Herman Whitaker
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Herman James Whitaker (January 14, 1867 – January 20, 1919), known as Jim to his friends, was an English-born writer. Whitaker authored more than two hundred short stories and several books.


Early life

Whitaker was born on January 14, 1867, in
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. His father was John Whitaker (1821-1883), a successful wool merchant, and his mother was Annie Walton (1834-1921). He had two years of college at Crossley's School at
Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woo ...
.


Career

At 16, Whitaker joined the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
and served for 3 years with the 2nd Battalion
West Riding Artillery The West Riding Artillery was formed as a group of volunteer units of the British Army in 1860. Its units later formed the divisional artillery of the 49th (West Riding) Division, West Riding Division of the Territorial Force in World War I and W ...
. When he left the army in 1886, he immigrated to Canada and worked for the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
. He married Margaret A Vandecar (1868-1905) on March 21, 1888, in
Oxford County, Ontario Oxford County is a regional municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Highway 401 runs east–west through the centre of the county, creating an urban industrial corridor with more than half the county's population, spanning 25 km be ...
. They had seven children during their marriage. In the 1880s, Whitaker and his wife Margaret had a farm near
Russell, Manitoba Russell is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Russell-Binscarth in Manitoba, Canada. It is located along PTH 16 and PTH 83, and is at the western terminus of PTH 45. Russell is approximately east of the Saskatchewan bo ...
. In 1895, Whitaker moved to
Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
. His book,''The Settler'' (1906), is a story about a man determined to build a railway to link to the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
. Whitaker moved to California during the
Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...
. To help support his family he dug ditches, built barns, and worked for $12 () a-week as a grocery store clerk in Oakland. At 35 years old, he started his writing career by submitting stories to the ''Overland Monthly'' and ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
''. These early stories made, at first, only $2.50 () per story. They helped gain his acceptance into the
Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...
artist colony Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, Art school, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typica ...
. He became friends with the Bohemian group including writer
Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...
, writer Austin Lewis, Bess London, poet
George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...
and Carrie Sterling. During this period, he became an activist for
socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
. In 1902, Whitaker and his family moved to
Piedmont, California Piedmont is a small city located in Alameda County, California, United States, enclaved by the city of Oakland. Its residential population was 11,270 at the 2020 census. The name comes from the region of Piedmont in Italy, and it means 'foothil ...
to the "Silk Culture House" at the end of Mountain Avenue. Harper's sent him to Mexico to investigate the "rubber scandal".''Piedmont Community Calendar 1997''. Historical information about Piedmont written by Ann Swift. Printed in 1996 by the City of Piedmont. Whitaker's wife, Margaret died in September 1905. After the
1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...
Whitaker used his house in Piedmont to help many of his friends. His daughter,
Elsie Whitaker Elsie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Elsie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lily Elsie (1886–1952), English actress and singer born Elsie Hodder * Robert Elsie (1950–2017), Canadian expert in Albani ...
, known for her beauty, was the subject of several photographs and paintings. She married Mexican-American artist Xavier Timoteo Martinez (1869–1943) in San Francisco on October 17, 1907, at age 16. They were later separated but stayed friends until Martinez's death in 1943. George Sterling called her, "the Blessed Damozel." During this time Whitaker visited his daughter in
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 a ...
where he met writer
John Fleming Wilson John Fleming Wilson (February 22, 1877 – March 5, 1922) was an American author, newspaperman, and prolific writer of short stories and adventure novels, best known for his travel books about sea life. Many of his books and short stories were m ...
. Whitaker met musician, F. L. "Reggie" Bassett and his wife Alyce Hunt Bassett. He became interested in Alyce after her divorce from Bassett. On August 11, 1907, they married in San Francisco. He became a United States citizen on December 10, 1913. Whitaker was friends with General
John J. Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was an American army general, educator, and founder of the Pershing Rifles. He served as the commander of the American Expeditionary For ...
during his
Pancho Villa Expedition The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, US Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the para ...
into Mexico that followed
Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa ( , , ; born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula; 5 June 1878 – 20 July 1923) was a Mexican revolutionary and prominent figure in the Mexican Revolution. He was a key figure in the revolutionary movement that forced ...
's raid on
Columbus, New Mexico Columbus is an incorporated village in Luna County, New Mexico, United States, about north of the Mexican border. It is considered a place of historical interest, as the scene of a 1916 attack by Mexican general Francisco "Pancho" Villa that ...
. Whitaker was an authority on Mexico. He worked as a correspondent for the ''Oakland Tribune'' and got the opportunity to meet and be photographed with Pancho Villa. In 1909, his discoveries in
Tehuantepec Tehuantepec (, in full, Santo Domingo Tehuantepec) is a city and municipality in the southeast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region. The area was important in pre-Hispanic per ...
, Mexico provided the background for the novel ''
The Planter ''The Planter'' is a lost film, lost 1917 American silent film, silent drama film directed by Thomas N. Heffron and John Ince (actor), John Ince. It was produced by F. N. Manson and Harry Drum and distributed through Mutual. Cast *Tyrone Power, ...
''. It was made into a movie in 1917 and distributed by the
Mutual Film Company Mutual Film Company, LLC is an American film production company based in Hollywood, California. The company was initially founded by financer Gary Levinsohn in 1989 as Classico Entertainment, before combining with The Mark Gordon Company in 1995 ...
. Stage and screen actor Tyrone Power Sr. played the hero. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
Whitaker became the ''Tribune's'' war correspondent with the
American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...
in France. At the age of 50, he was with the troops on the front lines and felt the effects of mustard gas while going "over the top" during
trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising Trench#Military engineering, military trenches, in which combatants are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from a ...
. He flew in sea planes, was onboard destroyers, and on minesweepers as they cleared the sea lanes. His book, ''Hunting the German Shark'', is based on what he observed of the Allied
submarine warfare Submarine warfare is one of the four divisions of underwater warfare, the others being anti-submarine warfare, Naval mine, mine warfare and Naval mine, mine countermeasures. Submarine warfare consists primarily of Diesel engine, diesel and nu ...
in the Atlantic. While he was aboard the destroyer USS '' Cummings'', he met his son Percy Whitaker by surprise, who was a
Gunner's mate The United States Navy and United States Coast Guard occupational rating of gunner's mate (GM) is a designation given by the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) to enlisted sailors who either satisfactorily complete initial Gunner's Mate "A" sch ...
on the ''Cummings''.


Death

In Paris, Whitaker became ill so returned home to the US. He died on January 20, 1919, of stomach cancer, at St. Luke's Hospital,
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
at the age of 52. It was one week after having had surgery at St. Luke's Hospital. He was survived by his wife, two daughters, and five sons. His ashes were scattered on
Round Top Round Top or Roundtop may refer to: Communities * Kirkwood, California, formerly Roundtop, a census-designated place * Round Top, Pennsylvania, a community adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park * Round Top, Texas, a town * Roundtop, Wes ...
, an extinct volcano in the
Berkeley Hills The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges, and overlook the northeast side of the valley that encompasses San Francisco Bay. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills" (from the original Spanish ''Sierra de la Co ...
, near Oakland.


Works

* "The Probationer" (1905) * ''The Settler'' (1906) *
The Planter
' (1909) * "The Mystery of the Barranca" (1913) * "Cross Trails: The Story of One Woman in the North Woods" (1914) *
Over the Border: A Novel of Northern Mexico
' (1916) * "Hunting the German Shark" (1919)


Filmography

*'' The Planter '', 1917,
lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...
*''
3 Bad Men ''3 Bad Men'' is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by John Ford. Bob Mastrangelo has called it "One of John Ford's greatest silent epics." The film possibly inspired the title for Akira Kurosawa's 1958 film ''Three Bad Men in a Hidde ...
'', 1926, a silent adaptation of ''Over the Border'' *''
Not Exactly Gentlemen ''Not Exactly Gentlemen'' is a 1931 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code Western (genre), Western film directed by Benjamin Stoloff and written by Dudley Nichols and William Conselman. It is based on the 1917 novel ''Over the Border'' by Herma ...
'', 1931 sound adaptation of ''Over the Border''


Legacy

Whitaker authored 200 short stories for periodicals and several books. Many of Whitaker's stories dealt with social injustice and were set in Canada and Mexico. His novel ''Over the Border'' (1916) was adapted for the
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
western ''
3 Bad Men ''3 Bad Men'' is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by John Ford. Bob Mastrangelo has called it "One of John Ford's greatest silent epics." The film possibly inspired the title for Akira Kurosawa's 1958 film ''Three Bad Men in a Hidde ...
'' in 1926.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitaker, Herman 1867 births 1919 deaths People from Piedmont, California Writers from California History of the San Francisco Bay Area British emigrants to the United States