PCAD Display Options
PCAD Display Options
Select theme to display preview image.
Male, US, born 1867-03-10, died 1941-01-01
Associated with the firms network
Adler and Sullivan, Architects; Whittlesey and Terwilliger, Architects; Whittlesey, Charles F., Architect
Résumé
Clerk/Apprentice, Addison and Fiedler, Architects, Hansen Building, 118 Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL, c. 1882-1888. The Chicago City Directory of 1885 (p. 1451) indicated that Whittlesey worked as a clerk at 118 Dearborn Street. At this time, the firm of Addison and Fiedler, Architects, operated at 118 Dearborn. (See advertisement for the Gurney Hot-Water Heater, American Architect and Building News, 12/29/1888, vol. XXIV, no. 679, p. viii.) The book Industrial Chicago included a small biographical entry on Whittlesey and said about his early years in Chicago: "In 1882 he came to Chicago and began his architectural career with Addison & Fiedler, remaining with them until 1890." (See Industrial Chicago The Building Interests Illustrated, [Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891), p. 642.)
Principal, Charles F. Whittlesey, Architect, Chicago, IL, 1889- ; the Chicago City Directory of 1889 indicated that Whittlesey had his own architectural practice in Chicago at 90 LaSalle Street. (See Chicago City Directory, 1889, p. 1966.)
Draftsman, Louis Sullivan, Chicago, IL; (See Donald Hoffman, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, and the Skyscraper, [Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1998], p. 88.) Following his employment with Sullivan; Chief Architect, Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company (ATSF), with responsibilities of designing hotels and railroad stations adjacent to the tracks c. 1900. After 1901, Whittlesey worked with architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter (1869-1958) who designed many interiors for Fred Harvey Company cafe's and hotels that were situated close by to ATSF depots. They worked together on the Mission Revival Style Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque, NM, in 1901. Colter retired from Fred Harvey in 1948.
Principal, Charles F. Whittlesey, Architect, San Francisco, CA.
Principal, Charles F. Whittlesey, Architect, Albuquerque, NM.
Principal, Charles F. Whittlesey, Architect, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1903. In 1903, Whittlesey maintained an office in Room #301 of the Henne Building in Los Angeles. (See Los Angeles Classified Business Directory, 1903, p. 1705.)
Professional Activties
Whittlesey read his paper entitled, "Concrete Construction" at an AIA meeting in late 1905. (Reported 12/1905, LAPL); Charles F. Whittlesey was appointed chair of the committee to revise Los Angeles's building code, especially regarding reinforced concrete construction. (Reported March 1906, LAPL);
Archives
A drawing of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co. Alvarado Hotel building (Albuquerque, New Mexico), circa 1902 was held at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design and Architecture Museum. (See Online Archive of California, "Finding Aid for the Charles Whittlesey drawing of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co. Alvarado Hotel building (Albuquerque, New Mexico), circa 1904 0000299," accessed 08/17/2016.) Whittlesey worked with the interior designer Mary Colter on this NM building, torn down in 1970.
High School
It appears that Whittlesey left school at age 15 to work in Chicago.
Relocation
Charles Frederick Whittlesey was born to Elisha and Ruby Whittlesey in Alton (aka "Upper Alton"), IL, on 03/10/1867, about three months before Frank Lloyd Wright. Elisha and Ruby lived in WI during the 1850s and early 1860s. The couple lived in Middleton, Dane County, WI, in 1850 and the no longer extant Neshonoc, La Crosse County, WI, a decade later. After Elisha's Civil War service, the family moved from WI to Alton, 23 miles north of Saint Louis, MO.
By 1870, three-year-old Charles lived with his parents and seven siblings in Township 5, Range 9 (in the vicinity of Alton) of Madison County, in southwestern IL. The Whittleseys were not wealthy at this time, with assets being reported of $300. In contrast, the Albert Draper Family living nearby worked a farm whose land had a value of $22,000 and had $20,000 of other assets. Justus L. Bulkley (1819-1899), the President of Shurtleff College in Alton, IL, also resided close to the Whittleseys. The area was a mix of well-off families and those getting by like the Whittleseys. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1870; Census Place: Township 5 Range 9, Madison, Illinois; Roll: M593_252; Page: 358B, accessed 05/12/2026.)
Whittlesey lived with his large family in Effingham, IL, in 1880. Effingham was located about 105 miles northeast of Alton, in the lower-middle section of IL. At the time, the Whittleseys had ten members, two parents, three daughters and five sons. In addition, the household included a boarder, T.T. Thompson (born c. 1853 in IN), who worked as a clerk in Effingham. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1880; Census Place: Effingham, Effingham, Illinois; Roll: 205; Page: 345c; Enumeration District: 133, accessed 05/12/2026)
Around 1882, Whittlesey moved to Chicago, IL, and obtained work in the office of Addison and Fiedler, Architects. He remained in their employ for about 8 years, long enough to serve an apprenticeship. From at least 1885 until 1887, he boarded at 449 South Robey Street in Chicago. (See Chicago City Directory, 1885, p. 1451 and Chicago City Directory, 1887, p. 1644.)
Whittlesey worked for a number of years in Chicago, IL. He obtained the job of Chief Architect fof the Chicago-based Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe (ATSF) Railway in 1900, and began traveling the Western US for the company building depots and hotels. From 1904 until 1991, the ATSF maintained its headquarters in the Railway Exchange Building at 224 South Michigan Avenue.
In 1904, Whitttlesey maintained a residence on Hill Street in Albuquerque, NM.(See Albuquerque, New Mexico, City Directory, 1904, p. 155.)
From at least 1907 until 1910, Charles and Mable Whittlesey lived at 1201 Saint Andrews Place in Central Los Angeles. The US Census of 1910 stated that Whittlesey inhabited this Los Angeles address on 04/15/1910. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Los Angeles Assembly District 72, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T624_82; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0208; FHL microfilm: 1374095, accessed 08/23/2016.) The architect also worked extensively in San Francisco following the 1906 Earthquake. Given his skill in designing reinforced concrete buildings, demand for his services for earthquake-resistant construction would have been high after this massive temblor. The 1910 US Census also indicated that he and his family lived in San Francisco, at 823 Market Street 04/28/1910.
A year before he died, Whittlesey and his wife Mabel lived in a rented dwelling at 8519 West 3rd Street in Los Angeles. They paid a rent of $25 per month for the accommodations. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation, Year: 1940; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T627_404; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 60-194, accessed 08/23/2016.)
He died in Los Angeles, CA, at the age of 73.
Parents
His father, Elisha Whittlesey, Sr., born 03/13/1829 at Danbury, CT-d. 06/07/1902 in Effingham, IL), attended Rutgers College in the 1840s (but did not graduate). (See General Catalogue Rutgers College, 1770-1885, [New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers College, 1885], p. 53.) He served in the 49th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, Company A, during the Civil War, joining as a private, but was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant on 06/19/1865. He served between 02/13/1865 and 11/08/1865, mustering out in Saint Louis, MO. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Historical Data Systems, Inc.; Duxbury, MA 02331; American Civil War Research Database, accessed 05/12/2026.) Elisha, Sr., held several jobs during his lifetime. In 1860, he and his family farmed land near Neshonoc, WI. The 1870 US Census listed Elisha's profession as a fire insurance agent in Madison County, IL. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1870; Census Place: Township 5 Range 9, Madison, Illinois; Roll: M593_252; Page: 358B, accessed 05/12/2026.) By 1880, Elisha taught school in Effingham, IL.
Elisha, Sr., wed Ruby Estella Winston (born 08/01/1830 in Chenango Forks, NY-d. 02/15/1922 in Oak Park, IL) on 03/13/1850 in Dane County, WI. (This was about two years after WI became a state on 05/29/1848, with its capitol in Madison, also in Dane County.) Ruby and Elisha had ten children.
The family included Charles's siblings, most of whom took the names of recent ancestors: Alice Rosetta Whittlesey Winegar (born 08/08/1851 in Madison, WI-d. 03/13/1942 in Kenosha County, WI); Orville Holley Whittlesey (born 03/08/1853 in Madison, WI-d. 01/30/1923 in Los Angeles County, CA); Elisha Whittlesey, Jr., (born 09/13/1854 in Madison, WI-d. 06/12/1905); Horace Winston Whittlesey (Born 11/11/1856 in La Crosse, WI-d. 11/11/1928 in Vigo County, IN); Caroline Abbey Whittlesey Winegar (born 09/18/1858 in La Crosse, WI-d. 10/28/1941); Ruby Winston Whittlesey Bissell(born 06/03/1861 in La Crosse, WI-d. 12/09/1954 in San Francisco, CA) ; Harriet Addie Whittlesey (born 09/17/1863 in WI -d. 09/24/1868 in IL); Robert Condit Whittlesey (born 10/06/1869 in Upper Alton, IL-d. 12/08/1939 in WA); and James Patrick Whittlesey (born "Luther Holly Whittlesey," born 12/26/1871 in IL)).
In 1880, Elisha was a law student, Horace, a railroad fireman, Carrie a store clerk, and Ruby, a schoolteacher. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation, Year: 1880; Census Place: Effingham, Effingham, Illinois; Roll: 205; Family History Film: 1254205; Page: 345C; Enumeration District: 133; Image: 0451, accessed 08/23/2016.)
Orville became a lawyer in Chicago, IL, who retired to Pasadena, CA. His brother Elisa, Jr., who graduated from Shurtleff College in 1876, also became a lawyer working in Chicago.
Spouse
He married Edith Mable Cruver Whittlesey (1870-1948) on 05/10/1892 in Chicago, IL. Her mother was Austin Cruver and Caroline D. Pitkin (1840-1927). Charles had a sister, .
Children
With Mable, he had four children, including Austin Cruver Whittlesey (born 01/02/1895 in Chicago, IL-d. 1950); Enid Caroline Whittlesey (born 01/02/1895 in Chicago, IL-d. 1981); Harold Cruver Whittlesey (born 09/21/1896 in Riverside, IL-d. 1959) and Beatrice Helen Whittlesey (1898-1988). Both sons married, both daughters did not.
Austin would also become an architect.
Biographical Notes
Some sources, such as the Geneanet Community Trees Index, indicated that Charles F. Whittlesey was born in Alton, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
PCAD id: 102
