George Clinton White (1865-1927)

WHITE, CHALFANT, DONOVAN, DUFF

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 8/14/2013 at 19:43:10

From Nevada Evening Journal May 11, 1927

WHITE FUNERAL TUESDAY DREW MANY FRIENDS

LARGE BISHOP FUNERAL HOME UNABLE TO ACCOMODATE THE PEOPLE

The funeral of George C. White, 61, former Nevada man, who died so suddenly at his home at Mason City Saturday evening, was held at the Bishop Funeral home Tuesday afternoon at 3:30, after which the body was laid to rest in the family lot in the Nevada cemetery.

Brief services had been held at the family home in Mason City Tuesday morning, after which the funeral party, consisting of Mrs. White and a number of friends, accompanied the body to this city.

The spacious funeral home was filled to overflowing and many oldtime friends of Mr. and Mrs. White were unable to gain admission. The services were in charge of Dr. Dibble, pastor of the Congregational church at Mason City, of which Mr. and Mrs. White had become members after moving to that city. Charles H. Hall of this city, many years connected with Mr. White in the law business, sang a solo. The casket and nearby spaces were banked with floral offerings from Nevada and Mason City as well as from the various organizations and fraternal societies with which he was affiliated.

Mr. White was a native of Illinois, born in McLean county, December 6, 1865. His father William H. White and the mother Martha Ann Donnavan, were farmers and the son George Clinton made his home upon the farm and assisted in the work.

He received his preliminary education on the schools of McLean county, making sufficient advancement in his studied to enable him to secure a certificate to teach. He taught for two years and finally became a student at the normal school at Normal, Ill., where he studied two years.

He was united in marriage to Miss Ida May Chalfant, of the same county, June 18, 1890. She was daughter of William and Margaret Duff Chalfant, the father being a prominent farmer of the county.

In 1893 Mr. and Mrs. White came out to Story county, where he purchased a farm in Richland township and there they lived and prospered for twelve years. During the later years upon the farm he decided to read law and after long and hard study at home he matriculated at Drake University in 1907, graduating from the law department in 1909 with the degree of L. L. B. Later he entered the law department of Yale University, where he spent a year and finished with the degree of L. L. M. in 1910.

Shortly after finishing his law course he was for a year associate counsel with Clifford Thorne, of this state in his extended railway rate investigations, which gave Mr. White a deep insight into law of that nature.

He continued in his practice of law in Nevada from that time until about two years ago, when he decided to locate in a wider field and associated himself with Dunn & Dunn, in practice at Mason City. He disposed of the family home in this city and with Mrs. White moved to Mason City.

During his practice here Mr. White was very active in political affairs and was elected by the republicans of Story county to serve in the house of representatives in the Thirty-second general assembly and the special session which followed.

He was active during his public service and was recognized as one the strong men of the house. His acquaintance over the state became general and valuable and in later years during the days of the "Bull Moose" progressive move of the party, he was the choice of that party as their candidate for governor.

Matters of interest to the agriculturalist and pertaining to co-operative marketing were made a deep study by him and along those lines he had decided opinions.

Mr. White was for many years a member of the Story County Bar association and later a became a member of the Cerro Gordo Bar association. He was a thirty-second degree Mason and member of Za-Ga-Zig Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Des Moines. He was also a Modern Woodmen and possibly belonged to other lodges and clubs.

Mr. White came of English lineage on the paternal side the ancestors having arrived on the western shores of the Atlantic during the colonial period. His great grandfather William H. White was born in Tippecanoe county, Indiana in 1835 and came west with his family in 1850, locating in Illinois, living in McLean county until his death in 1907. The mother Martha Ann Donavan was born in Springfield, Ohio in 1840 and survived her husband five years.

After the Whites moved to Nevada they established their home at the corner of Fifth and Lincoln. There they lived and entertained their friends, until they gave up their home here. It ws from this home that the services were held and from which Mr. White was taken to his final resting place.

During the most of their years in Nevada they had with them in their home Mrs. White's sister, Miss Nell Chalfant, now deceased.