Readers of classic pulp literature, particularly in the
world of Weird Tales, may be familiar with the tales of Henry S.
Whitehead, collected by Arkham House in Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales
(1944) and West India Lights (1946). Researchers should note that there
were two Henry Whiteheads writing and publishing in the same time-frame, and
it's easy to mix them up in casual searches. Both were clergymen in the
Anglican (U.K.)/Episcopalian (U.S.) church, who traveled to far-off countries,
then considered "exotic," as part of their religious duties, and are
best known for their work on the local customs and perceived superstitions that
they observed.
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| Henry S. Whitehead |
The Weird Tales Whitehead, Henry S. (St. Clair),
lived from 1882–1932. Born in New Jersey and educated at Harvard, he went to
the Virgin Islands, where he became an archdeacon. He began publishing fiction
in 1923, often based on his impressions of voodoo and supernatural beliefs in
the West Indies. Like most Weird Tales writers, he eventually
corresponded with H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, as described in Bobby
Derie's valuable essay "Conan and Canevin: Robert E. Howard and Henry S.
Whitehead."
His father was another Henry, Henry Hedden Whitehead
(1846–1937), who mainly appears in the public record as a naval veteran of the
American Civil War, and as a member of the New York Society of the Sons of the
Revolution (Henry S.'s great-great-great-grandfather, Sergeant Joshua Marsh,
served in the War of Independence).
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| Henry Whitehead (1853-1947) |
The elder contemporary, Henry Whitehead (1853–1947), was
a British Anglican who emigrated to India, first to Calcutta, and then to
Madras, where he served as Bishop for many years. His book The Village Gods
of South India, originally published in 1916 and expanded in 1921, is still
referenced in modern scholarship. This is a valuable early resource for his
first-hand observations of South Indian religious practices, if you can squint
around the framing prejudices and obvious misconceptions.
This Henry Whitehead came from a notable family: the
philosopher Alfred North Whitehead was his brother, and his son, J.H.C.
Whitehead, also known as Henry, became a well-known mathematician. J.H.C.
Whitehead lived from 1904-1960, and moved to Princeton, New Jersey, to attend
the university in 1929. While born in New Jersey, Henry S. had moved several
times, and in this same year was settling for good in Dunedin, Florida, where
he'd be visited by H.P. Lovecraft, so the two Henry Whiteheads wouldn't have
crossed paths.
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| Henry Whitehead (Anglican) |
A Google search will likely bring to the top another,
even more acclaimed Henry Whitehead, who was, yes, yet another Anglican clergyman.
He lived from 1825-1896, and was featured in Steven Johnson's 2006 bestseller The
Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic, and How it Changed
Science, Cities and the Modern World. Serving a parish in the London
slumbs, this Whitehead became invovled in researching the cause of a cholera
outbreak. Converted by evidence -- grudgingly -- to the contamination theory,
his painstaking documentation of cases and deaths, used to track the course of
the disease, is considered an important milestone in the development of
epidemiology.
I have been unable to find evidence that any of these
three Henry Whiteheads were related, although it's possible there's a
connection I haven't come across. If you have information, please pass it
along!
Derie, Bobby. "Conan and Canevin: Robert E. Howard
and Henry S. Whitehead." Weird Talers: Essays on Robert E. Howard and
Others. Hippocampus Press, 2019.
"Henry Hedden Whitehead." Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51003130/henry-hedden-whitehead
"Reverend Henry Whitehead." UCLA Department
of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health. http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/whitehead.html
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