18 March 1853 – 20 February 1928

son of

James Madison and Barbara Davis Whitehead

Let me begin at the beginning.

Robert D. Whitehead was born Friday, 18 March 1853 in Nashville, Hamilton, Tennessee, or so his story goes. In doing research I have discovered that Nashville is in Davidson County. Although county boundaries do change. You see great-grandpa ran away from home, changed his name and attempted to isolate himself from his family. Might I say he did an excellent job. The information I have was provided to me by my grandpa. I understand that great-grandpa was a man of few words and didn’t say much about his life. I also gathered information from papers submitted by Mary Whitehead when she applied for his pension.

Supposedly he was the youngest or next youngest of a family of fifteen or sixteen children. His parents were reportedly James Madison Whitehead and Barbara Davis. The siblings that I know of are (not in any particular order):

William died at age six, and Elijah was dead before great-grandpa left home.

According to great-grandma’s statement, he had two brothers fight in the Civil War. I always thought it was three; one on one side and two on the other. I’m not sure of the split. Three of his brothers were dead before he left home.

Evidently great-grandpa was in a fight with his brother Sullivan. I believe it was over a girl. Apparently he struck his brother with a club and thought he had killed him. He ran away from home and attempted to join the service. His father was able to get him out of the service and took him home. Great-grandpa again ran away, joined the service under his mother’s maiden name; i.e. Robert Davis, lied about his age when in reality he was 17. According to his discharge papers he was a farmer at the time of enlistment. He served with the 14^th Infantry for five years and then reenlisted for another hitch. He was discharged 25 March 1875 at Fort Cameron, Utah and re-enlisted in the same Company 26 March 1875. He was discharged 26 March 1880 at Fort Douglas, Utah. It was the understanding of family members that he was with the Infantry at Custer’s Last Stand. His military history and that of Little Big Horn do not match up. My Aunt Jean (Whitehead Revas) says she thinks he may have been involved with the clean up. His military records show that he must have fought Red Cloud and Crazy Horse in the Sioux and Cheyenne Wars. His pension papers list these wars and he was at the Red Cloud Agency at exactly the same time Red Cloud started his uprising. Also according to discharge papers, he was 5’ 8 ½", having gray eyes and black hair. Great-grandma’s statements says that he could not read nor write except for his name.

While stationed at Fort Douglas he married a woman by the name of Ann Phelps or Philips. They had one child, a daughter by the name of Margaret (Maggie). According to great-grandma, Maggie was raised by her grandmother, Mariah Phillips. One night he came home to find his clothes packed and waiting for him outside the door. It seems like Grandpa told me they lived in the south Salt Lake area. Great-grandma states that she saw Maggie one time.

I’m assuming it was the military that brought great-grandpa to Utah. Great-grandma states that he lived at Fort Douglas, Beaver and West Jordan before meeting her. Again, great-grandma’s statement indicates that great-grandpa had some correspondence with his brother Sullivan after leaving Tennessee. It’s told that he left a box of letters and pictures at the home of John Hays in Beaver when he went with the Army to the Black Hills. When he returned they were gone, and with them any chance for me to find out more about him.

He lived in Clear Creek, Utah with the owner of a saloon where he worked. He met Mary Davis in January 1884 in Scofield at a dance. They married the following September in Scofield, Emery, Utah on 21 September 1884. Their first child, Jane Ellen (Nellie) was born 26 August 1888. She died on 16 November 1890, just over two years of age. They moved to Cleveland in 1891. Their second child, my grandpa, William Robert Whitehead was born in Cleveland, Emery, Utah on 02 December 1892 on their farm on South Flat. In those days it was common practice for the man to control the purse strings. Great-grandpa would carry the money around in his pocket and when great-grandma wanted anything he’d dole it out to her.

Great-grandpa was a farmer and enjoyed bringing home a skinny, run-down horse and feeding and fattening it up. The stories I’ve heard is that he also provided horses and supplies to Butch Cassidy when he hid out in the Cedar Mountain area.

My mother, Barbara Pauline Whitehead Easterbrook, tells how her grandpa liked to tease and joke. He was a sportsman and would fight at the drop of a hat. She especially remembers his coin purse and how when they would go to see him he would pull his long, black purse from his pocket and deliberately open the wrong side, keeping them in suspense. Then he would wipe his mouth and mustache for his kiss. She tells me of his card games with Jim Pete Johnson and how great-grandma would faithfully peel the apples, core them and section them for the men. She tells of how dedicated and pious Grandma was and how out of breath she would get when talking. When asking the blessing on the food, great-grandpa told her once, "Me girl, you’d better ask for a little more breath," saying this to shock her. Evidently great grandpa liked to tease her.

Following his discharge from the Army he retained the name of Whitehead. Although through the years we sometimes speculate that perhaps Whitehead wasn’t his real name. I keep going back to what I’ve been told about his reaction when Jean was born. Jean is the third daughter of William Robert Whitehead, and third granddaughter of Robert D. Upon her birth, his comment to my grandma was "me girl, is that the best that you can do?" Meaning there was no boy to carry on the name. That plus the names that were given to the children: Margaret (Maggie) was his sister and his daughter. Barbara was his mother and his granddaughter, Pauline was his sister and middle name of Barbara, and William was a brother’s name and my grandpa’s first name. Of course, William was also the name of great-grandma’s grandfather. It seems that he thought of family.

Again, I’m not clear when they moved to town. He died on Monday, 20 February 1928 in Cleveland, Emery, Utah in the home that is currently the Easterbrook home. My mother remembered that he died in the northwest side of the living room. He was buried on 22 February in Cleveland, taking his secrets with him.