White, Robert M. (1833-1900)

WHITE

Posted By: Joyce Hickman (email)
Date: 11/11/2008 at 13:52:34

Robert Moody White
Dec 7, 1833 - Nov 20, 1900

(From the 1883 History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, by J. H. Keatley, p.251, Valley Twp.)
R. M. White, farmer, P. O. Oakland, born in Pennsylvania in 1833; lived in Pennsylvania till 1853, and then went to Illinois, and was there till 1860, and came to Kansas and then to his present place the same year, and this has been his home ever since. He was raised on a farm; was educated in Pennsylvania, in common schools. He has always followed farming. When first starting for himself, he went to Illinois and worked by the month for about a year and six months. The first land he ever bought was his present place. He is a son of Samuel and Mary (Leslie) White; father born in Washington County, Penn.; parents both dead. Mr. White is one of seven children - three sons and four daughters. Six are still living. He has one brother in Iowa now; one sister in Virginia; the other members of the family in Pennsylvania. He is Republican in politics. He had two brothers go through the war. Was married, in 1858, to Miss Martha Clark, daughter of Charles and Sarah Clark, both living. Mr. and Mrs. White have five children living and one dead, all boys - Charles, Warren, Uriah, Leslie, Edmond. Charles is married and lives in Valley Township. The others are all at home, except what time Warren is off at school. When Mr. White came here, he bought land, paying $2.50 per acre. he has now 800 acres in a body, and his oldest son 160 adjoining. Besides his home farm, he has other lands. When first settling, he only bought eighty acres - the remainder after the country began to settle up. When Mr. White came to Iowa, it was with nothing except a good team of horses, two or three cows and a few household goods. he had moved in wagon from Illinois to Kansas, and then to Iowa. After crossing the Missouri River into Iowa, he had only 25 cents in money, and provisions for a week. He bought his first eighty acres of Ephraim Bird on a year's time. Mr. Bird was to pay the taxes the first year, and also for recording the deed. Mr. White paid for the land in stock and grain in about fifteen months from buying it. Mr. White has always followed stock and grain raising. When first coming here, he did considerable hauling between Big Grove and Council Bluffs. While in Illinois, he worked by the month till he could buy a team, and then rented land and farmed, making money pretty fast till going to Kansas; he lost all his money, and has made what he now has in Iowa. In 1875, Mr. White was run by the Republican party for Representative for this district for the State Legislature, but, it being an office he did not desire, and his other business needing his attention at the time, he paid no attention to the canvass, so was beaten by the opposing candidate, Mr. Hunt of Avoca, by one vote. In the first two elections in the district, called then No. 3, in Center Township, there were only two voters - Mr. White and Mr. Strong. This was in 1866 and 1867. Mr. White was then Secretary of the School Board, and his vote elected Mr. Strong Sub-Director for two years. Then Mr. White and Mr. Strong voted a 5-mill tax on their subdistrict. Their subdistrict then was three by three and a half miles. In 1868, they got their schoolhouse, and at the time the tax was voted, there were but two scholars; but, in 1868, as soon as the school was opened, there were eleven scholars, for people began to settle near the school. Mr. White has been (Valley) Township Clerk for all but one year since 1865.

(From the 1891 Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, p.548)
ROBERT M. WHITE is one of the prominent pioneers of Valley Township. His grandfather, Nathaniel WHITE, was a farmer in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and of English descent. He lived to the great age of eighty years. He was married to Mary LITTLE, and they had nine children, viz.: Nicholas, David, John, Nathaniel, Samuel, James, Mary A., Jane and Eliza, all born in Washington County. The father moved to Lawrence County, where he owned a farm of 200 acres and where he died. He was a member of the United Presbyterian Church and was a man of industrious habits and integrity in character. Samuel WHITE, his son, and the father of our subject, was born on the farm in Washington County, in 1806, and was reared to the life of a farmer. He married Mary LESLIE, in Lawrence County, where he had gone with his father when a boy. They were the parents of seven children, namely: Nathaniel, Nancy A., Margaret, Robert, Samuel, Maria and Eliza, all born in Lawrence County. The father owned a farm in that county, where he died at the age of seventy-three years. Both he and his wife were members of the United Presbyterian Church, and the father was a comfortable farmer, an honorable man and enjoyed the respect of his fellow citizens. His son, Samuel, was a soldier in our great Civil War, belonging to the First Pennsylvania Volunteer Artillery, was in several battles, and had the drum of one ear destroyed by the discharge of the artillery.
Robert M., the subject of this sketch, was also born in Lawrence County, December 7, 1833, and like his father before him was reared to farm life. At the age of nineteen, he left home, and began work for himself. At the age of twenty-one, in 1854, he went to Mercer County, Illinois, where he remained five and a half years. In 1860 he went to Brown County, Kansas, but returned to Iowa the same year and settled in Valley Township, Pottawattamie County, on his present farm. Iowa was then a new country, and Valley Township had but few settlers. His land was wild, but by dint of energy and perseverance he has converted it into a fine fertile farm, to which he has added until he now has 480 acres. He is a prominent citizen of this county and a pioneer and, as such, his name will go down to posterity in the annals of the state of Iowa. He has given each of his three sons 160 acres of land.
He was married in Mercer County, Illinois, to Martha Clark, daughter of Charles and Sarah CLARK. The father was a native of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, and settled in Mercer County, Illinois, in 1850. He came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, in 1860 and died in 1886 at the advanced age of eighty-one years. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, as was also his wife, but in Iowa they joined the Baptist Church. He was an industrious man, and well known to the early settlers. Mr. And Mrs. CLARK were the parents of six children, viz.: Uriah, William, Samuel, Margaret, Martha and Catherine. Mr. And Mrs. WHITE have had six children: Charles, Warren, Uriah, Leslie, Edmond, and one who died when young. Warren was a graduate of the State University and was a lawyer by profession, but while at his home and while assisting in the harvest field, he was instantly killed by lightning. He was unmarried but was a young man of great promise. His death was a severe blow to his parents and friends. Socially, Mr. WHITE is an Odd Fellow and politically a Republican. He was Township Trustee seven years and Clerk sixteen years. He stands high in his county as a man of integrity and good judgment and his honor is unimpeached.