Macon Weekly Telegraph, Georgia
12 June 1877
(Viewed online at GenealogyBank.)
Death of Major John Randolph Whitehead
We are pained to learn from a relative, of the sudden decease of this gentleman, which took place on the 5th inst, at his plantation, in Miller county.
Major Whitehead was well known in Macon, having recently resided here, and his death was sudden and expected.
On Wednesday of the past week he returned from a visit to Savannah, and the two following days rode over and examined his crop.
The next day, (Saturday), after taking a nap in the afternoon, he complained of a slight headache and called for his wife. She hurried to his side just in time to see him fall helpless to the floor. He never spoke afterwards, but gradually succumbed under a general paralysis of the whole body, until the death ensued.
The deceased was a native of Burke county, Georgia, and the son of Judge John Whitehead, one of the most noted and excellent citizens of that once opulent county. He was about fifty years of age, and leaves a wife and four children to mourn his loss.
Before the war, Major Whitehead settled a plantation (the scene of his death) in Miller county, and was regarded as one of the most successful and intelligent planters in that section. He once represented Miller in the Legislature, and retained his influence and popularity to the last.
During the war he was elected Major of the Georgia regiment commanded by Judge Gibson, and was wounded in Virginia. Since that period, for the most part, he has resided on his Miller plantation, and was notably one of the most skillful and successful farmers of Southern Georgia. To the bereaved widow and family we extend our heartfelt sympathy in this, their hour of sadness and calamity.
