| Notes for HUGH WHITE: From the BIOGRAPHICAL
RECORD OF HENRY COUNTY, ILLINOIS. Printed in 1901 by S.J.
Clarke Publishing Company. The records of the lives of our forefathers
are of interest to the modern citizen, not alone for the historical
value but for the inspiration and example they afford; yet we need not
look to the past. Although surroundings may differ, the essential
conditions of human life are ever the same, and man can learn much from
the success of those around him. The career of Mr. White seems almost
phenomenal, yet his success has been by no means the result of fortunate
circumstances. It has come to him through energy, labor and
perseverance, directly by an evenly balanced mind and by honorable
business principles. This well-known citizen of Annawan was born in
Wellsburg, Brooke County, West Virginia, June 24, 1834, a son of
Thompson and Martha (Curry) White. On the paternal side he traces his
ancestry back to William White, who was of Scotch descent and lived in
the north of Ireland. He eloped with Miss Jane Campbell, who belonged to
the Campbell clan and was the daughter of a nobleman who lived in
Ireland and was opposed to their marriage. Coming to America they
located near Foggs Manor, Chester County, Pennsylvania, and after living
there for a number of years, removed to Chestnut Level, Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania, where Mr. White purchased a farm, and where they
spent the remainder of their years. They had two sons, William and
Jacob, the latter being the grandfather of our subject. For a number of
years William owned and conducted a lumber yard on the opposite side of
the river from Columbia, TN. Jacob White, the grandfather was born at
Foggs Manor and had seven children, namely: James, who spent most of his
life in Pennsylvania and Virginia, but died in Peoria County, Illinois;
John, a lifelong resident of Pennsylvania; Hugh, who lived near
Wellsburg, West Virginia; Thompson, father of our subject; and William,
who spent the last twenty-five years of his life as a ranchman in
Colorado, where he died in 1898. Our subject's maternal grandfather
Curry came to this country from either County Londonderry of County
Down, Ireland. His father died on the Emerald Isle, but his mother came
with him to America. He was nineteen years of age, when, during the
French and Indian War, he sailed from Belfast. The vessel on which he
was a passenger was captured by the English fleet, and nearly all the
sailors, the cabin boy, and all of the single men on board, except those
who had aged parents depending on them, were pressed into the British
service. After a voyage of thirteen weeks and three days, Mr. Curry
landed in Philadelphia. For many years he made his home at Foggs Manor,
Chester County, where his mother and sister are buried, but about 1800
he removed to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where he died
at the extreme old age of one hundred six years. Thompson
White, our subject's father, was born near Greensburg, Westmoreland
County, PA on July 11, 1807, and became one of the pioneer businessmen
of Wellsburg, West VA. where he conducted a gristmill, lumberyard and
planing mill. He also engaged in boating on the Ohio and Mississippi as
far as New Orleans. His death occurred at Wellsburg, July 28, 1880. He
twice married, having on the 20th of June 1833 wedded Martha
Curry, also a native of Westmoreland County, PA who died
February 22, 1840, leaving three children, of whom our subject is the
oldest. Mary Margaret, born Sept 2, 1836 married Frank Odenbaugh of
Cleveland, Ohio. Elizabeth Mitchell, born June 23, 1839, died January 5,
1840. For his second wife the father married
Sarah Fulton, also a native of Westmoreland County, PA and
by that union six children were born. William H., born May 28, 1842, is
now serving as associate justice of the supreme court of the State of
Washington, which position he was appointed June 1, 1900. During the
Civil War he was a member of Company B, One Hundred and Second, Ohio
Volunteer infantry, and was severely wounded at Athens, Alabama, but
remained in service until after the capture of Jefferson Davis. He then
returned to West Virginia to his West Virginia home, where he read law
and was admitted to the bar in 1868. There he held several county
offices of a judicial nature, and resigned as recorder of Brooke County
in 1870. Two years later, her removed to Seattle, Washington, and in
1876 was elected prosecuting attorney of the third judicial district. In
1879 he was a member of the territorial legislature, and in 1884 was
appointed by President Cleveland as United States district attorney,
which office he held until the territory was admitted to the Union in
1889. The Seattle Daily Times said of Him: "No man in the state
of Washington stands higher than does William H. White. For thirty years
he has been a leading member of the bar of this state. He has ever been
a consistent Democrat and stands high in the councils of his party."
Elizabeth, born May 20, 1844 died in 1850. Albert W., born February 28,
1846, was killed in the battle of Piedmont, West Virginia, in June 1864.
Martha J., born May 5, 1847, married William A. Fulton, and now resides
in Seattle, Washington, her son, Walter S., being a junior member of the
law firm of White, Munday & Fulton of that city. Clara J., born March
28, 1849, died March 4, 1874. Nanie F., born November 18, 1851, died
August 2, 1860. Mr. (Hugh) White, whose name introduces this sketch, was
reared and educated in the place of his birth, and in early life
followed the occupation of a stationary engineer and also engaged in
steamboating. Going to Peoria, Illinois, in 1854, he was thus employed
for about three years, and in 1857 came to Kewanee, accepting the
position of engineer in Kewanee mill and distillery, where he remained
until 1866. Since then he has made his home in Annawan, and recently
erected a fine residence there. He was engaged in the flouring mill
business until 1882, since which time he has done quite an extensive
business as an importer of fine bred horses from France, England and
Scotland. He goes to Europe to personally superintend the purchase of
these horses, and has crossed the Atlantic ten times. He is now the
owner of six hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Henry County,
which he rents, and also has considerable property in Minnesota and
Dakota. He is one of the most energetic and enterprising businessmen of
his community, and his success, is due entirely to his own well-directed
efforts. He has never taken an active part in politics and is liberal in
his views on political questions. Socially he is a member of the Masonic
Fraternity, and he is a man who commands the confidence and respect of
those with whom he comes in contact, either in social or business life.
On the 2nd of April, 1854, Mr. White married Miss Elizabeth Roberts, of
Wellsburg, West Virginia, who died June 19, 1855, and their only child
died in infancy. He was again married, May 19, 1857, his second union
being with Miss Elizabeth Grape, a native of Germany and a daughter of
Frederick Grape. By this marriage were born five children, namely:
Henry, deceased; Robert T., a veterinary surgeon, of Annawan; Clara V.,
wife of Lewis Bowen of Chicago; Mary E., a resident of Red Oak, Iowa and
widow of F. C. Tolman, who was killed in a runaway; and Frances G., wife
of George Squires, of Mineral, Bureau County, Illinois. |
Proviso
Township is located west of Chicago's Loop in west central Cook Country.