Born in East Lulworth, near Wareham, Dorset, England,[1] he emigrated to the United States in 1838.
Whitefield visited a series of North American cities, where he published books reproducing the paintings he made there.[4] His collections were published by subscription. The cities he visited included Brooklyn (1845), Toronto (1851), Quebec City (1852), Montreal (1853-1854), Hamilton, Ontario (1854), Ithica, New York (1855), Jamestown (1882), and Boston (1889).
In 1856, after visiting Minnesota, he made it his home, using landscapes to help persuade those seeking land to let him play a role in their purchases.[4]
Whitefield Township in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota is named for the artist while nearby Lake Lillian was named for Whitefield's wife.[2]He died in Dedham, Massachusetts.
References
1. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/m0032.xml|title=Edwin and Wilfred J. Whitefield|work=Minnesota Historical Society}}
2. ^{{cite book|last=Upham|first=Warren|title=Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ShcLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA272|year=1920|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|page=272}}
3. ^1 2 {{cite news | url = https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.ca/&httpsredir=1&article=1006&context=hist_etds| title = The Development of An Artist's Paradise: Minnesota Landscapes: 1840-1940| work = St. Cloud State University| author = William J. Wittenbreer| date = February 2004| page = | location = | isbn = | language = | trans-title = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2018-10-23| deadurl = No | quote = Whitefield was a real estate speculator and an artist. Prior to coming to Minnesota in 1855, Whitefield had published several lithographs of various cities in the United States that he sold on a subscription basis.}}