Whitfield was born on November 11, 1804, in
Fairhaven, Massachusetts. His mother, Sybil Whitfield, was unmarried, and he was raised by his maternal grandmother, Parnel Whitfield. Like his uncle George (1789–1882), he became a whaling captain, starting his career in 1819 at age 15 when he signed on as a crewman on the
Martha, a ship commanded by his uncle. He subsequently served as the boat steerer of the
Pacific,
second mate on the
Missouri, and first officer of the
William Thompson. In 1835 Whitfield married Ruth C. Irish of Fairhaven Connecticut. He then sailed for the Pacific as captain of the
Newark. During that voyage he learned that Ruth had died in May 1837. Devastated by his wife's death, Whitfield went into a year of seclusion on his return to Fairhaven in 1838. In 1839, Whitfield became engaged to Albertina Keith of
Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Shortly thereafter he set sail once again for the seas of Japan as the captain of the whaler
John Howland. On June 27, 1841, the ship encountered five Japanese fishermen who had been cast away on the small uninhabited island of
Tori-shima, one of whom was the 14-year-old
Manjirō Nakahama. Whitfield took them aboard. Manjirō acted as his cabin boy and quickly began to learn basic English. When the whaling season ended, the
John Howland sailed into Honolulu in October 1841. Manjirō's four friends found employment there, but he begged to remain with Whitfield and continue on the voyage back to Fairhaven. Whitfield had also grown attached to the boy and regarded him as a foster son. The
John Howland arrived back in Fairhaven in May 1843. Manjiro spent his first night in America at the Whitfield family house on Cherry Street. Shortly thereafter Whitfield left for his uncle George's home in
Scipio, New York, where he and Albertina were married on May 31, 1843. In the interim he arranged for Manjirō to board with the family of his friend Eben Akin and asked Jane Allen, a local teacher, to tutor Manjiro in preparation for formal schooling in the autumn. After William and Albertina's marriage, Manjirō lived with them as a member of the family, first in their house on Cherry Street in Fairhaven and then at their farm at nearby Sconticut Neck. Whitfield set sail again in 1844 as captain of the
William and Eliza. It was during this voyage that his two-year-old son William Henry died in 1846 at the Sconticut Neck farm. Whitfield and Albertina had three more children: Marcellus Post (1849–1926), Sibyl Martha (1851–1894) and Albertina Pratt (1853–1876). Whitfield made several more voyages captaining the
Gladiator, the
Hibernia, and his own brig before retiring from the sea. In his later years, he became active in local politics, serving as a
selectman of Fairhaven from 1871 to 1873 and as a member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1872 to 1873. Whitfield died on February 14, 1886, aged 81, at his house on 11 Cherry Street in Fairhaven at the age of 81. Albertina died four years later. They are buried in the town's
Riverside Cemetery as are all four of their children and Whitfield's first wife Ruth. ==Legacy==