San Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM B. WHITE
WILLIAM B. WHITE, of Elkhorn
Township, was born, March 20, 1830, in Bristol County, Massachusetts, his
parents being Merchant and Adeline (Brely) White,
both natives of Massachusetts. The father was of English descent. His
grandfather was one of the Pilgrims and the last of his race, having no living
relatives at his death. The mother of the subject was of Scotch descent.
Merchant White was a farmer and lumberman, born in 1800. He died in 1878. There
were six children in the family, three boys and three girls. William,
the subject of this sketch, when seventeen years of age, was apprenticed to
learn the ship carpenter’s trade, at which he was to serve four years.
When two of the four years had passed he got the California gold fever and set
sail for the land of gold. His parents and employers opposed it strongly and
tried to persuade him to remain, but to no effect. William took passage as a
sailor before the mast, receiving for his services $1. They were six months on
the voyage landing in San Francisco, April 1, 1850. The ship’s carpenter went
ashore and left William to do his work. He built several scows and boats,
receiving $14 a day and board. He made one trip to Stockton in one of the
scows. He knew nothing whatever about navigating of the river, but managed to
take his passengers, sixteen in number, who paid $16 each as passage money,
safely to their destination, and to bring the scow back to San Francisco; for
this the ship owner offered him a block of land in San Francisco, not far from
Clay and Second streets, which he refused, as he thought it would never be
worth anything. Although perfectly contented with the position he had in
“Frisco, he was persuaded by some friends, who had been to the mines, to go and
try his luck at that; so, he left one of the best opportunities he ever had. He
worked about two years at mining, then returned to
“Frisco. This trip was attended with many hardships as it was at the time of
the flood. He returned to his home, via the Isthmus, arriving in January, 1853,
with about $5,000. He went home intending to remain, but in the fall of 1854 he
again came to California, via the Isthmus. He came direct to Stockton and went
out to visit an uncle; while there he built a ferry-boat on the Stanislaus river, splitting and hewing the gunwales out of sugar pine
and hauling them to the shore where he built the boat. Later he went again to
the mines, remaining till 1859. In 1865 he purchased land on the Davis road and
engaged exclusively in farming, which he has followed ever since.
In 1872 he purchased the ranch on which he now resides, located on the Stockton and Woodbridge road, nine miles from Stockton and four from Woodbridge. Mr. White has made his own way in the world since he was fifteen years of age. Like most other old Californians, he has made plenty of money and spent it as freely; He is to-day the picture of health, and has never taken much medicine in his life. To his family he is kind and indulgent. He believes in educating children. His son, A. C. White, is a graduate from the Law School of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mr. White was married, in 1860, to Miss Malinda A. Williams, a native of Arkansas, who emigrated to California in 1853, at the age of eleven years. They have five children, namely: Adelaide B., deceased in 1875; C., Walter B., Merchant B. and Alice M.
Mr. White is a member of Jefferson Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 98, of which he is Past Grand. Politically he is a Democrat. His first vote was cast for Franklin Pierce.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 410-411. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
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