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Robert J C Whaley served as Citizens Bank's president for over forty years. His 1886 loan to the Flint Road Cart Company eventually led to the creation of General Motors in 1908. William C. Durant's bank book which records the loan is currently exhibited at Whaley House Historical Museum courtesy of Citizens Bank. Robert J C Whaley was born in 1840 in Castile, New York. He moved to Wisconsin during the 1840s. He married Mary McFarlen from Flint Michigan, (where they resided. ) The Whaley's built several houses, the most notable of which being a large Victorian home in Flint Michigan, which became their primary residence known as Whaley Manor.〔http://www.whaleyhouse.com/〕 The Whaleys' only son, Donald, died at the age of ten after contracting diphtheria during a visit to Detroit with his mother. His mother was very affected by the loss of the child. Robert Whaley urged his grieving wife to use their affluence to create a memorial to their son by creating the Whaley Children's Foundation.〔http://www.whaleychildren.org/〕 Still Mary's grief was near overwhelming, so Robert built her a 'new style' house on Stone Lake in Cassopolis Michigan, where she could have peace and quiet and entertain close friends. She soon found herself with new purpose running the Whaley Children's foundation and preparing the house for friends to come stay for weekend parties. Through her foundation work Mary Whaley became close with a girl, Florence Bickford, and would welcome her into their family like she was their own child, although no formal adoption papers are known to exist. Robert died under unexplained health complications in the Stone Lake House in 1922. A few years later Mary was also found dead in the Stone Lake House of the same unexplained complications. Local police investigated the death as a suicide, and even revisited Robert Whaley's death as a possible murder, but the investigation was cut short and the death was deemed to be by natural causes.〔The Biography of Robert & Mary Whaley, copyright 1972 - Harbor House Publishing〕〔The Cassopolis Vigilant New Paper - November 21, 1986 page 6〕 Leaving their beloved, and then married, adopted daughter everything in their name. == References == 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Robert J C Whaley」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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