John Lewis Whitehead

John Lewis Whitehead was born on November 5, 1820, in Mississippi. He married Charlotte Elizabeth Lewey on March 18, 1841, in Jefferson County, Alabama. They had eleven children: Nancy Catherine, James “Bud”, Wiley, Matthew, Mary Ann, Serena, Irene, Sarah Elizabeth, John Randolph, Amanda E., and Julia Whitehead. In 1870, John and Charlotte lived in Four Mile, Dunklin, Missouri, with their children Serena, Sarah, John, Amanda and Julia. John and his son John worked as farmers. In 1880, they lived in Union, Dunklin County, with their servants and next door to their son John and his wife. John died on January 22, 1892, in Campbell, Dunklin County. John and Charlotte owned a lot of land and granted it out for Bethany Church, school and Bethany Cemetery in which they are buried, located in Campbell. On November 5, 1995, a monument was dedicated to the two of them and placed near their graves. The moment reads “These Godfearing pioneers selected this place - circa 1859 - to settle and raise their 11 children. This Monument memorializes their lives and their contributions to the moral values and quality of life that permeates this little piece of the world. The heart of this community's culture was the Church for worship, the School for learning and the Cemetery for proper burial of its deceased. These institutions were located on land granted by John and Charlotte Whitehead. The rich heritage of Bethany has touched the lives of all who lived here and their descendants throughout the country.”