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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Fulton County
Munsell Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908

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The Biography of John WHITEHEAD 

[Surnames: COUP, HUFFMAN, SAVILLE, VRELL, WHITEHEAD, WOOD] 

WHITEHEAD, JOHN (deceased) 

    
One of the most prominent of the early settlers of Fulton County, who for about eighteen years after 1863, was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Sect. 14, was born in Saddleworth, England June 4, 1809, and came to the United States in 1845. He was a son of John and Betty Whitehead, natives of England. When Mr. Whitehead came to this country with his family he landed in New Orleans, the voyage across the ocean having consumed seven weeks, and thence they traveled by steamboat to Copperas Creek, Fulton County, arriving there April 26, 1845. John Whitehead was a skilled manufacturer of silk, cotton and woolen goods in his native land, but shortly after establishing himself in his new home, engaged in the sawmill and gristmill business. He also operated a steamboat, named Liverpool, between Lasalle and Beardstown. He finally purchased 125 acres of wild land which he brought under a fine state of cultivation, the tract being sold to him for the timber that covered it. 
    
Mr. Whitehead's first wife was Nancy SAVILLE, a native of Oldham, England, and a relative of Robert Saville, whose biography is published elsewhere in this work. This untion resulted in ten children who were born in England, and three after the family came to Fulton County. Their names are as follows:
Annis, Mrs. Frank VRELL, of Canton, who died in the Spring of 1906.
Sarah A., Mrs. John COUP, who lived in Kansas, where her husband died in 1877.
Henry, who died in Liverpool, IL Joseph Saville, who died in England in 1837
Ralph, who died in Canton in 1894
Charles who died in Liverpool in 1884
Edwin who died in Colorado Springs, CO, in 1892
Bramley, of Colorado Springs
Jethro and Martha, who died in England in 1845
Martha, Mrs. L. M. HUFFMAN, of Peoria, IL
Elizabeth
Ellen, Mrs. John Whitehead 
    
The father of this family died in 1881, the mother having passed away in 1857. Mr. Whitehead's second wife was formerly Winifred WOOD, a native of Yorkshire, England, whom he wedded in 1858. She survived her husband until 1883. Mrs. John Whitehead occupies the old homestead. 
    
John Whitehead was a man of superior intelligence, great practical information and exceptional strengh of character. He possessed remarkable energy and tenacity of purpose, and whatever he undertook he carried out. His integrity was beyond question, and his word was absulutely reliable. His was a stirring and busy life, and during his verturesome and arduous career the sterling qualities recognized in him commanded the respect of all within the circle of his acquaintance.