Whitehead VS. Whited

Added: Mar 03, 2017
I have heard two interesting and distinct stories over the years as to why Samuel A Whitehead and his family were once known as the “Whited” family. Both are believable due to the times and circumstances, but which is the truth?
The first story I heard is that Samuel’s original family name was “Whited.” During the time he started raising his family in the early 1900s, “‘Whited” was known primarily as an African American surname. Since there was still such civil unrest in America at the time, Samuel changed the family name to “Whitehead” to separate himself and his family from any backlash.
The second story I have heard surrounds the events of the kidnapping of Charles A. Lindbergh in 1932. The Lindbergh estate was within 5 miles of Samuel’s farm and there was also another neighbor, Millard Whited a cousin of Samuel’s, who became involved in the investigation when he came forward as a witness. Millard was an impoverished man and said to be a pathological liar. It was also said that he had no recollection of seeing anyone on the night of the kidnapping until police told him he would be able to share in the $25,000 reward money if his testimony proved helpful. Since Samuel, his family, and his farm were in such close proximity to what people of the time were calling “The Crime of the Century,” he decided it best to change the family name from ”Whited” to ”Whitehead” to protect the family from being pulled into the investigation.
Both of these are very probable explanations to the changing of the name. Each story is believable and historically accurate; however, neither are the truth. The truth is that the name has flip-flopped between “Whitehead” and “Whited” throughout the course of better than 150 years. This is because during the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s the large majority of the population was grossly under educated. Record keeping was sloppy and misspellings were very common. If you told someone your last name was ”Whitehead” and ran the middle of the name together, or if you had a slight accent, or even if you had a stuffy nose when you said it and the recorder heard ‘Whited,” you were suddenly on record as ”Whited.”
Further proof of this general transcription error can be seen throughout the family. Some relatives have birth records that say “Whitehead” and headstones that say “Whited.” Unfortunately it isn’t the most glamorous or interesting explanation, but it is in fact the hard truth. Though, truth or not, I for one prefer the Lindbergh explanation.