Notes for: Emma S. Bodine
From Ronny Bodine:
From Michigan Marriage Records:
Almeron Whitehead, 25, of Birmingham, born in Oakland County and Emma Bodine, 22, of Birmingham, born in New York, were married 18 Oct 1877 in Birmingham. John Bodine of Birmingham was a witness.
From Michigan Federal Census Records:
1880 (17 June) Birmingham, Bloomfield, Oakland Co.: Almerin WHITEHEAD 28 MI Merchant, Emma 24 NY wife.
1900 (1 June) Birmingham, Bloomfield Twp., Oakland Co.: Almeron WHITEHEAD Oct 1851 MI married 23 years Banker, Emma S. Aug 1855 NY wife married 23 years 1 child born/1 living, Raynale A. Sept 1884 MI son.
1910 (18 Apr) Birmingham, Bloomfield Twp., Oakland Co.: Almeron WHITEHEAD 55 MI married1-32 years Banker, Emma 54 NY wife married1-32 years.
1920 (5 Jan) Birmingham, Bloomfield Twp., Oakland Co.: Almeron WHITEHEAD 68 MI widowed President-Bank.
From Michigan Death Records:
Emma Whitehead was born 28 Aug 1855 in New York and died 26 Aug 1911 in Birmingham, Oakland County as a result of melancolia that lead to suicide by drinking chloroform. Her parents were John Bodine of New York and Sarah Jane Riggs of Connecticut.
Almeron Whitehead was born 29 Oct 1851 in Waterford Twp., died 25 July 1926 in Birmingham, Oakland County, widower of Emma Bodine, buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Birmingham.
From "Portrait and Biographical Album of Oakland County, Michigan." Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1891, p. 678-679.
ALMERON WHITEHEAD. Few men as young as Mr. Whitehead can look back over a business career so successful as his. He has been established in business in Birmingham little more than a decade and is already one of the most solid men of the place. He is carrying on the sale of drugs and groceries as a member of the firm of Whitehead & Mitchell and also has an interest in the Exchange Bank and in the Birmingham Eccentric which he and his partner founded. Mr. Whitehead was born in Waterford October 29, 1851 being a son of Aimeron and Ann (Mais) Whitehead, natives of New York, the one born in Newburg and the other in the metropolis. They came to this State in the 30s and settled in Waterford where Mrs. Whitehead died. Mr. Whitehead breathed his last in Birmingham. He was a farmer most of his life, but in his early manhood spent a short time in clerking. He had a good farm and was in easy circumstances. For several years he served in the offices of Township Supervisor and Superintendent of the Poor. Politically he was a Republican. The subject of this notice is the youngest in a family of nine children, eight of whom grew to maturity. He was reared on the farm in Waterford Township and received his education in the district schools and High School at Pontiac. He left the farm at the age of twenty two years and coming to Birmingham entered the employ of J.A. Bigelow as a clerk at $100 per year. He remained with that gentleman four years, then went on the road for the Detroit Paper Company, but after a twelve month of travel returned to Birmingham and formed a partnership with Mr. Bigelow. The connection lasted three years after which Mr. Whitehead and George H. Mitchell associated themselves together and engaged in the sale of drugs and groceries. They added to the extent of their business interests and have finally become the proprietors of the bank and newspaper before mentioned. The lady who presides over the home of Mr. Whitehead and whose intelligence and refinement tends to draw toward it a pleasant circle was known in her maidenhood as Miss Emma Bodine. She is a daughter of John and Sarah Bodine, residents of Birmingham in which place she has lived for a number of years. She has borne her husband one son who is called Raynale A. After due consideration of political questions Mr. Whitehead decided in favor of the Republican party which he aids by his vote and personal influence. He is a Mason belonging to Birmingham Chapter No. 93 RAM and is also connected with the Knights of the Maccabees. Although not a church member he believes in religious societies and contributes to their support. He has been Township Clerk for eleven years. He started out in the world without means and his success in business is therefore the more creditable to him. He is a young man of quiet ways, but a shrewdness of mind and mental vigor that make their mark on every project into which he enters.