Proprietor of a general store and ice cream factory at Diamond Hill, Rhode Island, Jotham H. Whipple plays an important part in the business affairs of the community in which he lives and works. A native of this region of New England and a lifelong resident here, he is naturally very well acquainted with the people and their characteristics and peculiar needs, so that he is enabled to render even better public service through the work that he does than would otherwise be possible.
Mr. Whipple was born in the town of Cumberland, Rhode Island, on May 24, 1882, son of Henry and Lavina (Hixon) Whipple. His father was also a native of Cumberland, although the mother was born in Ashland, Massachusetts. They were engaged in farming, and had three children, two of whom are now living, Jotham H. and Gertrude. Jotham H. Whipple received his early education in the Cumberland grammar and high schools, and then became a hired hand on a farm. At this work he continued for two years, at the end of which he started to work on a farm near the city of Pawtucket. There he stayed for one year. Following that period he was for two and one-half years a coachman and gardener, after which he began his work as clerk in a grocery store. For two and one-half years he served in this capacity until, in 1922, he started a business of his own at Diamond Hill, which he still conducts, and which, with the passing years, is becoming more and more successful and profitable.
Mr. Whipple, along with his work in this connection, takes time to participate in community affairs. Deeply interested in politics, he has aligned himself consistently with the Republican party’, whose policies and candidates he regularly supports. He is also active in church affairs, being a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which also claims his wife as a communicant.
Jotham H. Whipple married Florence Whipple, who is unrelated to him except by marriage, daughter of George and Jessie (Minot) Whipple. Her father also is a merchant in Diamond Hill, and is a native of the town of Cumberland, Rhode Island, while the mother is of Blackstone, Massachusetts.
Source: Carroll, Charles. Rhode Island: Three Centuries of Democracy, vol 3 of 4. New York: Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1932.