The Final Journey Home

y

by

Billy Whitehead

Crombie Whitehead was the seventh child of Joshua Alexander Whitehead of Winston County Mississippi. The third wife of Joshua Whitehead, Mary Kemp had three children are; Docie, Crombie and Charlie. Crombie was married to Willie Patterson, daughter of William J. Patterson and Jane Reed. The children of Crombie and Willie were;

1 Eva Mae Whitehead, 1908 - 2002

2 William Joshua (Pete) Whitehead, 1910-1974

3 Earl Brewer Whitehead,1912-1972

4 Herman Everett Whitehead,1914-1987

5 Charles Henry (Jack) Whitehead,1916-1963

6 Mary Jane Whitehead, 1918-1988

7 Crombie Winfred, 1920- 2006

8 Margaret Whitehead, 1923

9 Mildred Gundene Whitehead, 1927-1933

10 Margie Whitehead, 1927-1933

11 George Truitt Whitehead,1929-2002

12 Susie Whitehead,1932-1999

Yes, there are two who are living, or at least I know there is one who is living today. Maggie (Margaret Massengill) is living but there is one child who has not been seen in many years.

When I first remember the family there was Mae, Truitt, Earl and Winfred in the 1960‘s. My dad Joe Weaver Whitehead would drive over to simply sit and talk with them. He would usually get to their home close to noon so he could eat dinner with them in order that he could talk with all at one time.

The four lived together for their lifetime. The men were in the house for two reasons, to sleep and to eat. Otherwise they were out working the farm or if it was raining they were in their “office.” Mae was the mistress of the house. She prepared the meals and tended to household chores.

Now, the “Office” was here or their when I remember it. At first it was a small building off from the other farm buildings. Then I went over and the office was a rather new building and a little more roomy. The last time I was there to talk with Winfred the office was back in the first place. It was a drafty room lighted by the daylight entering through cracks. If the weather was just right there was a tractor shed to sit under.

Farm life at the Whitehead farm was raising food crops. There was always cane for the making of syrup. Dad always came home with a can of syrup. They made sure dad had a gallon can of syrup. Sometimes they would send me a quart.

Then there was watermelons. The melons were peddled over Winston, Kemper and Noxubee Counties.

They would sell corn, melons, syrup and other crops. First there was preserving food by canning or freezing or maybe stored in corn shocks.

I think the first thing I remember about them was that they always had time for talk. Whenever we went over, the work stopped. If dinner was on the table, all sat down and ate dinner then the guys went out to the office. There was ladder back chairs, wood kegs and maybe an old rocker to sit in. A small cast iron stove was there in the middle of the room standing in a dirtbox. Wood was stacked on one wall and on another was a small desk. On the desk there was a record book which recorded the activities and funds brought in, owed or made. Yes, it really was an office! ! On the walls were horse shoes, wrenches, a broken hammer awaiting a proper limb to make a handle from. There was a time when they went to the Western Auto in Louisville to buy a fan on credit. I do not know the time of the loan but they sold different items to raise the payment. When it was time, they gathered up the funds and drove to Louisville to pay that fan off. A debt was something not taken lightly by these boys.

During this sit and talk time, any subject was good for talk or a laugh. If it was election time, yep, they could talk politics, especially Winston county politics. They knew whatever was happening over the neighborhood.

I believe that the whole country around the Whitehead farm would stop in to talk about what was happening or to learn what was happening because these guys know what’s happening. Likely, more than one message was left for another who would drop by in a while.

If you show up at the office there might be Gary or Jessie sitting there with one of them. Gary Whitehead and Jessie Whitehead are sons of Ben and Lillie Whitehead who lived nearby. Ben was a nephew to Earl, Winfred, Truitt and Mae.

All were never married and were salt of the earth people. They were family folk. I never remember one of them smoking, chewing or drinking. Or maybe they kept it well hidden.

When I went to Winfred’s funeral I and others were surprised to learn that he was in the army air corp. and served as an aircraft mechanic in the Pacific campaign. There is also a certificate showing that he repaired Charles Limburg’s plane. The island was a point where the Enola Gay was to take off for the bombing run over Japan in August 1945.

It has often been said that Crombie and Charlie made a pact to name their sons for one another and themselves. This is seen in Crombie and Charlie’s family. Ben is named Charles Benford Whitehead and dad is Joe Weaver, Crombie being named Crombie W. then it is possible that his name was Crombie Weaver. So far no signature is found other than Crombie W. Winfred did tell me that Crombie was named Crombie Weaver.

Charlie died early in life on January 14,1921 leaving Ira Belle Womble Whitehead with two young children and one to be born on March 10, 1921.

There are many family members there in the Whitehead Family Cemetery began when Joshua Whiteheads daughter died and he could not get to the Ellison Ridge Cemetery. He chose the highest place on his property to bury her. Thereafter it was a resting place for other family members.