Webster County, West Virginia Biography of JAMES W. WHITE ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , March 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 88 JAMES W. WHITE. That Mr. White is a citizen of maxi- mum progressiveness and influence in Webster City, judicial center of Webster County, needs no further voucher than the statement that here he is serving as postmaster and is also editor, publisher and active manager of the Webster Republican, a weekly newspaper that is an effective expo- nent of local interests and of the principles of the repub- lican party. Mr. White was born at Kingwood, Preston County, West Virginia, on the 2d of December, 1858, and is a son of John N. and Malinda J. (Feather) White, both likewise natives of Preston County, where the respective families were founded in the pioneer days, when that section was on the frontier of the western part of Virginia. John N. White was reared under the influences and conditions of the pi- oneer days, and in his youth learned the carpenter trade, to which he continued to devote his attention at Albright, Pres- ton County, until the Civil war began. His loyalty to the Union was signalized by his prompt enlistment in 1861 as a member of a regiment of West Virginia volunteer infantry, and he continued in active service, with a record of valor in numerous battles and minor engagements, until he was captured by Confederate forces and incarcerated in historic Andersonville Prison, the hardships of which he endured un- til his death, which there occurred in 1864. His widow sur- vived him many years, both having become earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church long prior to the separation of the bodies of the denomination in the North and the South, incidental to the Civil war. They became the parents of four children: Letitia is the wife of William R. Shaffer, a representative teacher at Morgan- town; James W., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Joseph O. is a prosperous farmer in Upshur; and Mrs. Eliza Porsythe is deceased, as is also her husband. The schools of his native county afforded to James W. White his youthful education, and there also he served his apprenticeship to the printer's trade, which as a jour- neyman he thereafter followed in various newspaper offices. He became associated with E. M. Heermans as one of the editors and publishers of the Preston County Journal at Kingwood, and after a period of ten years he sold his in- terest in this paper and became editor and publisher of the Preston Leader and New Era. With this paper he contin- ued his active alliance until 1910, when he purchased the plant and business of the Webster Republican, of which he has since been editor and publisher and which has been brought to a high standard under his vigorous and pro- gressive management. While a resident of Kingwood Mr. White there served two years as postmaster, besides which he represented his native county two terms in the Lower House of the State Legislature. He has been a resolute and resourceful advocate and supporter of the principles and policies for which the republican party has ever stood spon- sor in a basic way, and has done much to advance its local interests, both through his newspapers and his activity in its councils and campaign work. At Kingwood he still re- tains affiliation with Preston Lodge No. 90, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The maiden name of Mrs. White was Nettie F. Graham, and she likewise was born and reared in Preston County. They had children: Martha J., a gradu- ate of Shepherd College, is the wife of William B. Snyder, of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and Kathleen, who is deceased. Mrs. White, the mother of these children, died February 1, 1896. On March 5, 1921, Mr. White married Mrs. Helen Purinton Liady, of New York City, but a na- tive of Preston County, West Virginia.