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Robert
M. White
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biography
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ROBERT M. WHITE
is one of the prominent pioneers of Valley Township. His
grandfather, Nathaniel WHITE, was a farmer in Washington County,
Pennsylvania, and of English descent. He lived to the great age of
eighty years. He was married to Mary LITTLE, and they had nine
children, viz.: Nicholas, David, John, Nathaniel, Samuel, James,
Mary A., Jane and Eliza, all born in Washington County. The father
moved to Lawrence County, where he owned a farm of 200 acres and where
he died. He was a member of the United Presbyterian Church and was
a man of industrious habits and integrity in character. Samuel
WHITE, his son, and the father of our subject, was born on the farm in
Washington County, in 1806, and was reared to the life of a farmer.
He married Mary LESLIE, in Lawrence County, where he had gone with his
father when a boy. They were the parents of seven children,
namely: Nathaniel, Nancy A., Margaret, Robert, Samuel, Maria and
Eliza, all born in Lawrence County. The father owned a farm in
that county, where he died at the age of seventy-three years. Both
he and his wife were members of the United Presbyterian Church, and the
father was a comfortable farmer, an honorable man and enjoyed the
respect of his fellow citizens. His son, Samuel, was a soldier in
our great Civil War, belonging to the First Pennsylvania Volunteer
Artillery, was in several battles, and had the drum of one ear destroyed
by the discharge of the artillery.
Robert M., the subject of this sketch, was also born in Lawrence County,
December 7, 1833, and like his father before him was reared to farm
life. At the age of nineteen, he left home, and began work for
himself. At the age of twenty-one, in 1854, he went to Mercer
County, Illinois, where he remained five and a half years. In 1860
he went to Brown County, Kansas, but returned to Iowa the same year and
settled in Valley Township, Pottawattamie County, on his present farm.
Iowa was then a new country, and Valley Township had but few settlers.
His land was wild, but by dint of energy and perseverance he has
converted it into a fine fertile farm, to which he has added until he
now has 480 acres. He is a prominent citizen of this county and a
pioneer and, as such, his name will go down to posterity in the annals
of the state of Iowa. He has given each of his three sons 160
acres of land.
He was married in Mercer County, Illinois, to Martha Clark, daughter of
Charles and Sarah CLARK. The father was a native of Lawrence
County, Pennsylvania, and settled in Mercer County, Illinois, in 1850.
He came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, in 1860 and died in 1886 at the
advanced age of eighty-one years. He was a member of the
Presbyterian Church, as was also his wife, but in Iowa they joined the
Baptist Church. He was an industrious man, and well known to the
early settlers. Mr. And Mrs. CLARK were the parents of six
children, viz.: Uriah, William, Samuel, Margaret, Martha and
Catherine. Mr. And Mrs. WHITE have had six children:
Charles, Warren, Uriah, Leslie, Edmond, and one who died when young.
Warren was a graduate of the State University and was a lawyer by
profession, but while at his home and while assisting in the harvest
field, he was instantly killed by lightning. He was unmarried but
was a young man of great promise. His death was a severe blow to
his parents and friends. Socially, Mr. WHITE is an Odd Fellow and
politically a Republican. He was Township Trustee seven years and
Clerk sixteen years. He stands high in his county as a man of
integrity and good judgment and his honor is unimpeached.
Extracted from Biographical History
of Pottawattamie County, Iowa; pub. 1891, The Lewis Publishing Company;
page 548.
Submitted by Mona Sarratt Knight, USGenWeb
page for Pottawattamie County, Iowa
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