Whitehead Family papers

Dates

1859 - 1958

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of personal papers, ephemera, and several bound volumes belonging to the Whitehead family, several generations of whom lived in and around Rahway, New Jersey from the 181 century to the end of the 20th century. The collection is approximately 1 cubic foot in size and is composed of two manuscript boxes and two oversized flat containers housing a business journal and ledger covering transactions from 1859 through 1874. There are several oversized items including diplomas, certificates, and one panoramic photograph of a group of women at Mount Vernon, the home of President George Washington. It is believed that the image of one of the Whitehead family members, Florence, appears in the photograph. The photograph would probably have been taken some time in the 1930's.

The papers of the Whitehead family are divided into four series: correspondence between members of the Whitehead family and others (13 folders); files containing other personal papers such as certificates and diplomas, juvenile class notes, drawings and compositions (12 folders); miscellany files containing ephemera, unascribed items and small bound items (4 folders) and a ledger book and journal that correspond to a business with no known relationship to the Whitehead family.

The files containing correspondence include a number of letters written by members of the family to other members while traveling extensively in the United States, and letters received from friends of the family. The remaining files contain diplomas and certificates; musical recital programs; a handwritten volume of pharmaceutical formulae; a bound and printed pharmaceutical vademecum; a diary; and a handwritten bookkeeping journal and ledger from a retailing and contracting concern that operated between 1859 and 1874 and that had specific transactions in Rahway in 1874.

Extent

1 Cubic Feet (2 manuscript boxes and 2 flat casings)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Biographical / Historical

The Whitehead family, of Rahway, New Jersey, traces its roots back to pre-Revolutionary War days. Five generations of this family lived in Rahway and its environs in the period from 1792 to 2000. Bible and family records maintained by the Whiteheads and later included in a series of records of this type compiled and published by the Daughters of the American Revolution indicate that John Whitehead, the earliest member of this family about whom we have reliable information, was born in 1792; his great-great granddaughter, Gladys Whitehead, passed away at the end of the 20th century just a few months shy of her 9?1h birthday. It is largely through her efforts that the family's papers have been incorporated into the Rutgers University Special Collections.

Not much is known about John Whitehead. Of the twelve children born to him and his wife Sarah Marsh Whitehead, two died in infancy. John Whitehead himself died in 1828 at the age of 55; his wife survived him and lived until 1858.

The family narrative, as told through the family's papers and ancillary material, begins to focus on John Whitehead's grandson, James M. Whitehead, who lived in Rahway until his death some time around February of 1896. The date of his death is approximated from information contained in correspondence between his widow, Abbie Whitehead, and Lida Shipley, a long-time friend from Rahway who moved in 1892 to Spokane, Washington. His widow continued to live in Rahway with their son, Frank, and their daughter, Hattie. Frank is the family member who would later donate the family's historical records to the Daughters of the American Revolution. The story, as told in the family papers, comes to a close during the lifetimes of Frank's three daughters, Erma (born ca. 1901), Gladys (1903-2000), and Florence (born ca. 1905).

Frank Whitehead was born some time around 1875. He embarked upon a career in insurance, and at various times acted as an agent for the New Jersey Insurance Company, the Watertown Agricultural Insurance Company, and the Firemen's Insurance Company of Newark, New Jersey. On June 6, 1899 he married Erma Elizabeth Bedman.

Of Frank and Erma's three daughters, we know of at least one who achieved a graduate degree. Florence Stansbury Whitehead, who had received her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University, was awarded a Master of Arts degree by Columbia University in 1943. Gladys Whitehead received a vocational school certificate in 1929; a top-bound notebook with meticulous class notes, easily legible, is included among the materials in the collection. Erma Whitehead married Edward Schmick some time around 1929 and they, too, made their home in Rahway.

There was little that was distinctive or extraordinary about this branch of the Whitehead family. What does come across clearly, however, is that they had many very good friends with whom they kept in regular contact. They were also devout people, who were faithful members of Rahway's Presbyterian Church. They were actively involved in their community. Correspondence from the Whitehead daughters reveals that they regularly attended Church functions and were otherwise active in Church-sponsored events. Florence Whitehead was a member of the Christian Endeavor Union ( designated C.E. in much of the correspondence) and traveled extensively throughout the United States in the company of other members of that organization.

Erma Elizabeth Bedman Whitehead, Frank's wife, belonged to a family that ran a highly successful seed business for many years in the Rahway area. Gladys, in her memoirs, published in four volumes under the title Recollections during the latter part of her life, includes various anecdotes related to the seed business that her grandfather and uncles ran.

The family also bore testimony, in letters and other documents, to some of the important events of their day. A letter to Abbie Whitehead from Lida Shipley records the arrival home of her brother-in-law, who had gone to Alaska in 1898 during the Gold Rush there. A diary for the year 1899 contains entries for various events that occurred following the Spanish-American War, such as Admiral Dewey's triumphant return after his victory at Manila and the surrender of the Philippine islands. Items of family history are recorded as well; it is from this diary that we learn that Frank Whitehead was married on June 6, 1899. However, his spouse's name is not mentioned. This omission helps point up the possibility that the diary belonged to a member of the Whitehead family rather than a member of the Bedman family.

The diary also contains a number of entries concerning events in the lives of Civil War veterans who lived in the area. Charles Bedman, Erma Elizabeth Bedman Whitehead's father and Gladys' grandfather, was himself a veteran of the War, having served with one of the New Jersey volunteer regiments in 1862 and 1863. Charles was born in 1845 in Woodbridge, New Jersey and later conducted his seed business in Rahway.

Through much of the 19th century, Rahway was home to several factories that engaged in the manufacture of horse-drawn carriages and accessories for such carriages. Gladys Whitehead's paternal grandfather, James Marsh Whitehead, as well as her father, who bears the same name, plied their respective trades in the carriage manufacturing business. The elder James Whitehead was involved in silver plating various carriage parts; the younger worked as a "trimmer." This same grandfather, James M. Whitehead, was the recipient of a letter from Justus D. Trussler, a Rahway resident who served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Civil War. The letter was written in November or December of 1861 from Point of Rocks, Maryland. The original letter is included with the family's papers.

Gladys' maternal great-great grandfather, Charles Bedman, was born in 1778 in England and was engaged in the maritime trades. His son (and Gladys' great-grandfather) William Bedman was born in Somersetshire, England in 1810. Although the actual date of his arrival in the United States is uncertain, he is known to have emigrated to the United States some time before 1843. In that year, he began a seed business in Woodbridge, New Jersey. One of his important customers was a retail establishment in New York that he regularly supplied with seeds.

William's son, also named Charles, was born in Woodbridge in 1845 and later began his own seed business in Rahway with two of his brothers. After Charles' death in 1898, his widow, Mary Bedman, and his children carried on the business. It remained in existence until 1962. The gardening implements from the Bedman seed farm were later donated to the Smithsonian Institution's Office of Horticulture.

Among the papers preserved by the family are several State of Indiana Canal Stock Certificates issued in 1868 and 1870 to a James Clark. There is no specific reference to this person in any of the family's correspondence or other papers. From information provided by Gladys Whitehead in her book Recollections, however, we know that Abbie Whitehead's sister was named Phoebe Ann Squire Clark. It is very possible, then, that James Clark was one of Gladys' maternal relatives.

Among the other members of the family noted in correspondence or Gladys' memoirs is Elias Whitehead, Frank Whitehead's uncle, who lived with Frank and his family. Not much is known about Elias Whitehead, although one of the documents contained in the collection is a "certificate of exemption" issued to Elias as a consequence of his having served as a fireman in Rahway. This certificate is dated 1871. Apart from that, no other documents, on their face, indicate that they belonged to or were written by Elias Whitehead. However, there is reason to believe that the diary for the year 1899 that forms part of the collection, otherwise unidentified as to its author, is in fact the diary of Elias Whitehead. This is not certain, but some of the circumstances of his life indicate a connection with entries in the diary. For one thing, a number of entries concern fires that occurred in Rahway. There are also many notations regarding the deaths and funeral arrangements for veterans of the various volunteer regiments from New Jersey that served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Civil War. These men would have been generational contemporaries of Elias Whitehead, which may explain why he would be so attentive to deaths among that group in particular. There are also numerous entries regarding fires in residences and businesses in the area, which observations would also be consistent with his having been a fireman earlier in his life. Furthermore, one of the only other "candidates" for authorship of the diary had passed away the previous year. This was Charles Bedman, Gladys' Whitehead's grandfather. Due to his involvement in the seed business, Charles Bedman consistently made meticulous entries regarding weather conditions in journals he maintained, according to Gladys' memoirs. In the 1899 diary that is part of the collection, virtually every day contains an entry with observations regarding the weather.

All three of Frank Whitehead's daughters did some traveling in the United States, and a substantial portion of the correspondence in the collection forms a record of their trips. Gladys relates that she traveled in 1912 to Richmond, Virginia; in 1929 to Annapolis, Maryland; and in 1930 to Washington with her father, during which trip she visited the White House and met President and Mrs. Herbert Hoover. Correspondence contained in the collection also reveal that she traveled in the company of her sister Erma to the Midwestern states in 1926. There are letters from Erma and Gladys to their parents that were sent from Peoria, Illinois and Ellsworth, Kansas. In addition, the collection contains transcriptions of telegrams sent from Peoria, Ellsworth, Terre Haute, Indiana, and St. Louis, Missouri. While in Peoria, according to the letter written from there, Gladys and Erma visited with Lida (Shipley) Hurley, who by that time had married and re-settled in Peoria. This is the same Lida Shipley who wrote a series of letters to Abbie Whitehead in the period between 1892 and 1901 from Spokane, Washington.

By far, the one who was the most widely traveled, from the written record contained in the family papers, was Florence Stansbury Whitehead, youngest of Frank Whitehead's daughters. Correspondence indicates that Florence made at least three major trips to other parts of the United States, two of which were quite extensive. The first, in 1931, took Florence through the western part of the United States and Canada from late June through early August of that year. She traveled by train, in the company of other young people who were also part of the Christian Endeavor Union, through Chicago; Topeka, Kansas; Denver; Gallup and Albuquerque, New Mexico; the Grand Canyon in Arizona; San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Banff, Alberta. Along the way, the tour group visited and spent time with local societies associated with the Christian Endeavor Union or the Presbyterian Church. There are many instances noted in the correspondence of Florence's taking part in church services at cities they visited or on the train itself.

The second trip, in 1932, was to various places in Florida, including St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, Tampa, and Orlando. Florence traveled again in 1939 to the western United States, visiting Hot Springs, South Dakota, a ranch in Montana, Yellowstone National Park, Mount Rushmore, and Cody, Wyoming, where she attended a rodeo. A flier distributed at the rodeo is included among the collection's papers. She was accompanied on all of these trips by other travelers, one of whom, a Miss Wright who is not otherwise identified in correspondence or in the ancillary material, seems to have acted as chaperone on all three trips.

We should note, also, that this branch of the Whitehead family is not closely related to the family of William Whitehead, a prominent member of New Jersey society in the nineteenth century, and of whom much is known through his family's papers. Although there is no known relation between these families, there is included with the collection a letter written in 1857 by William Whitehead to a hospital in Newark, New Jersey stating his intention to contribute to the nascent hospital's building fund.

Arrangement

SERIES DESCRIPTION

I. CORRESPONDENCE

The thirteen files that form the Correspondence Series are arranged generationally, and within generations by relative age, such that the files appear in the following order: James M. Whitehead, Abbie (Mrs. James M.) Whitehead, Frank Whitehead, Erma E. (Mrs. Frank) Whitehead, Gladys Whitehead, and Florence Whitehead. The last file, containing a letter written by William A. Whitehead, is arranged separately from the others due to the fact that this individual bears no clear familial relationship to any of the other correspondents whose papers are included in this collection, despite the similarity of surname.

Where the salutation in the letter proper is ambiguous (for example, salutations that read "Dear Folks" or "Hello all") the document has been placed with correspondence related to the individual to whom the envelope accompanying such document has been addressed.

One of the two letters received by Mr. James M. Whitehead, Frank's father and Gladys' grandfather, who died in 1896, is from Justus D. Trussler, a Civil War soldier who wrote the letter in November or December of 1861 from Point of Rocks, Maryland. The second is an official notice from the Rahway municipal authorities informing him that a meeting of the Rahway Board of Health was to be convened on June 23, 1882.

The letters received by Mrs. James (Abbie) Whitehead (born Abbie Janeway Squire) are among the most interesting of the collection. Included here are a number of letters sent to her by a friend, Lida Shipley, an elementary school teacher who moved to Spokane, Washington in 1892. She is a contemporary of Frank Whitehead who had previously resided at 41 Harrison Street in Rahway, which would have made her a neighbor of the Whitehead family (whose own address in Rahway was 57 Harrison Street). These letters record Lida Shipley's observations of life in Spokane at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the 20th centuries. Among other events, Miss Shipley makes reference to her brother-in-law's return from the Alaska Gold Rush of 1898. Certain elemental aspects of life are presented as well, such as her salary ($60.00 per month, less one percent for 'cashing the voucher' and no salary payable during the four summer months); and demographic information (twenty men to each woman in Spokane and its environs). It is also through this correspondence that we are able to place the death of James M. Whitehead chronologically, as reference to his passing is made in a letter dated February 1, 1896. Due to the volume of correspondence received, these letters are divided chronologically among three folders. Many of these letters are written in a very fine Copperplate script.

The correspondence received by Erma Elizabeth Bedman (Mrs. Frank) Whitehead was written by her daughters during their various travels from the period of 1926 through 1939. These were written mainly by Gladys and Florence Whitehead, with the preponderance of the correspondence emanating from the latter. These letters contain various items of family news and reactions to places visited during travels to the midwestern and western United States, Canada, and Florida. Gladys and Erma traveled to the Midwest in 1926. Florence traveled extensively throughout the West and Canada in 1931, and to Florida in 1932. She again visited the West, including stops in South Dakota, Idaho and Montana, in 1939. On this last trip she recorded her impressions of Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, a sizable ranch in Montana, and a rodeo in Cody, Wyoming.

The letters received by Frank Whitehead share many of the same characteristics; in the main, these letters were sent to Frank by his daughters Gladys and Florence while they were traveling through the United States at various times. There is one letter dated August 31, 1887 from a relative in Lowell, Massachusetts. The letters sent by Frank Whitehead are few: they consist of a letter to the Manson Cycle Company in 1898 containing Frank's entry in a poetry contest sponsored by that company; an 1887 letter to a Mr. Mills regarding German lessons; and a thank-you note to the Bartels family in 1944 thanking them for a fruit basket they had sent him. A notation indicates that the letter was written with Frank's left hand, and the penmanship is demonstratively different from that seen in his earlier work. One may surmise that an injury or illness had left him without the ability to use his right hand, as he customarily would have done when writing.

Correspondence addressed to Gladys Whitehead was generally received from one or both of her parents while she was traveling, or from her sister Florence while that sister was traveling. As is the case with other letters received by her parents, these letters, for the most part, contain observations made while traveling, as well as some news items concerning friends and neighbors. There is one letter that was not written to Gladys by a family member, and this is a letter she received in 1929 from Lida (Shipley) Hurley. This individual is the same person who had earlier written a series of letters from Spokane, Washington to Gladys' grandmother Abbie. By this date, Lida Shipley had married and re-settled in Peoria, Illinois, where her husband worked for one of the railroad lines. It is this letter that makes mention of the impending wedding of Frank's daughter Erma Whitehead (Schmick).

The other important correspondence file is composed of letters received by Florence Stansbury Whitehead, Frank and Erma E. Whitehead's youngest daughter. These consist almost exclusively of letters sent to Florence by her parents while she was traveling through the United States on three separate occasions: in 1931, 1932, and 1939. These contain mostly information on developments among friends and family, with a few passing references to events of more general interest.

The last file, which contains an 1857 letter from one William A. Whitehead, bears no real connection to the collection other than its inclusion with these papers. There is nothing that suggests that William A. Whitehead, well-known in his own right for the prominent role he played in New Jersey society and political life in the nineteenth century, and whose papers are a prominent collection within the holdings of the New Jersey Historical Society, is related to the Whiteheads who are the source of these papers. The single letter contained here is perhaps a draft of a letter from William A. Whitehead to the Honorable William Wright, dated March 9, 1857, in which William Whitehead states his intention to contribute to the building fund for the projected Newark Hospital.

II. CERTIFICATES, DIPLOMAS AND OTHER PERSONAL PAPERS

The files that constitute this series include miscellaneous papers, including juvenile works and one diary, and certificates received by members of the Whitehead family, as well as one photograph. They are arranged generationally, and within generation, by the relative age of members of the family.

The first two files contain a certificate, dated 1871, presented to Elias Whitehead, Frank's uncle and Gladys' great-uncle, for his service as a fireman in Rahway, and a diary for the year 1899 believed to have been kept by Elias. (Elias is referred to in Gladys Whitehead's Recollections in various instances as "Uncle Grimpe.") Although the diary bears no self-authenticating language that would identify its author, various circumstances of Elias Whitehead's life indicate a connection with entries in the diary. For one thing, a number of entries concern fires that occurred in Rahway. It is clear from the certificate described above that Elias had served as a fireman earlier in life. There are also many notations regarding the deaths and funeral arrangements for veterans of the various volunteer regiments from New Jersey that served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Civil War. These men would have been generational contemporaries of Elias Whitehead, which may explain why he would be so attentive to deaths among that group in particular. It is possible, though not known with certainty, that Elias himself may have served with one or other of the volunteer regiments from New Jersey that saw action during the Civil War.

The next set of files contain miscellaneous papers that relate to Frank Whitehead. These include an autograph book bearing autographs and messages from friends and relatives penned between 1883 and 1885; a second autograph book with similar contents that was used in 1885; Frank's "school diary" for the year 1886; and sundry receipts for goods and services issued between 1895 and 1925.

Another file contains a certificate of promotion presented to Erma B. (incorrectly spelled "Irma" on the document itself) Whitehead (Schmick) by the Presbyterian Bible School in 1912, and a stock certificate for ten shares of stock in the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad issued in 1956. There is also a notebook containing a record of music exercises undertaken by Erma in the period from 1911 to 1916.

A later file contains certificates presented to Gladys Whitehead. These include a Rahway Evening Vocational School certificate presented in 1929, and a Red Cross certificate acknowledging Gladys' service during World War II, dated January 24, 1946. An additional file contains a notebook maintained by Gladys while taking a nursing course offered by the Red Cross.

The balance of the material in these files relates to Florence Stansbury Whitehead. Found here are certain items put together during Florence's childhood, which include two sketchbooks drawn between 1913 and 1915. There are also certificates and diplomas issued to Florence: an elementary school diploma dated 1918; a high school diploma dated 1922; a diploma awarding a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Rutgers University in 1922; a diploma awarding a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1943; and a certificate identifying Florence as a member of the Rebecca Cornell Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, issued in 1930.

III. MISCELLANY

The files contained in the Miscellany series encompass a number of items of unknown origin that are not attributable to any individual member of the family. This includes ephemera (handbills, a store receipt, press clippings, name cards); a notebook containing a record of music exercises, similar in style and penmanship to the one maintained by Erma B. Whitehead and described above, though unidentified in this case; State of Indiana Canal Stock issued in 1868 and 1870 to James Clark; a handwritten compilation of pharmaceutical formulae; and a pharmacist's vademecum.

The pharmaceutical formula book is written completely by hand. From a notation within the book, it belonged to Daniel W. Seward, whose name appears in the pharmacist's vademecum that is also contained in this series. In that publication, the frontispiece bears the legend "DW Seward- 58 Harrison Street - Rahway, N.J. - March 29, 1905." It will be recalled that the Whitehead family lived at 57 Harrison Street, so that this appears to have been a neighbor who lived across the street. The formula book bears a printed legend that reads "Daniel W. Seward, 2405 First Avenue - corner 12(?) Street, New York - Excelsior Pharmacy." The formula book contains a variety of handwriting styles, indicating that more than one person entered formulae onto its pages. Some of the formulae noted appear to be specific to the pharmacy or the pharmacist, such as "Seward's Odontalgic Drops;" "Seward's Camphor Ice;" and "Seward's Worm Powders." The dates accompanying these entries range from 1864 to 1875 and later. An additional notation inside the book bears the legend "DW Seward, Druggist - 3rd Avenue and 71st Street, New York."

The vademecum, entitled Warner's New Therapeutic Reference Book, has a frontispiece that bears the legend "DW Seward - 58 Harrison Street - Rahway, N.J. - March 29, 1905." This volume, which has a copyright date of 1900, contains ready reference material for pharmacists, such as a listing of abbreviations commonly used in prescriptions, a section on common poisons and their antidotes, and some basic instructions for the administration of certain medicaments.

IV. JOURNAL AND LEDGER

This series contains two items, a bound bookkeeping ledger and a bound journal, that purport to belong to one Ross Vanderhoven. There is no known relationship between Mr. Vanderhoven and the Whitehead family. This individual maintained several different businesses in the period between 1859 and 1874, which took place in various locations. There are bookkeeping entries for transactions in Buffalo, N.Y. in 1859 and 1860; in Albany, N.Y. and Cleveland, Ohio in 1860; Philadelphia in 1860; Newark, N.J. in 1873; and Rahway, N.J. in 1874. The Rahway transactions are the last that appear in the journal and ledger. Most of the business involved contracting work and some retail operations primarily involving dry goods and groceries.

There is little that is remarkable or noteworthy regarding most of the entries in these volumes, with one exception.

A brief narrative precedes one set of the journal entries referring to transactions in Buffalo, N.Y.: "W.P. Spencer & R. Felton formed a partnership for conducting the business of Building." Following this introduction, the journal contains a notation that from one Millard Fillmore they had received $1,000.00 "on account of contract which we have entered with him to build him a cottage on Niagara Street for $9,000.00." The entry is included in the section for November, 1859. It should be noted that the President of the United States who bore this same name left office in 1853 with the conclusion of the term he filled after the death of President Zachary Taylor. After completing the term, he returned to Buffalo, New York where he lived until his death in 1874. He ran for President in 1856 as the candidate of the American Native ("Know-Nothing") party and lost. Millard Fillmore had a son named Millard Powers Fillmore, who also lived in Buffalo and died in 1889.

In addition to conducting a contracting and retail business, the individual who kept these books also acted as an estate administrator on at least one occasion, and noted such fact.

From a purely aesthetical perspective, both volumes represent excellent examples of a highly stylized Copperplate script that was popular at the time. It is almost fanciful in its appearance, rendering an artistic flair to otherwise conventional business records.

Arrangement

CONTAINER LIST (By Folder)

I. CORRESPONDENCE

1. James M. Whitehead: Letters Received from Justus D. Trussler (Civil War Soldier) and from Rahway Board of Health

2. Abbie J. (Mrs. James) Whitehead: Letters Received, 1891-1894; Primarily from Lida Shipley, of Spokane, Washington

3. Abbie J. (Mrs. James) Whitehead: Letters Received, 1895-1896; Primarily from Lida Shipley, of Spokane, Washington

4. Abbie J. (Mrs. James) Whitehead: Letters Received, 1897-1901; Primarily from Lida Shipley, of Spokane, Washington

5. Frank Whitehead: Letters Sent (drafts)

6. Frank Whitehead: Letters Received, 1887-1939

7. Erma E. (Mrs. Frank) Whitehead: Letters Received, 1926-1931; Primarily concerning Gladys' and Erma B. Whitehead's trip to the Midwest and Florence Whitehead's first trip to the West

8. Erma E. (Mrs. Frank) Whitehead: Letters Received, 1931; Primarily concerning Florence Whitehead's second trip to the West and Canada

9. Erma E. (Mrs. Frank) Whitehead: Letters Received, 1931; Primarily concerning Florence Whitehead's first trip to the West and Canada

10. Erma E. (Mrs. Frank) Whitehead: Letters Received, 1932; Primarily concerning Florence Whitehead's trip to Florida

11. Erma E. (Mrs. Frank) Whitehead: Letters Received, 1939; Primarily concerning Florence Whitehead's second trip to the West

12. Gladys M. Whitehead: Letters Received; Includes letters from Florence Whitehead during her travels

13. William A. Whitehead: Letter Sent (draft)-1857 letter to Hon. William Wright concerning pledge to building fund of Newark Hospital

II. CERTIFICATES, DIPLOMAS AND OTHER PERSONAL PAPERS

14. Elias Whitehead: Diary for the year 1899 - general entries on local and national events, weather conditions, and family matters; includes entry for parade honoring Admiral Dewey after surrender of the Philippine Islands, and for the wedding of Frank and Erma Elizabeth Redman Whitehead, June 6th

15. Elias Whitehead: Certificate of exemption as fireman, 1871

16. Frank Whitehead: Autograph album covering 1883-1885; contains autograph signatures and messages from friends and relatives

17. Frank Whitehead: Autograph album covering 1885; contains autograph signatures and messages from friends and relatives

18. Frank Whitehead: School diary for the year 1886; containing academic grades and reports on performance in school

19. Frank Whitehead: Receipts, 1895-1925; containing general receipts from retail and service establishments

20. Erma B. Whitehead (Schmick): Certificate; containing a stock certificate from the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Co. issued in 1956

21. Erma B. Whitehead (Schmick): Hand-written record of music lessons and exercises compiled between 1911 and 1915

22. Gladys Whitehead: Certificates; containing a 1929 certificate from Rahway Evening Vocational School and a Red Cross citation for service during World War II

23. Gladys Whitehead: Red Cross home nursing course notes; a topbound book of hand-written notes taken during a course offered by the Red Cross

24. Florence Whitehead: Sketchbook; this book of drawings, drawn by Florence as a child during the school year 1913-1914, tells, in a pictorial style, the story of a fictional family, 'The Gray Family.'

25. Florence Whitehead: Sketchbook; this book of drawings, drawn by Florence as a child during the year 1915, tells, in a pictorial style, the story of a fictional family, 'The Happy White Family.'

III. MISCELLANY

26. Ephemera; containing handbills, fliers, name cards and other loose items; 1958 receipt from Karl Marx Upholstery issued to Miss Bedman; assorted press clippings

27. Hand-written notebook containing a record of music lessons; this notebook is undated and unidentified as to ownership, but is similar in style, penmanship, and content to the record of music lessons attributed to Erma B. Whitehead (see above)

28. State of Indiana Canal Stock certificates issued in 1868 and 1870 to James H. Clark; although this individual is unidentified in the family papers, he is believed to be a relative of Erma Elizabeth (Bedman) Whitehead

29. Hand-written book of pha1maceutical formulae and bound pharmacist's vademecum; the book of formulae contains items entered between 1864 and c. 1879; the vademecum was printed in 1900 and is a general handbook for deciphering prescriptions, preparing antidotes, and administering certain medicaments

IV. JOURNAL AND LEDGER

30. Journal of Ross Vanderhoven, 1859-1874

31. Ledger of Ross Vanderhoven, 1859-1874