WILLIAM H. WHITFIELD, one of the thrifty farmers and stock-raisers of the township of Gillespie, whose land is on section 27, owns a fine farm of one hundred and fifty acres, which is all highly improved and has upon it good buildings and fine stock. He has another one hundred and sixty acres on sections 15 and 22, of this township, all of which is in a fine condition, as he keeps his land under cultivation.
Mr. Whitfield came onto his present farm in 1865, but came to the county as long ago as 1847, wince which time he has been engaged successfully in farming. He came to Illinois from the South, being a native of North Carolina where he was born September 10, 1832, of Southern parentage, his father, Travers W. Whitfield, being a native of North Carolina, who there grew up and became a farmer. His wife was Miss Elizabeth Stephen, a native of Virginia who was reared on the line between that State and North Carolina. After marriage the young couple came to Tennessee about the year 1833, and in 1847 they brought their household to Illinois, landing in Alton, whence they came to Chesterfield Township, Macoupin County, where they spent many years.
The family finally removed to Lincoln, Logan County, this State, where the husband and father died when over fifty years old. He was a fine man, wide-awake to public interests and espoused the cause of the Democratic party but was not a seeker for office. His widow still survives him and now being eighty-two years old, makes her home in Republic County, Kan. She is feeble from the weight of her many years, but is still interested in both family and church affairs, being a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Her two sons and four daughters are living, of whom William is the eldest.
Our subject became of age after moving into this county and here he has married his wife and reared his children. His wife's maiden name was Moning Clark and she was born in this township, on her father's old homestead on section 20. For a full history of her family the reader is referred to the sketch of Randall Clark. This lady was entirely reared and educated in this township and is well known as a woman of ability and both she and her husband are prominent in social and church circles.
The subject of this sketch is a Republican in his political views and has been placed by his fellow citizens in several offices of trust and responsibility. He and his excellent wife are the parents of four children, namely: William M., who took to wife Mary Schnieder, and lives on a farm in Gillespie Township; James L., who is married to Clara Coffee and is also farming in this township; Thomas, who married Cora Vanata and lives on the home farm; Henrietta, the eldest child, is the wife of Theodore Meyer of the mercantile firm of Meyer Bros., Dorchester. This family is one of the solid and substantial families of Macoupin County and worthy of the respect which is given them by their neighbors.