William White, a long-time resident of Beatrice, Nebraska, was born on May 8, 1845, in Greene County, Tennessee. He hailed from an esteemed southern family; his father, Abraham White, and mother, Nancy Jennings, were both Tennessee natives. During the Civil War, William enlisted in Company G, Fourth East Tennessee Volunteer Infantry on November 7, 1862, and served bravely under Colonel Patterson and Captain West. Post-war, he managed the family farm until 1874 before moving to Illinois and then to Nebraska. William settled in Beatrice after a few years in Pawnee City and successfully ran a hotel. He suffered from chronic rheumatism due to wartime diseases. William married Mary J. White in 1866, and they had three children: Lydia, Josie, and Ella Hill.
William White is a citizen of Beatrice, Nebraska, of twenty-three years’ standing, and with a life record of efficiency, integrity, and honorable worth in every capacity in which he has been called upon to act. He is esteemed not only for the part he has taken in business affairs since coming to this state, but also as one from a border state who responded to the appeal of his government during the Civil War and followed the flag in many campaigns and took part in much hard service.
Mr. White was born in Greene County, Tennessee, on May 8, 1845, and was a member of an old and aristocratic southern family. His father, Abraham White, was born and reared in Tennessee, and there married Miss Nancy Jennings, also of a good southern family. They had eight children, four sons and four daughters, and three sons were soldiers in the Civil War, namely: Joseph, now deceased, who was in a Missouri regiment; William; and John. The parents both died in Tennessee, the mother in middle life and the father at the age of seventy-four.
Mr. White was reared on a Tennessee farm, and early learned the virtues of industry and thrift. He was still a boy in years when the war came on, but was possessed of the fiery ardor of his race, and on November 7, 1862, enlisted in Company G, Fourth East Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Patterson and Captain West. The regiment saw much active service and some hard fighting, and during all his service Mr. White proved himself a brave and dutiful soldier, seldom missing a roll call, never negligent of duty, and never flinching from the danger of shot and shell or the exposure and weariness of marching and the camp. After the war, he acted as manager of the farm until 1874, and in June of that year moved to Illinois, and later came to Nebraska. He lived about three years in Pawnee City, and since that time has been in Beatrice. For a number of years, he conducted a hotel and was one of the most popular men in that line of business in southeastern Nebraska. During the war, he contracted several diseases and has been a severe sufferer from chronic rheumatism ever since, so that his efficiency in many ways has been much impaired.
Mr. White was married in Tennessee in 1866 to Miss Mary J. White (not related), who has been his faithful helpmate for nearly forty years. They have been the parents of three children: Lydia, Josie, and Mrs. Ella Hill, of Barber County, Kansas.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company, A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska, 2 volumes, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.