The Whitaker family tree: How are they related to each other?
The Whitakers are members of an inbred family from West Virginia. Considered America's most inbred family, they communicate in grunts while living in squalor overrun by animals. Moreover, they often run away when people try to speak to them. Here is what we know about the Whitaker family tree, its unique inbred lineage, and the strong bonds between their family members.
Source: UGC
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Key takeaways
- The Whitaker family tree
- What nationality is the last name Whitaker?
- Where does the Whitaker family live?
- What disabilities does the Whitaker family have?
- Who are the Whitaker family members today?
- The Whittaker grand nephews
- How did the Whitaker family become famous?
- Where can you watch the Whitaker family documentary?
- The Whitakers' GoFundMe campaign
- Mark Laita & the Whitakers controversy
- Mark Laita's response to the Whitaker family controversy
- Is Keisha Nash Whitaker from the Whitaker family?
- Facts about the Whitaker family
Key takeaways
- The Whitaker family has lived in isolation for generations.
- Limited contact with outsiders led to frequent intermarriages.
- The family faces severe effects associated with inbreeding.
- They live in extreme poverty and social isolation.
The Whitaker family tree
Whitaker's inbred family tree began when the children of identical twin brothers, Henry and John, married their cousins. Below is a brief explanation of the Whitaker family tree:
Generation | Name | Birth-Death | Spouse(s) | Children | Notes/Relation |
1 | James Perkins | 1825–1908 | Lucy Jane Conaway (1835–1915) | Elizabeth “Eliza”, Mary, +6 others | Parents of Elizabeth and Mary Perkins |
2 | Elizabeth “Eliza” Perkins | 1851–1945 | Thomas Willis Whitaker (1850–1892) | James Thomas, Henry Wade (twin), John Isom (twin), +4 others | Married into Whitaker line |
2 | Mary Perkins | 1858–1927 | Samuel Riggs (1860–1927) | Marie Riggs, Ade Adaline Riggs | Cousin line |
3 | Thomas Willis Whitaker | 1850–1892 | Elizabeth Perkins | 7 children | Grandson of James Henry Whitaker Sr. (1778–1861) & Sarah Hicks |
3 | James Thomas Whitaker | ? | Sarah (Sally) K. (1887–1947) | John Emory +5 others | Married outside Whitaker line |
3 | Henry Wade Whitaker | 1882–1971 | Marie Riggs | — | Married cousin (Mary Perkins’ daughter) |
3 | John Isom Whitaker | 1882–1940 | Ade Adaline Riggs (1891–1982) | 9 (incl. Ethel, Gracie Irene) | Married cousin (Mary Perkins’ daughter) |
4 | John Emory Whitaker | 1913–1982 | Gracie Irene (1920–1980) | 14 (incl. Aileen Violet, Lorene Sue, John Wade, Betty Ann, Kenneth, Larry Eugene, Danny Ray, Judy Kay) | First cousins married |
5 | Aileen Violet Whitaker | 1937–1997 | — | 1 son (Frankie), 2 grandchildren | — |
5 | John Wade Whitaker | 1950–2022 | — | Carl, Wade, Jeremy, John, James | Has several grandchildren |
5 | Betty Ann Whitaker | b. 1952 | — | None | — |
5 | Danny Ray Whitaker | b. 1953 | — | None | — |
5 | Lorene Sue Whitaker | b. 1956 | — | Timmy Allen (b. 1979) | — |
5 | Larry Eugene Whitaker | b. 1956 | — | Betty (daughter); grandsons Brandon & Luis | — |
5 | Kenneth Whitaker | b. 1957 | — | 1 stepdaughter | — |
5 | Judy Kay Whitaker | 1959–2021 | Arnold David Acord (1953–2014) | 7 children | Youngest child of John Emory & Gracie Irene |
While some consider Elizabeth Perkins and her husband, Thomas Willis Whitaker, the founders of the Whitaker family, others have bestowed the titles of the "Whitaker family's parents" on the couple's identical twin sons.
The marriages between Elizabeth and Thomas' sons, Henry and John, and their spouses/cousins, Marie Riggs and Ade Adaline Riggs, created the inbred family.
What nationality is the last name Whitaker?
The Whitakers are British by descent, and their family surname is a masculine name of old English origin. It is an occupational surname derived from the Middle English word "whit," meaning "white, or wheat", and the old English word "acor," meaning "acre" or "field."
The name likely originally referred to someone who lived or worked in a wheat field or a place with light-colored soil.
Source: Original
Where does the Whitaker family live?
The Whitaker family lives in West Virginia, in the village of Odd, 75 miles south of Charleston. Although some Whitaker family members have branched and married outside their unit, the family remains significant, and most of the original branches remain intact.
What disabilities does the Whitaker family have?
Due to inbreeding, most of the family members have physical and mental abnormalities. They also have difficulties speaking, and a few communicate through grunts.
The Whitakers are known for walking around with their eyes facing different directions. The family has faced threats and challenges from outsiders who ridicule them and may not understand or accept their unique background.
As a result, their neighbours and some of the Whitakers have taken it upon themselves to protect the family. In addition, they do not encourage people to taunt or photograph the family.
Who are the Whitaker family members today?
The surviving Whitaker family members are siblings Betty Ann, Danny Ray, Lorene Sue, and her son Timmy Allen, Kenneth and his stepdaughter, Larry Eugene and a daughter named Betty.
Some of the Whitaker siblings have grandchildren and great-grandchildren. For instance, Larry Eugene's daughter, Betty, has two grandsons, Brandon and Luis. Meanwhile, Brandon has around three children.
The Whitaker siblings have other close family members and distant relatives who have not appeared in Mark Laita's YouTube videos. For instance, their late sister, Aileen Violet, left behind a son named Frankie and two grandchildren.
Their other late sister, Judy Kay, had seven children, and their deceased brother, John Wade, had four children, several grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Source: UGC
The Whittaker grand nephews
Brandon and Luis, the grandsons of Larry Whitaker, appeared in Mark Laita's YouTube video, The Whittakers' Grand Nephews-Brandon and Luis.
They shared their experiences growing up in the family, and the opportunities they've missed out on due to living in the village of Odd. Brandon, 21, was raised by his auntie, Betty Whitaker, from three months old until he was seven.
His mum, also called Betty, had moved to North Carolina with his younger brother, Luis, 19. Brandon's brother added:
I stayed in North Carolina until I was about two. Then she [his mum] brought me back up here [to Odd], and I stayed with my grandpa. I'm a lot closer to him. [I grew up with] no dad and barely saw my mum.
The brothers aspire to leave the village and search for better opportunities elsewhere. The Odd has fewer opportunities, and drugs are everywhere, ruining people's lives.
Luis watched his mother use addictive substances and would not want that for himself. On the other hand, Brandon is worried about raising his children in Odd. He is only staying to watch over his auntie Betty and his other family - and stop people from exploiting them.
Their favourite memory with the Whitakers is his uncle Freddy Lee, who succumbed to a heart attack. Brandon said:
Freddy and I used to fish around here all of the time. He'd always have a can of worms and a fishing pole every week and come up here. He'd want to go behind the chicken pen and fish. I miss that sometimes.
Luis also said:
Freddy was a lot calmer than Ray [his other uncle] until you really pushed him. If Betty went out and you told him she wasn't getting any chicken, he'd trash the house apart. That was his favorite part about every month because he got fried chicken. Ray was nuts. He used to run off all the time and everything. He actually got lost for about three days.
How did the Whitaker family become famous?
The Whitakers got the spotlight after American filmmaker Mark Laita pictured them for his book Created Equal in 2004.
He revisited them and compiled a 12-minute video titled Inbred Family-The Whittakers. The video, with over 40 million views on YouTube, highlighted the family's way of living and how they struggled to make ends meet in their house in the Appalachian region.
Mark Laita has been building a relationship with the family since July 2020. He also has a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to support the family.
Source: UGC
Where can you watch the Whitaker family documentary?
The Whitaker family documentary, Inbred Family-The Whittakers, and subsequent videos about them are on Mark Laita's YouTube channel, @SoftWhiteUnderbelly. One of the videos is about the Whittaker family cemetery in Raleigh County, West Virginia.
The Whitakers' GoFundMe campaign
A lot has happened since Laita documented the Whitaker family in West Virginia. In addition to the assistance he accorded them every time he visited, he established a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to assist the family.
The money raised was intended to renovate their family's house, provide their basic needs, and cover their medical expenses. Laita's documentary, The Whittakers-Spring 2022, showed their newly renovated home. The campaign enabled the West Virginia family to own a bed, a refrigerator, a car, and other home amenities.
Mark Laita & the Whitakers controversy
After several years of documenting the now internet-famous Whitaker family, Mark Laita found himself marred by controversy thanks to a video Tyler Oliveira published in March 2024.
YouTuber Oliveira shared a video titled I Investigated the Poorest Region of America, which is now unavailable on his channel. The 27-minute video showed Oliveira travelling across West Virginia and meeting the Whittaker family and others living in deep poverty.
Oliveira claimed he had tried to contact Mark Laita and Soft White Underbelly to contact the Whitakers but received a response saying the channel had "an exclusive contract with the Whittaker family for all content creation" and would not help the YouTuber.
Despite this, Oliveira ventured on and met the Whitakers and did similar things to what Laita and his YouTube channel had been seen doing, cooking and providing valuable aid to the family.
Oliveira asked Betty, the family matriarch, about the money from Laita's GoFundMe projects. Through two GoFundMe pages, Laita raised over $130,000 for the Whitakers to build a new home for the family.
However, when asked about the progress of the house, Betty told Oliveira she had no idea what was happening with the money and had heard that it may be gone.
Her response caused Oliveira to insinuate that Laita and the Soft White Underbelly team may have never intended to give the money to the family and had run off with the donations.
Source: UGC
Mark Laita's response to the Whitaker family controversy
Through a video, Laita called out Oliveria for spreading "misinformation" about him and his relationship with the Whitaker clan. He explained that the two GoFundMe pages (totalling over $130,000 in donations) were to help the family build a new home.
The goal could not be accomplished because the Whitakers contacted him and his team almost weekly, requesting that they draw from the donations. As a result, they spent more than $100,000 a year on things they deemed emergencies.
Laita provided bank records of him sending the funds to the Whitakers and even revealed that he covered the tax on all the transactions so that the family would receive 100% of the money.
Mark also contacted Betty on camera, where she confirmed he had been providing the family money. Laita then deactivated the GoFundMe pages that benefit the Whitakers and publicly stated that he would no longer cover the family.
In response, Oliveira posted another video, commending Soft White Underbelly for being truthful and providing evidence to clear their name. The second video is also not available on his channel. Commenters criticised Oliveira, believing he provoked the conflict and was proven wrong. Many also questioned his motives.
Is Keisha Nash Whitaker from the Whitaker family?
The late Keisha Nash Whitaker and her ex-husband, actor Forest Whitaker, are not related to the Whitaker family from West Virginia. Keisha was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and she died from alcohol-related liver disease on 7 December 2023, aged 51.
Facts about the Whitaker family
- Betty Whitaker is the matriarch of the Whitaker family.
- After promising her mother she would not marry, she became the head of the family and would look after her 14 siblings, including Ray, Larry, Freddy, and Lorene.
- Freddy Lee Whitaker succumbed to a heart attack in 2013, aged 69, following a long illness.
- Aileen Violet Whitaker passed away in June 1997 after suffering from a heart attack.
- Danny Ray Whittaker does not speak and communicates via barks and grunts.
- Timmy is the only member of the Whittaker family who graduated from high school.
- The Whitakers are protected by their neighbours and other family members, including Brandon and Luis, Larry Whitaker's grandsons.
- Brandon and Luis are proud to be part of America's most inbred family.
The roots of the Whitaker family tree run deep and hold an enduring strength of kinship. The family gained viral attention on the internet due to their unique story and the documentary made about them by filmmaker Mark Laita. He shed light on their plight in a compelling and informative manner. Although the Whitakers are considered the most inbred family, they are not the only ones. There are other such cases, but they have not been documented.
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Source: Briefly News
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