Velma Fink Whitehead

Velma Fink was the third of 4 daughters born to John Fink and Mercy Lake Fink. Her grandfather immigrated from Meckenlenburg-Strelitz, Germany between 1852 and 1855 and worked as a farmer in Hopewell Township. Her father was also a farmer in the same area.
Velma only finished up to eighth grade, which seemed to be standard practice for farming families during this time. Sometime between 1885 and 1895 the Fink family moved to Hillsborough, NJ, which is where Velma met her husband Samuel, who was also living there at the time.

Velma and Samuel were married on August 11, 1900 in Clover Hill, Somerset County. Their marriage came only 3 months prior to the birth of their first son, Norman Clifford. The family settled on a farm in Ringoes and Velma would eventually produce 12 healthy children out of 22 total pregnancies. Of 14 children that were given birth certificates, there were at least 5 other children that were stillborn. On her daughter Carrie’s birth record it was noted that there were 12 surviving children of 19 pregnancies. According to Carrie, there were 22 total meaning there were 3 pregnancies that were unrecorded after her birth in 1922.

Velma died March 13, 1949 at Mercer Hospital in Trenton after an illness. She was buried, along with most of her extended family, at Highland Cemetery in Hopewell, NJ.