Background
He was a son of William Whitlock, a ship owner and master, and was descended from Thomas Whitlock who came England in 1640 and after a few years of residence in Massachusetts became one the first settlers of Gravesend, Brooklyn in 1646.
He was a son of William Whitlock, a ship owner and master, and was descended from Thomas Whitlock who came England in 1640 and after a few years of residence in Massachusetts became one the first settlers of Gravesend, Brooklyn in 1646.
Whitlock Junior entered the shipping business in 1812 and soon created a trade. At one time he ranked among the largest individual owners of ocean tonnage in the United States. He did not have the control of as large a number of vessels some others but owned most of his ships entirely.
In 1825 he established a line of packet ships between New York and Le Havre, which flourished until the beginning the American Civil War when the competition of steamships drove it from the sea.
Whitlock exported cotton extensively and imported East India goods, particularly hemp. He was a director of The Bank of America and had high cr in the commercial cities of the world.
He retired in 1872. Religious and charitable work occupied much of his time.
Foreign many years he served as treasurer of Street George"s Church and an officer of The American Bible Society.