Exum Lewis Whitaker (1823-1847) of Halifax County, NC, was one of eleven children born to Elizabeth Figures Lewis and Spier Whitaker (1798-1869), a lawyer (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography 6:171). Whitaker entered the University in 1840, became a member of the Philanthropic Society, and graduated with second honors in 1844. Joining the army, he was a captain during the Mexican War but died of disease in Comargo, Mexico.