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(Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Crawford County, Ohio -
Chicago: 1902)
PLEASE NOTE: If you see anything you want transcribed ahead of time,
Please email me @
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~ Thanks, Sharon Wick
LEO WHITE, a young
and successful farmer and stock-raiser of Dallas township,
Crawford county, is a son of Willard T. White, a retired
farmer, residing in Bucyrus, Ohio. The White family is
numbered among the oldest in the county. Going back in the
history of the ancestry, it is found to be of Virginia stock.
Charles White, the paternal great-grandfather of
Leo White, was born and reared in the Old Dominion
and was about sixteen years of age when the Revolutionary war
began. His name appears on the muster roll of militia. He
was in active military service several years during the struggle
of the colonies for American independence, being for a portion
of that period under the immediate command of General
Washington. He served also as one of the "minute men." When
his father died he inherited as a portion of his estate several
slaves, and being reared amid slavery conditions he was not at
first opposed to the system. Through inheritance and purchase he
became in time the owner of a large number of slaves. He removed
to Fayette county, Kentucky, and while there he liberated his
bondsmen. He had fought for liberty in the war of the Revolution
and could not believe it right to hold his fellow men in bondage
or reconcile it with the principles of eternal justice.
Becoming disgusted with the iniquitous system, he liberated his
negroes, thirteen in number, and soon afterward removed to Ross
county, Ohio, taking up his abode there about 1812. He followed
farming with fair success in that county, where he continued to
reside until his death, which occurred in 1856, when he had
attained the advanced age of ninety-six years. He had three
sons, namely: Samuel, George and Charles W.,
and the first two served in the American army during the war of
1812.
The youngest son, Charles W. White, was the
grandfather of our subject. He was born in Fayette county,
Kentucky, July 18, 1802, and when about eight years of age
accompanied his father on his removal, to Ross county, Ohio. At
the age of eighteen he left the parental home and visited the
"New Purchase" in northern Ohio. He secured work on the Indian
mill, located on the Sandusky river, being employed by the
government Indian agent at fifteen dollars per month. There he
worked for three years and saved his money, with which he
purchased two hundred and seven acres of land in what is now
Dallas township, Crawford county. After working for the
succeeding nine years for different people, he removed to his
land, and by industry, economy and good business management
became one of the largest land-owners and most successful
farmers and stock-raisers of the county. In 1830 he married
Hannah Simmons Hoover, and unto them were born
the following named children: Lorena, Willard T.
and Charles. Willard T. White, the father of
Leo White, was born in Dallas township, August 8,
1845. After engaged in farming and stock-dealing on an extensive
scale for many years and meeting with prosperity in his
undertakings, Mr. White, the father, removed to
Bucyrus, where he is now living in retirement from business
cares. Leo White resides upon the old homestead in
Dallas township, where his birth occurred July 17, 1870. He was
educated in the district schools and has always been connected
with the cultivation of the fields and the raising and sale of
stock. He has dealt quite largely in cattle and is a very
energetic, wide-awake young business man, carefully conducting
his interests, yet his methods are progressive and his
enterprise and straightforward dealings have gained him
prominence as one of the leading agriculturists of his
community.
In 1899 Mr. White was united in marriage
to Miss Velma Maud Shemer, a
daughter of Levi Shemer, of Dallas township, and
they have one child, Helen Lorena. Mr.
White is now serving as township treasurer, an office to
which he has been twice elected. He is a member of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is one of the
leading' and influential citizens of the community in which his
entire life has been passed. |
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