[1] The couple resided in Portland and Turner, Maine,[1] and had six children: Alice, Alphonso, Royal, William Ross, Henry Hyde, and May.

[3] Whitman was appointed sergeant major of the 23rd Maine Volunteer Infantry on September 20, 1862, and promoted to captain March 1, 1863.

Whitman was a 37-year-old first lieutenant when he assumed command of Camp Grant at the confluence of the San Pedro River and Aravaipa Creek about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Tucson.

Whitman fed them and treated them kindly, so other Apaches from Aravaipa and Pinal bands soon came to the post to receive rations of beef and flour.

Whitman also arranged for them to "earn their keep" by working as farmhands for the local ranchers as well as extracting a promise from them that none of the tribe would participate in any raids.

On April 30, 1871, an angry mob of citizens from Tucson and their O'odham mercenaries attacked the Aravaipa camp, killing 144 people.

Lieutenant Whitman searched for the wounded, found only one woman, buried the bodies, and dispatched interpreters into the mountains to find the Apache men and assure them that his soldiers had not participated in the "vile transaction."

After the massacre, a trial was demanded by President Ulysses S. Grant, who threatened to put the state under martial law if the governor failed to act.

[7] Mary made large bequests in memory of her first husband and son by her first marriage, which were to be paid after the death of Col.