Great Great Grandparents: John Whitehead and Emily Ellen Clarke Whitehead
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Try To Remember...

Great Great Grandparents: On December 29, 1853 Emily Ellen Clarke (1832-1897) married John Whitehead (1829-1865) and on March 12, 1856 their son, William Wilson Whitehead (my Great Grandfather) was born.  John Whitehead went on to become a soldier in the Union Army (Ohio).  He was captured by the Confederate Army and sent to Libby Prison in Richmond, VA where he contracted typhoid fever.  Upon war's end in May, 1865 he was released and sent home where, shortly thereafter, he died on August 3, 1865, never having recovered from his typhoid.  John Whitehead's son, William Wilson Whitehead (my Great Grandfather) was nine years old at the time of his father's death.  William Wilson Whitehead's mother, Emily Ellen Clarke Whitehead (my Great Great Grandmother) was one of four daughters of Robert C. Clarke and Catherine Rhodes Clarke---my Great Great Great Grandparents---all of whom emigrated to this country from England in 1838 when Emily was but five years old.  They settled in Allegheny, PA ( now called Pittsburgh, PA) .  And it was Catherine Rhodes Clarke (William Wilson Whitehead's Grandmother and my Great Great Great Grandmother) who in 1853 became the Aunt of Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902)---of Rhodes Scholarship fame---for it was Catherine Rhodes Clarke's brother who was the father of Cecil John Rhodes.  Cecil John Rhodes is buried in Westminster Abbey, and my Great Great Grandfather, John Whitehead (the Civil War veteran) is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in then Allegheny, PA (now Pittsburgh, PA).  Why Allegheny Cemetery ?  Well, I suspect that when John Whitehead was drafted into the Union Army in 1864, my Great Great Grandmother, Emily Ellen Clarke Whitehead, took their son and my Great Grandfather, William Wilson Whitehead, and moved from their home in Middleton, Ohio and went back to live with Emily's parents in Allegheny, PA---her parents being my Great Great Great Grandparents,  Robert C. Clarke and Catherine Rhodes Clarke---to wait out the war.  So when my Great Great Grandfather John Whitehead returned "home" after being released from Libby Prison at war's end in May, 1865, he went not to Middleton, Ohio, but to Allegheny, PA where his wife and child were then eagerly awaiting his return.
 
.....H. Bruce Downey, Great Great Grandson of John Whitehead and Emily Ellen Clarke Whitehead, September, 2003 



johnwhiteheadwallet54pc.jpg

NOTE: Based on the photo above this wallet appears to be in too good a condition to have survived the Civil War and John Whitehead's experiences as a Prisoner of War (POW) at Libby Prison in Richmond, VA.  For this wallet to be authentic I suspect that either John left this wallet at home before going off to the War Between the States, as the South referred to this war, or John acquired this wallet during the brief period between the Civil War's end in May, 1865 and his death in August, 1865 from the typhoid fever he contracted while at Libby Prison in Richmond, VA.
 
....H. Bruce Downey (John Whitehead's Great Great Grandson)  

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"Raisins and Almonds," an American Folk Song, performed by John Whitehead's and Emily Ellen Clarke Whitehead's Great Great Grandson, H. Bruce Downey

    
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" When I was a ti - ny sleep - y- head,

      Ma-ma gent - ly would tuck me in - to bed,

         And sing of rais - ins and al - monds,

            And the sweet years to be,

               Sweet as rais - ins and al - monds,

                 Oh, that dear mem - o - ry !

                    Oh, that dear mem - o- ry ! "






Great Great Grandparents: On December 29, 1853 Emily Ellen Clarke (1832-1897) married John Whitehead (1829-1865) and on March 12, 1856 their son, William Wilson Whitehead (my Great Grandfather) was born.  John Whitehead went on to become a soldier in the Union Army (Ohio).  He was captured by the Confederate Army and sent to Libby Prison in Richmond, VA where he contracted typhoid fever.  Upon war's end in May, 1865 he was released and sent home where shortly thereafter he died on August 3, 1865, never having recovered from his typhoid.  John Whitehead's son, William Wilson Whitehead (my Great Grandfather) was nine years old at the time of his father's death.  William Wilson Whitehead's mother, Emily Ellen Clarke Whitehead (my Great Great Grandmother) was one of four daughters of Robert C. Clarke and Catherine Rhodes Clarke---my Great Great Great Grandparents---all of whom emigrated to this country from England in 1838 when Emily was but five years old.  They settled in Allegheny, PA ( now called Pittsburgh, PA) .  And it was Catherine Rhodes Clarke (William Wilson Whitehead's Grandmother and my Great Great Great Grandmother) who in 1853 became the Aunt of Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902)---of Rhodes Scholarship fame---for it was Catherine Rhodes Clarke's brother who was the father of Cecil John Rhodes.  Cecil John Rhodes is buried in Westminster Abbey and John Whitehead (the Civil War veteran and my Great Great Grandfather) is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in then Allegheny, PA (now Pittsburgh, PA).  Why Allegheny Cemetery ?  Well, I suspect that when John Whitehead was drafted into the Union Army in 1864, his wife, Emily Ellen Clarke Whitehead, took their son, William Wilson Whitehead, and moved from their home in Middleton, Ohio and went back to live with her parents in Allegheny, PA---her parents being my Great Great Great Grandparents,  Robert C. Clarke and Catherine Rhodes Clarke---to wait out the war.  So when my Great Great Grandfather John Whitehead returned "home" after being released from Libby Prison at war's end in May, 1865, he returned, not to Middleton, Ohio, but to Allegheny, PA where his wife and child were then living.
 
.....H. Bruce Downey, Great Great Grandson of John Whitehead and Emily Ellen Clarke Whitehead, September, 2003