Two years ago, the post entitled “Who Is Willard Whipple?” referred to the Whipple Avenue exit on U.S. Highway 101 south of San Francisco, on the west side of San Francisco Bay. Numbered 409, the led to Redwood City in San Mateo County.
Further study found another Whipple exit, across San Francisco Bay from Whipple Avenue. On the east side of the Bay, Interstate 880’s Whipple Road exit 24 leads to Union City.
Union City exit to Whipple Road on I-880
Because of its proximity to Redwood City (across the Bay), I initially imagined that Whipple Road might have been named after Willard Whipple.
It turns out that Whipple Road was named after three brothers who farmed on the Union City (east) side of the Bay:
- John Cleveland Whipple, 1821-1905
- William Whipple, 1827-1896
- Edwin Whipple, 1842-1929
The three were among the 13 children of Samuel Whipple and Phoebe Cleveland, both of whom were born in Duanesburg, Schenectady County, New York. Unlike the brothers Willard and Eli from Redwood City (who descended from Captain John Whipple of Providence, Rhode Island), Samuel descended from Matthew Whipple (brother of John) who migrated from Bocking, England, to Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1838.
John Cleveland Whipple and Edwin Whipple lived out their lives in California. (The San Francisco Chronicle, for example, reported John’s death date as 28 Aug 1905.) Their brother William married in San Francisco county, then returned to New York, where he died.
