Will County IL Archives Biographies.....White, Benjamin K 
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Author: Past and Present Will County IL; 1907

BENJAMIN K. WHITE. Although a resident of Joliet for only a few years, 
Benjamin K. White was well known here. He came to the city on the 1st of May, 
1867, and resided here until his death, which occurred six years later. A 
native of Reading, Pennsylvania, he was a son of Lewis and Melvina (Watson) 
White, who were likewise natives of the Keystone state, spending their earlier 
years in Philadelphia and that vicinity. Lewis White was there engaged in all 
kinds of railroad work until 1870, when he came to the middle west, settling 
in Wilmington, Illinois. He was afterward connected with railroad work in this 
part of the state until his demise. Benjamin K. White acquired his education 
in the public schools of Pennsylvania and when a young man he began to learn 
the trade of carriage-trimming, which he followed for a brief period in 
Philadelphia. He then turned his attention to railroad work and was employed 
in various ways in that great department of industrial activity until 1867. At 
that time his brother-in-law, Jacob A. Henry, wras engaged in railroad 
contracting in Joliet and vicinity, and through his influence Mr. White came 
to this city and entered the employ of Mr. Henry. The railroads were then 
being built through Joliet and there was much demand for labor here. Mr. 
White, therefore, engaged in all kinds of railroad work, acting as foreman of 
the track men and as superintendent of construction. Later he accepted a 
position as conductor on the Chicago & Alton Railroad and was soon transferred 
to the south division of that road, running as a conductor between Alton and 
St. Louis for two years but he found that the climate did not agree with him 
and he returned to Joliet much impaired in health. He never recovered and 
passed away in 1873. Mr. White had been married in Whitehouse, New York, to 
Miss Ella A. Henry, a native of Henderson county, New Jersey, born October 31, 
1836, and a daughter of Joseph and Nancy Henry. They were both natives of the 
east and always resided there, her father being a prominent and wealthy 
business man. Several of their children, however, came to the west and located 
in Joliet, including Jacob A. Henry, who for many years has been president of 
the Will County National Bank and is still at the head of that institution. 
All of the members of the family that came to Joliet prospered in business 
life here. Unto Mr. and Mrs. White were born a daughter and son: Annie, now 
the wife of Alexander Stearns, who was engaged in the coal, ice and livestock 
business until recently but is now suffering from ill health, he and his wife 
making their home with her mother, Mrs. White, and Joseph H., who holds a good 
position as bookkeeper in the rolling mills at Joliet. In early life Mr. White 
gave his political allegiance to the democracy but afterward became a stalwart 
republican. He was reared in the Presbyterian faith and lived a life of 
uprightness, his many excellent traits of character gaining for him an 
enviable place in public regard. Mrs. White, although now almost seventy years 
of age, is still very active and energetic and takes care of her household 
duties. She owns a nice residence at No. 121 Second avenue, where she and her 
children reside, and she also has other property on Second avenue, which she 
rents. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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