Willie Albert WHITE owns and occupies a farm in the western suburbs of Boise [Idaho] on State street and is devoting his attention to general agricultural pursuits and to live stock. He came to Idaho in 1904 and for two years resided in Boise, erecting a home at the corner of Eighteenth and Ridenbaugh streets. This property he afterward sold and in 1906 removed to Seattle, but after a few months returned to Boise. At a still later period he left the city to establish a home elsewhere, but each time he has been drawn back by the opportunities of the Boise valley. After returning from Seattle he resided in Boise until 1909, when he removed to Portland, Oregon, but in the fall of 1910 he and his family again came to Idaho's capital and in the same year he purchased his present farm property of forty-six acres, lying just west of Boise. This tract is very valuable land, for there is no better irrigated district in the Boise valley and there is no doubt that it will soon be within the corporation limits of the city, owing to the rapid growth of Boise.

Mr. and Mrs. WHITE first came to Boise from Iowa, both being natives of that state. His birth occurred in Keokuk on the 21st of August, 1867, while Mrs. WHITE was born in Des Moines county, December 25, 1876, and bore the maiden name of Mabel B. GIBSON. They were reared and educated in the Hawkeye state and on the 6th of April, 1892, were married. They represent old families of Iowa, Mr. WHITE being a son of William G. and Lucinda (PARR) WHITE, while his wife is a daughter of Levi A. and Alice (PUGH) GIBSON. The four parents of this worthy couple are deceased.

While living in Iowa, Mr. WHITE had followed the occupation of farming and had become a man of considerable means, extending his interests into banking circles, as the owner of a private bank in Beaconsfield, Iowa. Since his removal to the west he has followed ranching and the live stock industry and has also carried on dairying for several years. He has likewise dealt in real estate and has built and sold several good bungalows in the western and northwestern sections of Boise. In business affairs he displays sound judgment and keen sagacity and insight, and his wise investments and indefatigable energy have been potent forces in the attainment of his present day success.

Mr. and Mrs. WHITE have become the parents of seven living children, four sons and three daughters, namely: Lois, now the wife of W. L. McCORMICK, of Weiser, Idaho; William Warren; Fred L.; Alice Carmen; John Albert; Frances Eleanor; and Thomas Marshall.

Both Mr. and Mrs. WHITE give their political allegiance to the republican party and are also members of the Boise Chamber of Commerce. They manifest a keen and helpful interest in all that pertains to the welfare and upbuilding not only of the city but of the state as well, and their aid can be counted upon to further any measure for the general good.

SOURCE: HAWLEY, James Henry. History of Idaho: The Gem of the Mountains Vol. III. Pp. S.J. Clarke Publ. Chicago. 1920.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, November of 2010