Benjamin Franklin Whittemore

Benjamin Franklin Whittemore (May 18, 1824 – January 25, 1894) was an American minister, politician, and publisher. After his theological studies, he was a minister and then a chaplain for Massachusetts regiments during the Civil War. Stationed in South Carolina at the war's end, he accepted the position of superintendent of education for the Freedmen's Bureau. A Republican, he was elected a U.S. representative from South Carolina. He was censured in 1870 for selling appointments to the United States Naval Academy and other military academies. He spent his later years in Massachusetts, where he was a publisher.

Early life and education Born in Malden, Massachusetts, Whittemore was the son of Susan Floyd and John Whittemore, who were married on June 22, 1823. They were both from Malden. He attended the public schools of Worcester and studied at Amherst College. Whittemore worked in mercantile establishments during the period in which he studied theology. From 1865 to 1867, he held the position of superintendent of education for the Freedmen's Bureau. He established around 60 schools and churches, and met with freedmen and others in the community to develop educational programs. He was editor in 1865, and James H. Norwood was the editor the following year. The paper was "devoted to the restoration, reconstruction, and union of the States".

On February 24, 1870, the House of Representatives censured him for selling an appointment to the United States Naval Academy, and other military academies for up to $2,000 each appointment.

Reconstruction era violence After the assassinations of S. G. W. Dill (d. June 4, 1868) and B. F. Randolph (d. October 16, 1868), the Ku Klux Klan issued a letter that was printed in a newspaper warning Whittemore that he could meet the same fate as Dill, Randolph, and others. Mandanna taught at the Fitchburg High School. They had two children.

By 1860, Rev. B.F. Whittemore was a member of a masonic lodge in Connecticut. He was initiated at the Hiram Lodge in Virginia in 1865 and transferred to the Mount Horeb Lodge in Woburn, Massachusetts on January 7, 1880.

His wife M. Dora Stone Whittemmore died in Woburn on June 7, 1872, at the age of 65. He died in Montvale, on January 25, 1894. He was interred in the Salem Street Cemetery in Woburn, as was his wife Mandanna (also Mandana) Dora Stone.