William Byrd Whittaker was mayor of Morristown for one term, 1915-1916. He was a hardware merchant..His business, Holtsinger and Whittaker was the forerunner of Wallace Hardware Store. He was born in Virginia, near Princeton on January 1, 1869. Whittaker also served as the President of the Morristown Chamber of Commerce. He was also active in his church, the First Methodist.
During his term in office, Carriger School was built, which was later to be known to most of us locals as the Old Junior High building. (This original, old portion of the building was torn down in the early 1980's.)
He married Jessie Bowman, the daughter of Dr. Oliver and Mary Bowman. His wife, Jessie Bowman Whittaker ( August 2, 1880 - January 1, 1972) was a violinist and was a musician at the First Methodist Church in Morristown where she was a member.
The couple had one daughter, Mary.
W.B. Whittaker died May 1, 1931 and is buried at Jarnagin Cemetery in Morristown. At the time of his death, he had a sister, Mrs. J.W. Durham, living in Morristown. Also he had a brother, T.E. Whittaker of Bristol, Tennessee, and a half brother, W.C. Whittaker of Knoxville, Tennessee.
His widow, Jesse Whittaker, remarried, to John T. Fisher, a Memphis, Tennessee businessman, and she and her daughter moved to Memphis in the 1930's. Jesse Whittaker Fisher is buried in Morristown, in Jarnagin Cemetery.
Mayor Whittaker's daughter, Mary, married Nicholas Gotten of Memphis, and their children, still living, are Nicholas Gotten Jr., William M. Gotten, and Meredith Gotten Pritchartt, all of whom still reside in Memphis, Tennessee.