Archival research of old editions of the Healdsburg Tribune, Healdsburg Enterprise and Sotoyome Scimitar newspapers revealed that William B. Whitney, or "Billie" as he was affectionately known around Healdsburg, was the same Whitney on all of our bottles, and quite a well-documented individual.

William B. Whitney was born in Belfast, Maine on December 8, 1852, to William and Mary (Condon) Whitney. His father was a captain at sea, but had traveled to California in 1853 in search of gold. In 1868 the entire Whitney family moved west and settled on a farm near Healdsburg.

Whitney attended public schools in Maine, but completed his education in California. He attended Healdsburg public schools and then Alexander Academy. After completing his education in Healdsburg, in 1873 Whitney went to work in Wright & Brown’s Pharmacy as an apprentice, and remained there until 1882 when he departed for San Francisco. In 1885 he graduated from the College of Pharmacy at the University of California, becoming the first Sonoma County resident to graduate from the program.

Whitney returned to Healdsburg, following graduation, where he clerked for a short time, and then with George T. Miller bought out the business of his former employer, Albert Wright, and opened up their own pharmacy. Miller & Whitney Pharmacy lasted until 1890, when Whitney moved to San Francisco where he worked in the No Percentage Pharmacy on Market Street. In 1893 he returned to Healdsburg, accepting a job in the Palace Pharmacy of Hobson & Kruse. Whitney entered into partnership with Fred Kruse from 1894 through 1896.

Eventually, in 1897, William Whitney became the sole proprietor of the pharmacy located on the 300 Block of West Street (now Healdsburg Avenue, where Hotel Healdsburg stands). He was known as a progressive businessman. In 1900, his store was described as "the best lighted business house in Healdsburg" with twenty-one lights. Following a fire in 1900 and the destruction of the building in the 1906 earthquake, Whitney rebuilt a sturdier two-story building to replace the one-story drug store destroyed in the quake.

Needing to devote more time to his other business interests (He was also a partner in a Petaluma mill.), he sold his stock of drugs to another local pharmacist, C.D. Evans, who would continue to operate a drug store out of the lower level of the new Whitney building. Brown-Wolfe Drug Store followed. Over the years, Whitney used the building for various enterprises, including a real estate firm that opened in 1913. Whitney reopened Whitney’s Pharmacy during the 1920s. In 1932, following the death of Whitney and his wife, Joseph Cuneo purchased the Whitney drug store, and operated Cuneo’s Pharmacy until 1942.

When not busy with his many business pursuits, Whitney was also active in civic affairs. Among the many public offices he held were President of the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce, Head of the Sonoma County Highway Commission in 1912, President of the Kiwanis Club, and State Assemblyman in 1908 and 1909.

William B. Whitney and his wife Laura Cavanaugh Whitney, whom he married in 1887, are buried in Oak Mound cemetery in Healdsburg. They had four children: William, Inez, Jean Marion, and Laura.