Edwin Terry White Biography


	This biography appears on pages 467-468 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				HON. EDWIN TERRY WHITE. 

	Hon. Edwin Terry White, mayor of Yankton, who for many years has 
occupied a prominent and enviable position in legal and business 
circles of the city, is a native son of New England, his birth having 
occurred at Woodstock, Vermont, on the 6th of June, 1847. His parents 
were Samuel and Elizabeth (Elliott) White, both of whom were natives of 
New Hampshire. The father was born in January, 1800, and was descended 
in the paternal line from Scotch-English ancestry and in the maternal 
line was of an old American family. The White family can trace their 
genealogy back to earliest colonial days, when three brothers came from 
England and settled in the northeastern portion of this country. One 
branch of the family was finally established in New Hampshire and it is 
to that branch that Edwin Terry White belongs. Many representatives of 
the name have attained prominence as history has progressed and all of 
the wars of the country have found its members among the participants 
in the struggle. They have made prominent places for themselves in 
military, professional and commercial circles in the various 
communities with which they have been identified. The grandfather of 
Edwin T. White was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. 

	Samuel White became a wood carver, serving a seven years' 
apprenticeship and attaining high rank as an artistic and skilled 
workman. Evidences of his superior ability are seen in the woodwork of 
the state capitol at Montpelier, Vermont. His skill gained him wide and 
favorable acquaintance throughout New England and there were frequent 
demands made upon him for work of that character. He removed from New 
Hampshire to Vermont and there spent his remaining days. He married 
Elizabeth Elliott, whose father was a soldier of the War of 1812 and 
became one of the pioneers of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where he acquired 
a splendid estate. His death there occurred during the cholera epidemic 
of 1833. There were eleven children in the family of Samuel and 
Elizabeth White, namely: George, who was a soldier of the Sixth Vermont 
Regiment during the Civil war and is now deceased; John E., deceased, 
who was leader of a New Hampshire band in the Civil war; Stephen P., 
who became a member of Company C, Sixth Vermont Infantry, and was 
killed in the second battle of Winchester, Virginia, September 24, 
1864; Samuel G., who was a member of the same regiment and now resides 
in Cove, Oregon; Charles K., who makes his home in Randolph, Vermont; 
Edwin T., of this review; Elizabeth E., deceased; Emily B.; Frances, 
who has passed away; Mary C. V., whose home is in Concord, New 
Hampshire; and David A., deceased. 

	Edwin Terry White acquired his education in the public schools of 
his native city and started out in life for himself at the age of 
fourteen years. He was employed in many ways, working as a farm 
laborer, as a peddler and carpenter, and, carefully hoarding his 
earnings, he acquired a sufficient sum to enable him to meet his 
expenses while attending high school. He was very anxious to improve 
his education and throughout life has had continuous desire to broaden 
his knowledge and gain understanding of those things which are of vital 
worth to the individual and to the country. After completing his high-
school course he again worked in various ways until appointed second 
assistant clerk of the Vermont legislature. In the meantime, beginning 
when eighteen years of age, he read law in the office of Converse & 
French, well known attorneys of Woodstock, Vermont. At the same time he 
was forced to support himself, devoting his evenings to study and his 
days to labor. His efforts were thus considerably hampered, but his 
difficulty seemed to serve as an impetus for renewed effort and, 
continuing his reading, he was admitted to practice on his twenty-
second birthday. 

	Immediately alter being admitted to the bar Judge White started 
westward, going first to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and later to Marshalltown, 
that state, where C. J. B. Harris, now of Yankton, was then living. In 
company with Mr. Harris he came to South Dakota. in 1870, arriving in 
Yankton on the 7th of July of that year. They formed a law partnership 
which was continued for a year, at the end of which time Mr. White 
became associated with Hon. S. L. Spink, formerly territorial delegate 
to congress. This firm maintained its existence for three years and 
made a memorable record. Judge White has since practiced alone, but has 
gradually abandoned the law for the conduct of an insurance, real-
estate and loan business, which he manages in connection with the 
discharge of his official duties as mayor of Yankton and as United 
States commissioner. He was elected judge of the Yankton county courts 
in 1889 and served upon the bench for seven years, his decisions being 
strictly fair and impartial. He has served also as police justice, as 
justice of the peace and as city clerk, and in 1909 was elected mayor 
of Yankton, in which position he discharged his duties with such 
capability that he was reelected in 1910 for a term of five years under 
the commission form of government and is the present incumbent of that 
office. He is most highly esteemed and honored by reason of his able 
discharge of public duties. He is one of the leading republicans in his 
part of the state, stands very high in party councils and has always 
been active in support of party principles. Mr. White was one of the 
originators and was the secretary and treasurer of the first company in 
South Dakota to dig an artesian well. They completed his well in the 
spring of 1881, obtaining a big flow of water, and since then thousands 
of wells have been dug in South Dakota. Mr. White took up the 
subscription for the funds for this well, which was the first artesian 
well in South Dakota, although historians have credited the first well 
to another place in the state. 

	On the 1st of January, 1874, Mr. White was united in marriage to 
Miss Mary L. Bagley, of Bethel, Vermont. They have always taken a 
progressive interest in supporting charitable movements and they stand 
for that which is best for the community and for the individual. Mr. 
White is a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, A. F. & A. M., of which 
he was worshipful master for three years. He is likewise a member of 
Oriental Consistory, No. 1, S. P. R. S., of Yankton, in which he has 
been registrar for many years, and he is the secretary of the Scottish 
Rite Temple Association of Yankton. He is a member of De Molay 
Commandery, No. 3, K. T., and is an honorary thirty-third degree Mason, 
having been given that degree in October, 1905. He also belongs to 
Keystone Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star of Yankton, and is a member 
of Dakota Lodge, No. 1, I. O. O. F. He is today one of the best known 
citizens of Yankton and his part of the state and for a long period has 
exerted a beneficial influence over public thought and action.