George Clinton White and Julia Ann Noel White Family By Martha Bliss Ehlers George C. White, his wife, Julia Ann Noel White, and ten of their children left the Wea Plains south of Lafayette, Indiana, in 1850. They followed the old mill trail west from Attica, the mother and younger children riding in the covered wagon, other children playing and walking, and the older boys and girls on horseback driving the sheep and cattle. On arriving in Illinois they had 25 sheep, 3 horses, 20 head of cattle, and $75 cash. It had taken one week to make the trip. The family settled southeast of Towanda just to the northeast of Smith's Grove on the 160 acres they had purchased. In time more land was acquired so that they had 240 acres of prairie and 160 acres of timber land. His daughter Rachel recalled in latter years that her father had broken the tough prairie sod with four yoke of oxen. Early on George C. was a Whig, later a Republican. He was a loyal Christian, one of the founders of the Baptist Church in his community. When Julia White (b. June 8, 1806, Ross Co., Ohio, daughter of Basil and Mary Gregg Noel, d. 25 Mar., 1865, Towanda, IL,) died of smallpox, George C. lived with his various children for a while. He married again in 1868 to Mrs. Nancy (Pike) Erwin (d. 1878). At the time he was 68; she was about 30. George Clinton White was born Feb. 1, 1804, in Lycoming Co., Pennsylvania to Nathaniel White (b. July 25, 1759 in Dutchess Co., New York; d. Jan 24, 1836, Tippecanoe Co., Indiana; m. Feb. 7, 1765) and his wife, Hannah Finch (b. Jan. 24, 1766, in Dutchess Co., New York; d. 1832, Tippecanoe Co., Indiana). His father, Nathaniel White had enlisted at the age of fifteen in the Revolutionary War regiment commanded by Colonel Marinus Willet of the New York State Militia which was raised in about Albany and with which he served until the end of the war in 1783, first as a private and then as a sergeant. Hannah Finch White was a descendant of Abram Finch (b. 1585 in York Co., England) who came to this country with three of his sons in the Winthrop Fleet of 1630. The White family in America trace to George White, Sr. (b. about 1700; d. after Feb. 20, 1788, Sharon, Connecticut; m. Oct. 17, 1727 or 1728, Rochester, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts), who married Sarah Bumpas (b. May 12, 1701; d. before June 20, 1787, Sharon, Litchfield Co., Connecticut). Sarah Bumpas was the fifth generation from Richard Warren, passenger on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620 and the twelfth signer of the Mayflower Compact. George White, Jr. was born to George, Sr. and Sarah on October 9, 1737, in Rochester, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts; d. 1804 Worcester Township, Ostego Co., New York; m. about 1758. He married Patience (_______), who was baptized June 19, 1763; d. before 1788. George, Jr. also served his country during the Revolutionary War, first as a lieutenant and last as captain of a company in the 2nd Regiment of the New York Line. Their first child was the aforementioned Nathaniel.
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Years passed and the George C. White family prospered in Illinois. Thirteen children were born: 1. Mary White, b. Clark Co., Ohio, Oct. 28, 1827, d. Normal, IL, April 25, 1912., m. Towanda, IL, November 9, 1851, John N. King. 2. Harriette White, b. Indiana, Jan. 8, 1829, d. Colfax, IL, Jan. 11, 1908, m. Rennsalaer, IN, Nov. 17, 1847, Lyman Williams. 3. Eliza White, b. IN, November 20, 1830, d. Towanda, IL, Aug. 9, 1889, m. 1857 Nelson Jones. 4. Rachel White, b. IN, Aug. 25, 1832, d. Apr. 16, 1915, Bloomington, IL, m. Oct. 12, 1851 (1) Sanford Miller (2) Frank Summer. 5. Malinda White, b. Mar. 24, 1834, d. Jan. 9, 1913, Republic, Kansas, m. Sept. 4, 1856, John W. Abbott. 6. William H. White, b. Nov. 12, 1835, IN, d. Mar. 9, 1905, Bloomington, IL, m. Jan. 19, 1865, Bloomington, IL, Martha Donovan. 7. John N. White, b. 1837, IN, d. 1915, Bloomington, IL, m. April 18, 1868, Theresa Hamilton. 8. Ellen J. White, b. Oct. 12, 1839, d. Jan. 8, 1927, m. Apr. 28, 1861, Towanda, IL, Aaron H. Conger. 9. Geo. W. White, b. Aug. 14, 1841, d. Dec. 30, 1917, Bloomington, IL, m. Apr. 6, 1870, Flora Raridon. 10. Adeline White, b. May 14, 1843. d. July 5, 1933, Vermillion, South Dakota, m. Jan. 1, 1862, Towanda, IL, William H. Myers. 11. Edward White, b. Sep. 17, 1845, IN, d. 1888, McLean Co., unmarried. (twin) 12. Emma White, b. Sept. 17, 1845, IN, d. 1845, IN. 13. Frank White, b. Dec. 17, 1848, d. 1920 in Kansas, m. 1869, Rebecca J. Williams. Sources: The Ancestry of George Clinton White and Julia Ann Noel White and Their Descendants, Compiled by Dorothy L. W. Brown, 1974. History of Nathaniel White, Hannah Finch White and Their Descendants by Ethel Conger Heagler, The Torch Press, Cedar Rapids , Iowa, 1938. Writen by: Martha Bliss Ehlers, Great Granddaughter of William H. White, Granddaughter of Anna E. White, Daughter of Hazel Sutherland Bliss.
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