Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/499

Rh dent Lincoln appointed Mr. White U. S. judge for the district of Indiana, but he lived to discharge the duties of the office only a few months.

WHITE, Alexander, legislator, b. in Rappa- hannock county, Va., in 1738 ; d. in Woodville, in the same county, in September, 1804. He was re- markable for his eloquence and patriotism and took an active part in the political agitation that pre- ceded the Revolution. He sat as a delegate in the Continental congress in 1786-'88, was elected a representative from Virginia in the 1st congress, and re-elected to the 2d, serving from 4 March, 1789, till 2 March, 1793.

WHITE, Alexander, merchant, b. in Elgin, Scotland, 13 March, 1814 ; d. in Lake Forest, III., 18 March, 1872. He was one of the early settlers of Chicago, where he arrived in the spring of 1837. Until 1857 he was a merchant, being the first dealer in Chicago in fine-art goods. From 1857 till 1867 he was engaged in real estate investments, establishing the great auction sales that have played an important part in the city's develop- ment. Retiring from business in 1867 to devote himself to the collection of flowers and paintings, he purchased an estate at Lake Forest, which he made among the most artistic in the west. In 1859 he built in his Chicago residence the first private art-gallery in Illinois, exhibiting his paint- ings for the benefit of the city. In 1866 he sold this collection at auction, and in 1869 he opened a gallery at his residence at Lake Forest with 160 works of art. Returning from Europe with a third collection when the great fire of 1871 occurred, his losses induced him to sell his treasures at auc- tion the same year in New York city. His artistic taste found further expression in the cultivation of flowers, especially of camelias and orchids, his collection being recognized as the most complete in the northwest.

WHITE, Alexander, lawyer, b. in Franklin, Robertson co., Tenn., 16 Oct., 1816. He was taken to Alabama when five years of age, and educated there and at the University of Tennessee, but he volunteered in the Creek and Seminole war in 1836, and therefore was not graduated. He subse- quently studied law with his father, John White (1784-1842), who was one of the circuit and su- preme court judges of Alabama. On his admission to the bar in 1838 he practised at first as the asso- ciate of his father, and afterward (1841-'55) as the partner of Lewis E. Parsons at Talladega. He was elected to congress as a Union Whig after an ex- citing contest in a Democratic district, and served from 1 Dec, 1851, till 3 March, 1853. In 1856 he removed to Selma, and in 1860 he supported Bell and Everett for president and vice-president. He earnestly opposed secession, but decided to act with his state when that event became inevitable. At the close of the war he was a member of the convention to frame a new constitution for Ala- bama, and he was elected to the general assembly of the state in 1872. In the following year he was chosen to congress as a Republican, and served from 1 Dec, 1873, till 4 March, 1875. In the lat- ter year he was appointed an associate justice of the U. S. court for the territory of Utah. After holding the office for a brief term he returned to Alabama, and in 1875 removed to Dallas, Tex., where he practises his profession.

WHITE, Andrew, clergyman, b. in London, England, about 1579 ; d. there, 27 Dec, 1656. He was educated at Douay college, France, where he was ordained priest in 1605. After his return to England in 1606 he was arrested, with sixteen other priests, and sentenced to perpetual banish- ment. He entered the Society of Jesus on 2 Feb., 1609, returned to England at the risk of his life, and was engaged in missionary duties there until 1619. He was subsequently professor of theology and Hebrew in Valladolid and Seville, and of di- vinity in Douay and Liege. In 1633 he was chosen by the Jesuit general, Mutius Vitelleschi, to ac- company Lord Baltimore to this country, with some other Jesuits. After landing he devoted himself to the conversion of the Piscataway and Patuxent Indians, as well as to those in the neigh- borhood of the new settlements. He returned to Europe subsequently, and brought back more mis- sionaries. Father White learned the language of the Indians, and compiled a grammar, vocabulary, and catechism. They were all supposed to be lost, until Father William McSherry discovered the catechism in the Jesuit archives at Rome. Father White was summoned to sit in the first colonial assembly of Maryland ; but his request to be ex- cused from taking part in secular affairs was granted. The "Extracts from the Letters of the Missionaries," appended to his "Relatio Itineris in Marylandiam," give some very interesting de- tails about his labors and success among the In- dians of Patapaco, Piscataway. and Patuxent. In 1644 he was seized by a band of Claiborne's sol- diers and sent in irons to England, where he was imprisoned on a charge of violating the law con- cerning " missionary popish priests." After great suffering he was released and banished from the country. He petitioned his superiors to be allowed to go to Maryland ; but his request being refused, on the ground of his age and infirmities, he re- turned to England under an assumed name, and was there engaged in missionary duties. Further accounts of him are vague and uncertain, although the place and date of his death are given in the official records of the Jesuit order. He wrote " Relatio Itineris in Marylandiam," which, with " Declaratio coloniae Domini Baronis de Balti- moro" and "Excerpta ex Diversis Litteris Mis- sionariorum ab anno 1635 ad annum 1638," has been published, accompanied by a translation, by the Maryland historical society (Baltimore, 1874).

WHITE, Andrew Dickson, educator, b. in Homer, N. Y., 7 Nov., 1832. He was of New Eng- land parentage, studied one year at Hobart col- lege, N. Y., and passed the remainder of his col- legiate course at Yale, where he was graduated in 1853. After grad- uation he spent about two years in Europe, chiefly at Paris and Ber- lin, in the prosecu- tion of historical studies. He was also attache to the American legation in St. Petersburg for six months, and travelled on foot through many of the historical lo- calities of the con- tinent, especially in northern and western France. He returned home in 1856, studied history for one year at Yale, and in 1857 was elected professor of history and English literature in the University of Michigan. In 1862 he resigned in consequence of