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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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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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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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findagrave.com/memorial/20299601/samuel-elmer-whitehead
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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UID: A773AACD7B3CFD44895902D1AEA8C6BF1953

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findagrave.com/memorial/20285156/merl-glenwood-whitehead
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]