Editing David Whitmer (section)

==Early life==
Whitmer was born near [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]], on January 7, 1805,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=McCune|first=George M.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25553656|title=Personalities in the Doctrine and Covenants and Joseph Smith–History|publisher=Hawkes Publishing, Inc.|year=1991|isbn=0890365180|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|pages=142–145|oclc=25553656}}</ref> the fourth of nine children of [[Peter Whitmer Sr.]] and [[Mary Whitmer|Mary Musselman]]. Whitmer's ancestry on both sides of his family was German, and the family spoke with a German accent. His grandfather was George Witmer, who was born in [[Prussia]], and his great-grandfather was born in [[Switzerland]].<ref>Dan Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', Vol. V, 2003, p. 9.</ref> Whitmer had five brothers and three sisters, one of which died in 1813 in her infancy. He grew up attending a [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] church.<ref name=":0" /> By the 1820s, the Whitmer family had moved to a farm in [[Fayette, New York|Fayette]], in [[New York (state)|New York's]] [[Finger Lakes]] area. On March 12, 1825, Whitmer was elected sergeant in a newly organized militia called the Seneca Grenadiers.<ref>''Seneca Farmer'', March 23, 1825.</ref>