James White Indiana/Iowa
White Genealogy
James White
James White was the son of James and Tabitha [Drake] White from South Carolina. He was born in Nelson County Kentucky on June 9th 1792- died Jan. 1 1885. James White and family were mentioned in a book by Andrew White Young called “The History of Wayne County Indiana” published in 1872. Andrew White Young lived from 1802-1877. [See CD 1 Andrew W. Young book]
James II moved from Kentucky with his father and mother to Butler Co. Ohio where, eighteen months later James senior died. About 1810 or 1811 James moved to Wayne County Indiana, and settled where Middleboro is now [1872]. He married Jane Boswell Sept 20, 1814. She was born Aug. 24, 1794 –died March 5, 1871[daughter of Barnabas Boswell].
James II had six siblings as follows: Mary who married Milton Ashby. John who married Delilah Boswell and settled near his brother James and died in 1835, Elizabeth who married Abner Clawson, Joseph who married Alice Clawson and lived in Wayne Twp. died Dec. 26, 1868, Nathan who married first Elizabeth Cook and second Susan Cox and Sarah who married Thomas Gray.
James II and Jane had twelve children as follows: Malinda who married James Garrett and died in Franklin Twp., Lucinda who married Peter Ellis and lived in Whitewater, Eleam who married Susan Curliner and lived in Franklin, Israel Married to Nancy Oten and lived in Franklin. Tabitha married Augustus Bunch and died at Whitewater Twp., James married Anna Wright and lived in Franklin, John first married Sally Hubbard and then to Jane Tillson; he died in 1829, Joseph married Esther Addleman and resided in Franklin Twp., Nathan married Anna Harrison, William married Salina Vannuys, Daniel married Martha Wright and Jonathan married Eliza Guess. Joseph, Nathan, William, Daniel and Jonathan all lived in Franklin Twp. {Note 1 pages 220-221 Andrew White Young’s book}
In 1818 James II settled in New Garden now called Franklin Twp. near Whitewater where he resided until his death. He was elected a Justice of the Peace in about 1826 for five years then re-elected for a second term. Five years later he was once again elected for another five years. He was also a notary public appointed by Governors Willard and Wright.
James II settled on the west side of the town of Franklin. He and his brother John built saw mills about ¾ of a mile apart on Middlefork around 1825. James’s sawmill was in operation for 35 years. [Page 215. A. W. Young book]
Tabitha White, James mother lived with his brother Joseph and Alice White in Wayne Twp. Wayne County Indiana in 1850. She was 78 years old and a widow. [Indiana census]
Note: Some of the U.S. Census have mistakes in them.
Joseph White
Joseph White the son of James II was born in 1830 and married Esther Addleman on March 4th 1852. They had five children. Andrew Jackson born Feb. 23, 1855, George Washington born Oct. 15, 1857 and died in 1944 and James Albert born in 1860. Nothing is known about the other two children. I assume they were born before 1855 and died young. The differences on the census in the place of birth for the children of Joseph and Esther, [Darke County Ohio and Wayne County Indiana] could be explained by the fact that the counties were side by side in the US. and there seemed to be a lot of boundary changes in these two states. Joseph and Esther lived in Darke County from at least 1860 until their deaths.
Andrew Jackson White
Andrew was born in Whitewater Twp. Wayne County Indiana on Feb 23, 1855. He died on Feb 4th 1923 at the age of 68.
His brother George married Rose Bruntlett Oct. 18, 1882 in Glidden Iowa Carroll County. His other brother James was married to Lillian. One of James’s sons name was James Foster born in 1891 Darke County Ohio. He was Ernest Osro’s cousin as seen in the 1910 Glidden Carroll County Iowa census.
Andrew married Phebe Rebecca Blose on Jan. 26, 1878 in Wayne County Indiana. Phebe was born on Feb. 15th 1856 in Hollansburg Twp. Darke County Ohio and died on April 16th 1894 at the age of 38. Phebe was the daughter of George W. Blose and Emma E. Thatcher.
Her Father George Blose was born in Indiana in 1834. Her mother was born in Penn. in 1833. George W. was the son of Peter Blose of Indiana. Phebe had 7 siblings one of them named Osroe who was born in Indiana in 1869.
Phebe’s mother Emma Eliza Thatcher was born April 25, 1833 in Pennsylvania to Joseph Thatcher and Rachel Marshall. She married George Blose on April 5, 1855 in Indiana.
Andrew and Phebe had at least four children: Arizona May born May 10, 1880. Ernest Osro born Aug. 29, 1884 and died June 8, 1917. Ernest was struck by lightning and killed. Mary Emma born Nov. 24, 1891 and died Oct. 10, 1948. Bessie V. born in Nov. 4 1889 and lived in Darke County Ohio. Arizona married Harry E. Harrison May 28, 1898 and lived in Darke County Harrison Twp. Ohio. Ernest married Olive Tharp and they lived in Carroll County Glidden Twp. Iowa. Bessie married Emanuel Miller and lived in Darke County Ohio. Mary Emma married Ora Franklin Wiley and lived in Wayne County Richmond City Indiana.
The first we see of Andrew living outside his parent’s home is in 1880 when he lived with his wife Phebe and his daughter Arizona in Wayne County Indiana Whitewater Twp.
There is no U.S. census for 1890 as almost all of them were damaged by fire and water in Washington DC in 1921.
In 1900 it appears that Andrew was separated from his family and lived in North Dakota as a farm laborer. His children Ernest and Mary Emma lived with their sister Arizona and her husband Harry Harrison in Wayne County Indiana Wayne Twp. His youngest daughters Bessie V. and Hazel Grace lived with their grandparents Joseph and Esther White in Darke County Ohio Harrison Twp. In 1910 Andrew was living with his son Ernest in Greene County Iowa Glidden Twp. 1920 finds Andrew living with his daughter Bessie and her husband Emanuel Miller in Darke County Ohio Greenville Twp. Andrew died on Feb 4th 1923.
Ernest Osro White
The first time we see Ernest White is in 1900 when he is living with his sister Arizona in Indiana. I don’t know when Ernest came to Iowa but his father’s brother George W. White lived in Glidden Iowa in 1900 and that’s where we find Ernest in 1910. Ernest married Olive Tharp 1906 of Glidden Iowa daughter of Elsburg and Lydia Tharp. He was living with his wife Olive Tharp White, his children Rex, Clair, Verlyn and Dorothy. Also living with him was his father Andrew White, his mother-in-law Lydia Tharp, his two sisters-in-law Grace and Alma Tharp and his cousin Foster White. Ernest died June 8th 1917 struck by lightning. Olive Tharp White remarried after 1920 to Evan E. Dillavou and lived in Glidden Iowa with Evan and daughter Dorothy White in 1930. I don’t know where Verlyn White lived in 1930 but Clair E. [male] lived with his grandmother Lydia J. Tharp in Greene County Iowa Scranton Twp.
Rex Edward White
Ernest and Olive’s oldest son Rex Edward White was born in Iowa Jan. 11, 1907 and died in July, 1977. He lived in Carroll County Iowa Jasper Twp. In 1920 Rex lived with his mother Olive, siblings, Verlyn, Claire and Dorothy and Grandmother Lydia Tharp in Greene County Iowa Kendrick Twp. He married Maude Brant daughter of Rueben and Annie [Pritts] Brant on March 10th 1929. In 1930 Rex and Maude lived briefly in Polk County Iowa Lee Twp. Des Moines City. Rex and Maude later moved to Greene County Iowa Churdan/Scranton Twp. area. They were members of the First Baptist Church in Churdan Iowa.
Rex and Maude had three children: Verlyn born 1930 in Iowa, Richard Allen born April 22, 1933 in Iowa and Paul, born 1937 in Iowa. Rex was an electrician and owned his own company. His son Paul later joined the electricians business with his dad.
Rex and Maude were very devoted to each other. Maude was a housewife and had a large garden which she took care of. She also had an apple orchard and many flowers and flower gardens within the property. Maude also had chickens. She never learned to drive and was much loved by all of her family and neighbors. I remember Maude [who was my grandmother] as the perfect grandma. She let us help her in the garden just the fun stuff like picking strawberries. She didn’t make us pull weeds. We got to run around in the fields where there were fun grasshoppers to catch and tall grass to run through. Once Kevin, Cindy and I played in a mud hole by the edge of the yard and got completely covered in mud. Grandma never even got mad at us. She just pulled out a big tub with water in it and Cindy and I cleaned ourselves off. I think Kevin went down to the creek and got the worst of the mud off himself. That sure was a lot of fun.
Rex, my grandpa was the best grandpa a girl could have had. He always called me Debs which made me feel special. I remember him always smiling with his pipe clenched between his teeth. Grandpa loved ice cream and he always had some in the freezer when we were there. He always let me have some even though I didn’t finish my supper and my mom said no. He was my favorite relative outside my immediate family. Grandpa was also hard of hearing in one ear. The story I was told was that Grandpa was too close to a large tree when it fell and the shock wave from the impact damaged his ear drum. I don’t know if this is true though.
Rex and Maude’s oldest son married Flora Mae Stokes and they had one son Russell. Their youngest son Paul married Sally Huffman of Paton Iowa and had three children; Julie, Richard and Carrie. Their middle son was Richard Allen and was my father. Rex and Maude lived in Scranton Iowa until their deaths.
Richard Allen White
Richard [Dick] White was born April 22nd 1933 in Churdan Iowa and died Aug. 7th 1988 at the age of 55 in Ventura California. He died from stomach cancer. Dick joined the Marines after high school. He worked at the Headquarters Marine Corp. in Arlington Virginia. He was a drill sergeant. Dick married Ada Louise Gunn on April 25th, 1953. Louise also worked at the Pentagon. Louise moved from Mississippi to Washington D. C. [to be a secretary] with a teacher and friends. Ada went by the name Louise all her life. Few people even knew her first name was Ada. Dick and Louise had four children; Kevin Richard who was born in Bethesda Md. on November 29th 1953, Debra Colleen who was born in Washington D. C. on Feb. 16th 1955, Cynthia Kay who was born in Mobile Alabama Dec. 31rst 1956 and David Allen who was born in Cedar Rapids Iowa on November 20th 1966. Kevin married Mary Paar and had two children Richard Allen and Rachel Anna.
Debbie married Joseph Perry Smith III and had one son Ryan Perry Smith. Cindy married first Sam Brewer and had one child Courtney Lynn Brewer. She then married Kenny Volz and had two children; Corinne Renee and Kathryn Louise. At the time of this writing David Allen White is not married and has no children.
Dick and Louise both had a good sense of humor and were both smart people. Dick was Valedictorian of his high school class and Louise had excellent grades [almost all “A’s”] in school. After Dick and Louise ended up in Cedar Rapids Iowa he worked for Weyerhauser Paper Corp. and Louise ended up in the restaurant business. Dick worked for Weyerhaeuser Corp. until the time of his death. Louise retired and is still living at the time of this writing at the age of 70.