Georg Heinrich Weidner, later Anglicized to Henry Whitner, Witner, or Whitener, was born at Saxony, Germany, 9 October 1717 and immigrated to Philadelphia in his teens.

Records indicate Henry Whitner made his first trip to North Carolina from Pennsylvania on horseback in 1742, and that he hunted for fur bearing animals at what is present-day Catawba County, North Carolina, and westward.  Henry first did business at and around the village of Salisbury North Carolina, which was then a part of Bladen County, along the eastern side of the Catawba River, however; the English and Scotch settlers had bought all the best land.  Weidner crossed the Catawba River into unknown land and continued westward until he reached the South Fork of the Catawba River.  Following this stream toward its source, he found where it divides.  For about two miles he traveled the east fork, which to this day is called the Henry Fork or Henry River, after Henry Whitner, where he built his winter camp.  During this first winter, he explored the South Fork valley and gathering a great quantity of furs and learning to speak the Native language and their way of life.  His hunting suit wore out before the springtime and he made another of deerskin with the hair turned in, and he made for himself a coonskin cap leaving the striped tail sticking out on top to wave and nod as he walked.  His shoes were moccasins made by the Indians of the thickest part of the deer's hide.  He is said to be the first European to settle in that part of the state and he hunted and explored the valley of the great Catawba River westward to the Blue Ridge Mountains.  He traded and made friends with the Cherokee as he went.  It is said that the Indians were afraid of Henry’s six-foot barreled “thunder” gun which he had made before he left Philadelphia.  

The United States Records of 1790 lists Henry Whitner as a Trader and was known as “Henry the Pioneer.”  On his yearly spring trips to Philadelphia to sell his firs, he gathered German speaking settlers to come and inhabit this new land that became Catawba County, North Carolina.  At the time of his death, even after selling many large tracts of land for German settlers here, Henry owned more than 10,000 acres of land.

Henry Whitner appeared before the Rowan County, North Carolina, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 19 September 1753.  He took the State Oaths and subscribed the test.  Whether he swore or affirmed is not indicated.  His oath of allegiance was to the King of England and the Province of North Carolina.  Only foreign-born residents were required to subscribe to an oath of allegiance.

At the end of the French and Indian War in 1757, George Washington sent a communication to Henry asking him to escort a band of Cherokee Natives back to western North Carolina from Pennsylvania, where they had been sent to fight the French.  Whitner suggested they meet at Fort Dobbs for the trip west.

In 1776, at the age of fifty-nine years, Henry was too old to serve in the Revolutionary War, however; he supported the Patriot cause by contributing provisions to the troops.  During the War, North Carolina had no cash to pay, clothe, or feed her soldiers.  An I.O.U. system was devised to overcome this problem.  Patriot citizens such as Henry Whitner, who contributed provisions to the troops, received vouchers promising future payment.  When North Carolina began to address its obligations to its Patriots, fiscal districts with Boards of Auditors were created.  Morgan District, created in 1782 comprised of the counties of Burke, Lincoln, Rutherford, and Wilkes, was Whitener's district.  Prior to 1782, his Rowan County residence belonged to the Salisbury District.  Citizens holding vouchers were instructed to present those for review to a Board of Auditors.  After examining a voucher and deeming it credible, the Board of Auditors issued a new certificate to the claimant, which then could be applied against land entry fees or taxes.

Henry Whitner died 31 July 1792 and was buried at the Weidner-Robinson Family Cemetery at Newton, North Carolina.