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Bob Whitehead was born in the "tenant house" on the family farm near New Paris, Indiana in 1919, the first child of Merl and Edna Whitehead. His grandfather, Samuel Whitehead, was in ill health and in January baby Bob was taken up to the main house so that Samuel could see his first grandson before his passing. Bob experienced a typical farm-boy childhood in 1920's and ‘30's Indiana, going to school and working on his grandmother's farm, as well as those of various uncles in Elkhart County. He accepted Christ as his savior and was baptized as a youngster. His family attended Rock Run Church of the Brethren, which was founded by his great-great grandfather Jacob Berkey and later pastored by his great grandfather Isaac Berkey. Bob shared many interesting stories of an idyllic boyhood with his family in later years.
He graduated from New Paris High School in 1937 and attended business classes at Ball State University and Elkhart Business School between 1938 and 1940. He met Eva Lois Zimpelmann at church and was soon asking her to "go for a drive" with him. Eva Lois, a schoolteacher at that time, and Bob were married on May 31, 1941.
During the latter part of WWII Bob worked at U.S. Rubber Co. in the Ball Band Division that made Red Ball rubber footwear and self-sealing airplane fuel tanks for the armed forces. He lived with his family in Mishawaka, Indiana at that time. In the fall of 1943 they welcomed their first child, Dennis, into the family. In 1945, when automobile manufacturing was beginning to ramp up to meet post-war demand, Bob went to work selling cars at a friend's Chrysler-Plymouth dealership, where he stayed until 1947. Daughter Regina came along in early 1946, the year Bob moved his family to New Paris, Indiana.
In 1948 Bob entered a partnership, Maple City Motors, that opened a Kaiser-Frazer car dealership. Bob became renowned for taking anything in trade including bicycles, motorcycles, boats, tractors, a farm wagon, furniture, jewelry, watches, ponies, goats, rabbits, frozen meat, fifty laying hens and a crock of apple butter! Bob's efforts were rewarded with a handsome watch from Kaiser-Frazer inscribed, "For Outstanding Sales Achievement, June 1951, Edgar F. Kaiser." The car company was unable to sustain production and was merged with Willys-Overland in 1954. Maple City Motors continued to sell used cars for a while, but Bob sold out his interest in 1955.
For a time Bob and Eva Lois owned and operated a pet and hobby shop, selling fish, birds, small animals, and various hobby materials. Son Thomas was born in 1949. In about 1951 the Whiteheads left New Paris to move to Goshen, Indiana where Bob continued to operate a used car lot in the late ‘50's. In 1956 son John joined the family.
In about 1959 Bob took a sales position with Town and Country Frozen Foods, excelling as top salesman, selling frozen food plans and freezers. This job took the family from Goshen to Owosso, Michigan from where Bob worked in T&C's Lansing Branch. Bob's youngest child, Martin, was born there in early 1961.
In late 1961 Bob and Eva Lois relocated to Brooklyn, Michigan where Bob began selling lake lots for Lake Columbia Realty before the lake was even created. He sold the first lot at Lake Columbia. Bob and Eva Lois soon joined the First Baptist Church of Brooklyn where he remained a member for over fifty years.
In about 1963 Bob took a job with Mid-Continent Refrigeration Company out of Denver, Colorado, selling commercial refrigeration to restaurants, groceries, deli markets and gas stations. He spent most of twelve years traveling in New England for that company and was their top salesman.
In 1964 Bob purchased 28 acres east of Brooklyn, on Horning Road, dubbed it Timberlane and spent his long weekends every other week building a house, putting in a lake, building a covered bridge and landscaping the property with the help of his wife and kids. The land and barns were occupied by many exotic birds including pheasants, ducks, swans, geese, peafowl, guinea hens, turkeys, chickens and huge rheas. It was also home to horses, ponies, donkeys, a goat, rabbits, a milieu of cats and dogs and even a skunk. Bob also enjoyed picking up old tools and other antiques on his many sales trips.
Bob "retired" from Mid-Continent in 1975 and went to work for friend Richard Ehnis at Kitchen Supply Company, selling kitchen remodels. He worked with Richard until 1980 when he sold the Horning Road property and moved to Storer Camps in Napoleon to become Property Manager. At the YMCA camp Bob supervised a maintenance staff and was in charge of all lands, buildings, agriculture and machinery. He introduced many innovative ideas and practices to that operation.
In the early ‘80's Bob and Eva Lois purchased and refurbished a home on King St. in Brooklyn and later purchased a house in Port Charlotte, Florida where many pleasant winters were spent away from the Michigan cold. During most of his adult life, for over sixty years, Bob and Eva Lois owned and managed rental units and houses in Goshen, Indiana and in Jackson, Michigan.
In June, 1985 Eva Lois passed away from cancer. Bob was remarried to Barbara Stutesman on Valentine's Day, 1986. For the past 26 years Bob and Barbara have enjoyed retirement, including many winters in Florida and the rest of the time near most of their family members in Michigan. Bob and Barbara continued with the rental units for many years, selling them off slowly.
Throughout his life Bob had an interest in his family history, the Civil War and was an avid reader of American history. He enjoyed many business and personal travels, including to places of historical interest. Bob enjoyed the outdoors and spent time camping, fishing, canoeing and mushroom hunting. He was renowned for his ability to tell a tall tale, stringing it out in wild feats of exaggeration until the listener finally tumbled onto the fact that he was being "had." To Bob, a stranger was merely a friend he hadn't met yet.
Bob is survived by his wife Barbara, children Dennis (and wife Marcia), Regina, Thomas (and wife Suzie), John (and wife Bertha) and Martin (and wife Shannon), step-children David and Steven Stutesman, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, three sisters and their families and more friends than any man could dream.

Robert heiratete Zimpelmann, Eva Lois am 31 Mai 1941 in , Elkhart County, Indiana, USA. Eva (Tochter von Zimpelmann, Roy E. und Wilson, Lola Mae) wurde geboren am 15 Sep 1918 in North Manchester, Wabash County, Indiana, USA; gestorben am 6 Jun 1985 in Jackson, Jackson County, Michigan, USA; wurde beigesetzt in Highland Cemetery, Brooklyn, Jackson County, Michigan, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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Robert heiratete Stutesman, Barbara in 1986. Barbara wurde geboren geschätzt 1922; und gestorben. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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I was 15-years old when my Grandpa Whitehead passed. What I remember most about him was that he was a storyteller. He had the most interesting way of telling stories. Sitting in the living room of their home on Egbert Rd. in Goshen listening to him tell old family stories or just what he did yesterday is what I remember most fondly about Grandpa. His slow, methodical, detailed manner of storytelling was passed on to my dad and, in a less skilled manner, to me. It is Grandpa's storytelling that I credit for my interest in family history.
(The following is condensed from a presentation prepared and presented by Merl's daughter, Lois Kaufman, July 14, 2004, at the Directors and Volunteer Board meeting at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair grounds as part of the 100 year celebration of 4-H.)
Merl Whitehead was born at the farm owned by his father Samuel E. Whitehead, and his father before him, Valentine Whitehead. He was a truck driver, factory worker and chicken farmer. He served as President of the Indiana State Poultry Association in the 1950's. He manufactured and sold half barrel BBQ's and then developed, patented and manufactured the slow rotisserie type BBQ unit which he used at the fairs and sold individually in single or double units.
The State Fair and Centerville Fairs were the biggest, but the family also went to Allegan Co., Valpariso, Mermaid Festival, County Court House lawn, Middlebury Days and other places to sell BBQ chicken. They started out at the Goshen Fair in 1956. When that good smell went wafting around the Goshen fairgrounds, Merl could not BBQ fast enough for the people who wanted to eat. They stood 3 and 4 deep behind the seated people waiting to grab a place to sit down.
Merl prepared the chickens using only salt and poultry seasoning and they basted in their own juices as they turned on the routissere. He disengaged the blades and used his riding mower to get around the grounds; there were no golf carts available yet. There were few phones available so Herb Maust was generous in letting Merl use his phone at the milking parlor when he had to call a quick order in for more chicken or other supplies. When it was hot people ate ice cream instead of BBQ chicken.
When Merl retired in 1968 he sold some of his things to Gongwer's Golden Glo and the Mennonite Relief Sale which was just getting started. Golden Glo uses a different method of preparing the chicken but it was Merl Whitehead who started it all at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair.
He was 73 years old by the time he stopped doing the fair BBQ and Mother (Edna Berkey Whitehead) was 70. Dad died in 1976 at the age of 80 ½ years and Mother died in 1987 at the age of 89. They produced Robert, Eldon (died 1935), Laverle, Roberta and Lois and lived a godly productive life and were a good example to all who knew them.

Merl heiratete Berkey, Edna L. in 1918. Edna wurde geboren am 1 Aug 1898; gestorben in Okt 1987 in ,, Indiana, USA; wurde beigesetzt in Rock Run Cemetery, Goshen, Elkhart County, Indiana, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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Samuel was the eldest child of Valentine F. Whitehead (b1833) and Christina ("Tena") (Smith) Whitehead. His parents are buried in the Whitehead Cemetery across from Maple Grove Church of the Brethren.
Samuel was the second generation to farm the quarter-section referred to by the family as The Whitehead Farm, now owned by his grandson Dick. The farm, just a mile and a half down the road from Solomon Creek Cemetery, has been worked by six generations of Whiteheads and is designated as a centennial farm. The Solomon Creek schoolhouse, a brick, one room structure which Samuel's children (including my grandfather, Merl) attended, is just across the street from the cemetery. It was built in 1889 and is now a private residence.
Samuel lived to see only one of his grandchildren (my father) born, as he died before his 50th birthday of congestive heart failure, called dropsy in those days. On Nov. 23, 1890 he married Susan Docia Peters who is buried next to him. This union produced Merl (b1895), Cecil (b1897), Russell (b1901) and Harold (b1903).

Samuel heiratete Peters, Susan Docia um 1893. Susan (Tochter von Peters, Henry W. und Kesler, Tenor) wurde geboren am 9 Okt 1871 in , Elkhart County, Indiana, USA; gestorben am 1 Sep 1940 in , Elkhart County, Indiana, USA; wurde beigesetzt in Solomon Creek Cemetery, Benton, Elkhart County, Indiana, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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My great-grandmother went by the name Docia. She was the eldest of seven children of Henry W. Peters and Mary Magdalena Montgomery, who both came to Indiana from Franklin County, Virginia. Her parents are buried in the Whitehead (Maple Grove) Cemetery. She married Samuel E. Whitehead in about 1893 or '94, by whom she had four children, Merl (1895), Cecil (1897), Russell (1901) and Harold (1903).
Samuel, next to whom she is buried, predeceased her by 20 years. Her boys continued to run the family farm until they were older and ready to start their own families. Russell remained on the farm, buying out his siblings' shares. Docia continued to live on the farm for awhile, but eventually remarried to Jess Metz in 1938. Jess is buried in Kansas.
The Whitehead Farm remains in the family as an Indiana centennial farm. It is owned by her grandson, Dick and has been farmed by six generations of Whiteheads. Docia died of complications of mouth cancer, related to a injuries from poorly fitting dentures. Solomon Creek Cemetery is located just a mile and a half down the road from Docia's farm.

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Valentine Frantz Whitehead was one of eight children of Samuel and Sarah [Frantz] Whitehead. He grew up in Elkhart County and married Christina Smith whose parents had moved to Indiana from Canada. Valentine taught school briefly in Syracuse, IN in 1861, then married and committed himself to farming. He and Tena had eight children of their own, one of whom was Samuel Elmer Whitehead, my great-grandfather. Valentine and Tena bought 80 acres of the Ott farm west of New Paris, Indiana in 1885 when their son, Samuel E., was fifteen years old. Christina's brother Samuel purchased the adjoining 80 acres which he later sold to his brother-in-law Valentine. These two 80 acre plats formed what is now the 160 acre quarter-section owned by Dick Whitehead, one of Valentine's great-grandsons.
Valentine F. died in 1898 and Samuel E. and his wife, Doshia [Peters] Whitehead, raised four children on the family farm, Merl, Cecil, Harold, and Russell. All three boys farmed the land for a few years while their father was ill and for a short time thereafter. Seeing that the farm would not be able to support three familes, Merl sold his share to his brothers and purchased a milk route. Russell and Harold farmed together for a while, but Harold eventually sold out to Russell, who passed it on to his son, Dick.
The original barn burned in 1927 and Doshia replaced it in 1929 with lumber from the woods on the property. The 1929 barn was dismantled and sold in 2002. The beautiful white farmhouse burned on February 6, 2007. Dick and Doris Whitehead have since built a new house on the site of the old. Their sons and grandsons continue to work the farm.

Valentine heiratete Smith, Christina am 7 Apr 1861. Christina (Tochter von Smith, John und Snyder, Catharine) wurde geboren am 13 Okt 1845 in Union Township, Elkhart County, Indiana, USA; gestorben am 20 Feb 1911 in , Elkhart County, Indiana, USA; wurde beigesetzt in Whitehead Cemetery, New Paris, Elkhart County, Indiana, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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Pictorial and Biographical Memoirs of Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties, Indiana, Chicago, Goodspeed Bros., 1893:
My great-great grandmother Tena (Smith) Whitehead was born in Union Township, Elkhart County, IN, presumably on her father's quarter-section farm. Her parents, John and Catherine (Snyder) Smith emmigrated to Elkhart County from Canada in about 1840, along with Tena's oldest sibling, Susan, who was 3 years-old at the time. Tena was the third born of eight children of John and Catherine Smith, who were Susan, Sarah, Tena, Caroline, Simeon, Jacob, John, Jr. and Samuel.
On Sun., Apr. 7, 1861, a fateful week, Tena married Valentine F. Whitehead. On Friday, the 12th, at 4:30 a.m., Confederate batteries opened fire on Fort Sumter. The barrage continued for the next 34 hours, marking the beginning of the Civil War.
Valentine taught school in Syracuse, IN in 1861 and then committed himself to farming. The Whiteheads purchased 80 acres from the Ott family in Benton Township. Tena's youngest brother, Samuel, purchased an adjoining 80 acres. Samuel later sold his land to Valentine and Tena. These 160 acres now make up the Whitehead Centennial Farm, which has been worked by 6 generations of Whiteheads thus far.

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Henry Peters, my great-great grandfather, was born in 1828 near Rocky Mount, Franklin County and Roanoke, Montgomery County, Virginia, the son of William and Alice (Troup) Peters. Franklin County marriage records indicate that he married Tenor Kesler on Oct. 23, 1852. Tenor and the two children of their union passed away in a diphtheria epidemic late in 1862, within weeks of one another. This left Henry a single and thirty-three year old, an ideal candidate for Confederate conscription. The problem was that Henry was a Dunkard (Church of the Brethren) and the Dunkards had a long and firmly held conviction against participating in war. In fact, it was the Peace Church movement in Switzerland, southeastern France and southwestern Germany which spawned the Schwarzenau Brethren, as they were also known. The Dunkards were also strongly opposed to slavery.
Consequently, while the local Confederate militia was busy trying to conscript Henry and other young Franklin County men, Henry was busy hiding out from them in the Virginia hills. My grandfather Merl recounted stories of Henry's exploits that were shared with him by his mother, Henry's daughter, Susan Docia (Peters) Whitehead. At one point Henry and a dozen other local boys were captured after a church service at the Brick Church near Boones Mill and forced into service in a Rebel unit. The day before an impending battle Henry deserted with a large percentage of his company and returned to Franklin County. Every officer and many men of the unit were killed in the battle that followed.
At various times Henry and his friends narrowly escaped Rebel scouts, slipping out the back door as the Confederates entered the front, hiding out in a corn crib on Andrew Montgomery's farm and hunkering down in a cave and other secret hiding places in the hills. Eventually Henry and about seven of his cousins and friends (Abshire, Montgomery, Peters, Bowman and others) decided to make their way to Elkhart, Indiana where other folks of the Dunkard community had moved. They traveled at night and hid out during the day. When they reached one West Virginia town they were recognized as Virginian deserters and attacked by Confederate sympathizers. G'pa Henry, being the eldest, took the lead in their defense and was badly beaten. The party was separated but eventually found one another and continued on to Elkhart County.
Just after the conclusion of the war thirty-seven year-old Henry married for a second time, to the twenty-two year-old daughter of his friend Andrew Montgomery, Mary Magdalena Montgomery. Henry had apparently struck up a courtship with Mary while hiding out with her brothers on their farm before fleeing for Indiana. On Apr. 9, 1865 Lee surrendered at Appamatox Courthouse. Henry wasted no time scratching gravel for home to marry his sweetheart once the war ended. He and Mary were wed on Aug. 29, 1865. But Henry liked Indiana and returned there with his new bride. They farmed and raised their seven children in Elkhart County, Indiana until his death. Mary never remarried.
Their union produced seven children including my great-grandmother, Docia, and her siblings, Janette, James Riley, Tabitha Jane, George, Ida and Daniel. My dad, who is now 87, remembers Uncle Jim and Uncle Dan, having worked on Uncle Jim's farm from time to time as a kid, during the Great Depression. G'pa Henry passed away in 1893, two years before my G'pa Merl was born.
Some people would argue that Henry and his Dunkard brothers were cowards for deserting and avoiding service. And perhaps that is true. But there is another point of view that is worthy of consideration. It is equally possible that Henry and his Brethren friends and family in Franklin County, Virginia bravely stood for what they had been taught in their homes and in their churches. While abhorring the atrocities of slavery, they also found that they must refuse to partake as the perpetrators of war. And as brave men must do, they acted upon their convictions and suffered the discomfort and indignities that came with doing so.

Henry heiratete Kesler, Tenor am 23 Okt 1852 in , Franklin County, Virginia, USA. Tenor wurde geboren geschätzt 1831; und gestorben. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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Samuel heiratete Frantz, Sarah geschätzt 1830. Sarah (Tochter von Frantz, Henry und Kinsey, Mary) wurde geboren am 27 Jul 1808 in , Franklin County, Virginia, USA; gestorben am 29 Okt 1886 in , Elkhart County, Indiana, USA; wurde beigesetzt in Whitehead Cemetery, New Paris, Elkhart County, Indiana, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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Source:
Goshen Daily News April 11, 1890, pg. 2:
Died, at the residence of Jonas M. Whitehead, near New Paris, John Smith, an old resident of Union township, age about eighty-three years. The funeral will be held at the Whitehead church, about two miles west of New Paris, tomorrow at ten o'clock.

John heiratete Snyder, Catharine geschätzt 1836. Catharine wurde geboren geschätzt 1810 in ,,, Canada; gestorben in 1895 in ,, Indiana, USA; wurde beigesetzt in Whitehead Cemetery, New Paris, Elkhart County, Indiana, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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William heiratete Troup, Alice geschätzt 1824. Alice wurde geboren geschätzt 1801; und gestorben. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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Source:
Four Generations of the Immigrant Christian Rodabaugh by Kem Luther:
Valentine was the eldest son of Valentine, Sr. and Mary (Ruff) Whitehead (Weisskopf). He was born and grew up in western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, where his father had joined Gen. Forbes and Col. Washington in their campaign to recapture Ft. Duquesne (Ft. Pitt) from the French in 1758.
The younger Valentine married Mary Kemrie (or Kemmerer), probably in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on April 26, 1800. Mary's father may have been Johann Ludwig Cammerer.
In 1801 Valentine, Jr. and his new wife moved from Westmoreland County to Butler County, Pennsylvania. In 1812 he followed other family members pushing west into the Old Northwest Territory, settling in Montgomery County, Ohio near Dayton.
Nine of Valentine's twelve children moved to Elkhart County, Indiana in the 1840's. Although some of the land patents are dated as early as 1833, the 1840 census finds the Whiteheads still in Montgomery County. This would suggest that the Elkhart County land was purchased several years prior to the Whitehead migration to Indiana which actually occurred in the 1840's. This would have allowed time to prepare the land for farming and to build cabins.
The Whiteheads were instrumental in developing the Church of the Brethren in southeastern Elkhart County. One of the earliest Dunkard churches in the county was built in 1854 with timbers donated by Valentine, Jr.'s son Samuel on land donated by Samuel's brothers. Long known as The Whitehead Church, the original building still stands as the Maple Grove Church across from the Whitehead Cemetery. Many additions and remodeling has made the original timber frame no longer visible, but it is there nonetheless.
Whether Valentine, Jr. actually moved onto and worked his land in Elkhart County seems unlikely. The evidence is that, although he made mutliple trips to Elkhart County in the 1830's and 1840's, he did not move there until sometime between 1855 and 1860. We also know that by 1855 he was nearly blind. He doesn't show up on the Elkhart County census until 1860.
Valentine, Jr. died in 1865 at the age of 85. Coincidentally, Valentine, Sr. also lived to be 85. That is, of course a ripe old age, but particularly so for American pioneers.

Valentine heiratete Kemrie, Mary geschätzt 1800. Mary wurde geboren in 1780 in ,,, USA; gestorben am 29 Okt 1847 in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, USA; wurde beigesetzt in Fort McKinley Cemetery, Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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Henry heiratete Kinsey, Mary in 1794 in Fincastle, Botetourt County, Virginia, USA. Mary wurde geboren am 21 Jul 1777 in Cocalico, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA; gestorben am 11 Mrz 1847 in ,, Ohio, USA; wurde beigesetzt in Frantz Farm Cemetery, Englewood, Montgomery County, Ohio, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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John heiratete Stump, Susannah geschätzt 1803. Susannah (Tochter von Stump, Abraham) wurde geboren geschätzt 1780; und gestorben. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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Anderer Ereignisse und Attribute:

• Alias-Name: Valentine Whitehead

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Source:
Four Generations of the Immigrant Christian Rodabaugh by Kem Luther:
In 1743 Valentine's parents, Christoffel (Stoffel) and Elizabeth Weisskopf, set out from southwestern Germany for America. They brought with them their daughter, Magdalena, and Elizabeth was expecting another child. During the arduous trip Elizabeth gave birth to their son, Valentine.
The Weisskopfs arrived in Philadelphia on September 8, 1743 on the Loyal Judith, James Coway, ship's master. Valentine was just six days old. Unfortunately, within 2 years Christoffel died. He was less than 30 years of age at the time of his death.
On December 26, 1745 the widow Elizabeth married Christian Rodabough, by whom she had several more children. Christian adopted Valentine and his sister Magdalena as his own. The Rodaboughs lived and farmed in eastern Pennsylvania for a while, moved to Maryland for a time, then returned to eastern Pennsylvania.
When Valentine was only 14 or 15-years old, he joined a group of soldiers under Gen. John Forbes in 1758 in the campaign to take Ft. Duquesne (Pittsburgh) back from the French. Since Valentine was so young, he may not have actually engaged in battle. He may have cut wood, run errands, helped the cook, etc. Col. George Washington came up from Virginia to join Gen. Forbes in this campaign.
The 1758 campaign to drive the French from the Ohio Valley began on a sour note. Gen. Forbes was terribly ill, had to travel in a wagon bed and was unable to keep up with the main force. He turned the day-by-day command over to his second-in-command, Lt. Col. Henry Bouquet. As they neared the Fort in September, Bouquet sent 800 men under Maj. James Grant, primarily the 77th Regiment of Foot (Montgomrie's Highlanders), ahead to scout out the French emplacements and assess their strength. Grant, believing the fort to be lightly defended, instead drew the French out in an attempt to ambush them. The ambush went horribly wrong as Grant underestimated the number of French forces and their Indian allies. The Highlanders suffered high casualties and Grant was forced to make a desperate retreat.
French commander de Lignery knew, however, that he would not be able to hold the fort against the main body of British troops, which numbered between 6,000 and 8,000 men. The fort was manned by only about 600 French and Indians and many of the natives began deserting him. On Nov. 26 he blew up the fort's magazines, set fire to the structure and retreated under cover of darkness. As the British marched toward the smoldering remains on the morning of the 27th young Valentine was greeted with an appalling sight. The Indians had decapitated the dead from among the Highlanders, impaled their heads on spikes and displayed their kilts below them.
Around 1760, presumably at Valentine's urging, the entire Rodabough family moved to western Pennsylvania. By 1778 Valentine married Sophia Maria Ruff. He referred to her as Mary in his will. They had eleven children together, including Valentine, Jr. (my 4x great-grandfather, born in Nov. 1779), Mary, Barbara, Susanna, Elizabetha (called Elizabeth in his will), Magdalena, Catherine, Sara, Christianna (called Christina in his will), Christoper ("Stoffel," after his grandfather) and Peter. I believe that Amanda Whitehead Taylor, who is also buried in this cemetery, may be the daughter of Valentine's son Peter. If you can confirm this for me I would appreciate an email from you.
Valentine is believed to have spent his life farming in North Huntingdon township, just north of the Pittsburgh. He may have used the name Whitehead during his lifetime, which is the English translation of Weisskopf. Nevertheless, he signed his will Valentine Wisecope, a phonetic spelling of Weisskopf. His children, however, abandoned the German name in favor of its anglicized version.

Valentine heiratete Ruff, Sophia Maria geschätzt 1767. Sophia (Tochter von Ruff, Friedrich und Wilgard, Magthalina) wurde geboren in 1744; gestorben in 1821 in North Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA; wurde beigesetzt in Brush Creek Cemetery, Irwin, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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Source:
Four Generations of the Immigrant Christian Rodabaugh by Kem Luther:
Sophia Maria, who apparently went by Mary, as she is referenced in her husband's will, probably met and married Valentine Whitehead (Weisskopf) in the 1770's in Westmoreland County. Her maiden name is gleaned from the birth record of her daughter Susanna, which identified Mary's parents as Friedrich Ruff and Magthalina Wilgard (or Willyard).
Mary and Valentine had 11 children, including Valentine, Jr., Mary, Barbara, Susanna, Elizabetha (called Elizabeth in her father's will), Magdalena, Catherine, Sarah, Christianna (called Christina in her father's will), Christopher ("Stoffel," after his grandfather) and Peter. A more detailed listing, including birth and death dates and spouses, is available in Kem Luther's work.
Although little is known about my 5x great-grandmother Mary, without her pioneering spirit and obvious physical, emotional and spiritual fortitude, I wouldn't be around to write about her. She is buried next to her husband.

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Christian heiratete Groh, Anna geschätzt 1763. Anna (Tochter von Groh, Mathias und Groh, Anna - wife of) wurde geboren in 1740 in , Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA; gestorben in 1824 in ,, Virginia, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

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Anderer Ereignisse und Attribute:

• Alias-Name: Christoffel Weiskopf, Whitehead

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Born: Preußen, Deutschland

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ID: 4C958928DE7B854A8B3E515738FF01319431
Christoffel/Stoffel Weiskopf/Whitehead was the immigrant for our Whitehead line.
At age 27, Stoffel with his wife, Elizabeth, age 28, Magdalena, a young daughter, and a new born son, Valentine, born on board the ship arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he signed the Oath of Allegiance to King George II on September 2, 1743.
The ship was the Royal Judith sailing from Rotterdam, Holland, under the direction of Captain James Cowey.
they came with 250 immigrants from the Palatine District of southern Germany.
The Weiskopf family was German Reformed Church.
Stoffel/Christoffel Weisskopf died about 1745
His wife married Christian Rodabaugh on December 26, 1745. The Rodabaughs settled in Frederick County, Maryland.
Four children were born with the name Rodabaugh, Christian, John, Elizabeth and Adam
The Brethren came from the Palatinate in Germany between 1719 and the mid-1730s-almost everyone in the group emigrated.

Christoffel heiratete Reidenbach, Elisabeth Barbara geschätzt 1839. Elisabeth wurde geboren in 1717 in ,,, Deutschland; gestorben in 1789 in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

Notizen:

Findagrave.com:
findagrave.com/memorial/20311602/valentine-whitehead

Geni:
Born: Preußen, Deutschland

Notizen:

Findagrave.com:
findagrave.com/memorial/20315163/sophia-maria-whitehead

Friedrich heiratete Wilgard, Magthalina geschätzt 1740. Magthalina wurde geboren geschätzt 1717; und gestorben. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

Anderer Ereignisse und Attribute:

• Alias-Name: Magthalina Willyard

Notizen:

Findagrave.com:
findagrave.com/memorial/20315163/sophia-maria-whitehead

Notizen:

Findagrave.com:
findagrave.com/memorial/153804184/christian-frantz
Source:
Mennonite Family History, Vol. 34, No. 4, October 2015, pp.171-175:
Christian Frantz II acquired land and lived on the south side of Little Swatara Creek then in northern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. On November 14, 1741, Christian Frantz II warranted 235 acres on the south side of Little Swatara Creek (located in what is now Tulpehocken Township in Berks County, Pennsylvania).
The extended Christian Frantz family was the only Frantz family living on the Swatara Creek during the mid-1700s.

Anderer Ereignisse und Attribute:

• Alias-Name: Mathias Cro, Gray, Groff, Grove

Notizen:

Findagrave.com:
findagrave.com/memorial/56895308/mathias-groh
Mathias Cro/Groh/Gray's will is proven Lancaster Co. Pa. He owned land in Bethel Twp. which today is located near Fredericksburg, Lebanon Co., PA. None of his children are mentioned in the will but his wife is listed as Anna and her brother Peter Grove is a co-executor. All of his children are mentioned in an unrecorded deed transaction date 15 Mar.1788, which would indicate the year of Anna Grove Groh's death. This unrecorded deed is found in the Amy Daub Collection #621 in the Lebanon Co.,PA.Historical Society. His children:
Abraham Groh, Henry Groh, Mathias Groh, John Groh, Christian Groh, Michael Groh, Peter Groh, Elizabeth Groh, Ann Groh, Barbara Groh, Veronica(Franey)Groh, Mary(Magdalena)Groh.

Mathias heiratete Groh, Anna - wife of geschätzt 1739. Anna wurde geboren geschätzt 1720; gestorben in 1782 in , Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, USA; wurde beigesetzt in Grove Farm Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

Notizen:

Findagrave.com:
findagrave.com/memorial/56895618/anna-groh_gray
Anna Groff/Grove married Mathias Groh. His will proven in 1771 in Lancaster Co. mentions land in Bethel Twp. which today is in Lebanon Co. Mentions wife Anna and "her brother Peter Grove". She dies intestate but an unrecorded deed in the Amy Daub Collection of the Lebanon Co. Genealogical Soc. mentions all of her children who must now sign away their rights to any part of her land in 1782/83. This document mentions all of the living children and the female children's spouses.

Anderer Ereignisse und Attribute:

• Alias-Name: Jacob Weiskop

Notizen:

Geni:
Born: 1651 bis 1711

Jacob heiratete Buffel, Maria Elisabetha. Maria wurde geboren geschätzt 1689; und gestorben. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

Anderer Ereignisse und Attribute:

• Alias-Name: Maria Elizabetha Buffel

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Geni:
Born: 1651 bis 1711

Notizen:

Findagrave.com:
findagrave.com/memorial/153804094/christian-frantz
Christian Frantz (b.1685) was the head of a large Mennonite ("Swiss Brethren") family living in Hosselinshof in the northern Kraichgau of Germany prior to the family's emigration to Pennsylvania.
They arrived in Philadelphia 11 August 1732 on the ship "Samuel."
The Christian Frantz family settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on May 9, 1738. where Christian Frantz received a warrant of land from Thomas and Richard Penn for 200 acres on a mountain located two miles from Little Swatara Creek, but Christian never exercised his warrant as he died in the winter of 1738-39. An inventory of his estate March 27. 1739 indicated that he had no land and very little personal property. He was a member of the Church of the Brethren.
The Christian Frantz family arrived in Rotterdam in the Netherlands in May 1732, before continuing on to Pennsylvania on the ship "Samuel." They numbered 13 persons, including 11 children, and had 100 Dutch guilders. When they arrived in Pennsylvania on August 11, 1732, only 11 family members are listed when they disembarked in Philadelphia.