabinet members. His mother was Helen Hay Whitney.

The Payne Whitneys lived around the corner from James B. Duke, and his wife and daughter Doris. Whitney's uncle, Oliver Hazard Payne, a business partner of John D. Rockefeller, arranged the buyout of Duke's competitors to create the American Tobacco Co.

"Jock" Whitney attended Yale College. He joined Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter), as his father had. Whitney, his father, grandfather, and great-uncle were oarsmen at Yale, and his father was captain of the crew in 1898. He was a member of Scroll and Key. While at Yale, he allegedly coined the term "crew cut" for the haircut that now bears the name.

After graduating in 1926, Whitney went to Oxford University, but the death of his father necessitated his returning home. He inherited a trust fund of $20 million (approximately $210 million in 2005 dollars), and later inherited four times that amount from his mother.