Francis J. Whitehead, W. Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller

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Francis J. Whitehead has manifested in his professional and civic 
stewardship the same fine spirit of loyalty that prompted him to 
volunteer for service as a soldier in the World war, and he is now 
numbered as a representative member of the bar of West Baton Rouge 
Parish, at whose judicial center, Port Allen, he has built up a 
substantial and important general law business.  His secure vantage 
place in popular confidence and esteem is indicated by the fact that 
upon retiring from service as a member of the Lower House of the 
Louisiana Legislature he forthwith was chosen a member of the State 
Senate, to which he was elected, without opposing candidate, in the 
spring of 1924, as representative of the Eighteenth Senatorial District, 
which comprises Iberville, Pointe Coupee and West Baton Rouge parishes.  
He was in France and ready for active field service at the time of the 
signing of the armistice that brought the World war to a close, and 
held commission as captain of field artillery.

Francis J. Whitehead, attorney, captain and senator, was born in 
LaFourche Parish, Louisiana, June 25, 1888, and is a son of Gen. 
Nathaniel W. and Dora (Tompkins) Whitehead, the former of whom was 
born at Clinton, East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, April 25, 1853, and 
the latter of whom was born at Lynchburg, Virginia, in the year 1863, 
her death having occurred at Thibodaux, LaFourche Parish, Louisiana, 
July 6, 1896.  Both the Whitehead and Tompkins families are of sterling 
English stock, and were founded in Virginia in the earl Colonial period 
of American history.

Joseph Whitehead, grandfather of Captain White., head of this review, 
was born and reared in Louisiana, and his death occurred in Texas, in 
which state he spent the last twenty years of his life in Tyler County.  
In his younger days Joseph Whitehead figured as one of the extensive and 
successful exponents of plantation industry in the vicinity of Clinton, 
Louisiana, but, like nearly all other men of the fair old Southland, he 
met with heavy financial reverses as a result of the ravages of the Civil 
war, in which he served as a gallant soldier of the Confederacy, he having 
been a member of the Fourth Louisiana infantry throughout the entire period 
of conflict.  His wife, whose maiden name was Me1issa Cobb, passed her 
entire life in Louisiana and died at their home in Clinton.  It was after 
the death of his wife that Mr. Whitehead moved to the Lone Star State.

Dr. Francis Tompkins, maternal grandfather of Captain Whitehead, was born 
and reared in Virginia, served as a loyal soldier of the Confederacy in the 
Civil war, was an able physician and surgeon, and had been a resident of St. 
James Parish, Louisiana, many years prior to his death, which there occurred.

Gen. Nathaniel W. Whitehead, who gained his military title through service 
as general on the staff of Governor S. D. McHenry, passed his entire life 
in Louisiana.  He was reared in the great sugar-producing section of this 
state, mostly along Bayou LaFourche, and eventually he became a successful 
sugar planter in the vicinity of Thibodaux, where he continued his activities 
until 1902, when he engaged in the same line of industrial enterprise in 
West Baton Rouge Parish.  From 1908 until 1912 he was a commission broker 
in the handling of fertilizers, and on the 12th of January, 191Z his death 
occurred in the City of New Orleans, where he had established his residence 
in the preceding year.  He was a stalwart in the ranks of the democratic 
party, and he and his wife were earnest communicants of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church.  Of the children the eldest is Annie Byrd, wife of Andre 
S. Chenet, who is engaged in the real estate business in New Orleans;  
Phoebe I. is the wife of Jacob 0. Elmer, who is now engaged in the commission 
brokerage business at San Francisco, California;  Capt. Francis J., of this 
sketch, was the next is order of birth;  Melissa is the wife of Seely Dunn, 
who is assistant director of the bureau of statistics of the Interstate 
Commerce Commission, Washing ton, D. C.;  Cecil Lee, now a member of the 
law firm of Fogel & Beman, in Los Angeles, California was in active 
service in France during nine months of the World war period, a first 
lieutenant 9~ Three Hundred and Thirty-fourth Field Artillery, and 
Belle Ellis is the wife of Jules Brana, who is a commission broker 
in the City of New Orleans. 

After profiting by the advantages of the Public schools of New Orleans 
Capt. Francis J. Whitehead entered the academic department and later the 
d department of the Louisiana State University.  In this institution he 
was graduated as a member of the class of 1908, his admission to the bar 
in June of that year, having been virtually coincident with his reception 
of the degree of Bachelor of He forthwith established his residence at 
Port and here he has since been engaged in the successful general practice 
of his profession, save for the interval of his service in the United States 
Army in the World war period.  The Captain has gained prestige as a 
resourceful trial lawyer, and his law business has included his appearance 
in the courts of his home parish and also those of other parishes in this 
section of the state.  He has the distinction of retaining his office 
headquarters in the courthouse at Port Allen, and he served from 1910 to 
1920 as secretary of the police jury of West Baton gouge Parish.  In the 
latter year he was elected representative of this parish in the State 
Legislature, and in 1924 he was elected to the State Senate, as previously 
noted in this review.  He is a leader in the local ranks of the democratic 
party, and he and his wife are active communicants of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church.  His Masonic ancient craft affiliation is with Blazing Star 
Lodge No. 212, A. F. and A. M., at Port Allen, and he is a past sachem of 
Uncas Tribe No. 64, Improved Order of Red Men.  In the City of Baton Rouge 
the Captain is an influential and popular member of Nicholson Post No. 38 
of the American Legion.  He is a member also of the bar association of the 
Eighteenth Judicial District of Louisiana. Captain Whitehead owns and 
occupies an attractive home at Port Allen, the same being opposite the 
courthouse, and he has other large and valuable real estate holdings in 
West Baton Rouge Parish, as well as realty in the City of Baton Rouge.

At Indianola, Mississippi on the 19th of August, 1921, was solemnized 
the marriage of Captain Whitehead and Miss Sue Warren, daughter of the 
late Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Warren.  Mrs. Whitehead was graduated from 
the Mississippi State Normal School at Hattiesburg, and for five years 
prior to her marriage she had been a successful and popular teacher in 
the schools of that state.  She is likewise a popular factor in the 
social circles of both her home community and the capital city of Baton Rouge.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 110-111, by Henry E. Chambers.  
Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.