Thomas Jefferson White (1804 - 1861)

Born Apr 1804 in Kentucky

Ancestors

Husband of Frances Jane (Perry) White — married 3 Jul 1828 in Albemarle, Virginia, United States

Descendants

Died 17 Dec 1861 at age 57 in California

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Biography

• He and his brother Phillip (sic) received a 426-acre farm, Pleasant Level, which was divided between them, with Philip receiving the dwelling house. The income for the property was to be used for their education until they came of age.
• He enrolled at age 20 in the initial freshman class at the University of Virginia in 1825, where he studied medicine, law and chemistry, and graduated in June 1828.
• He lived in Florida with his brother, Joseph Mills White, for 3 years after graduating from the University of Virginia.
• Dr. T. J. White served as an Esquire on the General Staff of the 1st Regiment of the Florida Militia, which was assigned to Escambia Co, in 1830.
• He is listed in the 1833 Anderson Co Tax list near Hammonds Creek with 1 White male over 12, 2 Blacks over 16, a total of 10 Blacks, and 1 horse, with a total value of $5,400.
• He established a medical practice in St. Louis, Missouri, where he lived on Third Street for 18 years.
• His brother, Joseph Mills White, died at his home in St. Louis.
• He was President of the St. Louis Democratic Party in 1840.
• He testified in medical malpractice cases involving Dr. William Beaumont.
• He was President of the St. Louis Lyceum by 1847.
• He moved with his friend, Almarin B. Paul, and their families to California in 1849, where they settled in Sacramento.
• He represented Sacramento in California's first legislative assembly; then, moved to San Francisco in June 1852, where he was active in the Know Nothing movement, but failed to win political office.
• He moved to the Los Angeles Valley, where he practice medicine and bought and operated a wholesale and retail drug company.
• He purchased Casa Linda, a 43-acre parcel, and became a vintner.
• He also served on the Los Angeles Board of Education.
• He died on December 17, 1861 (LA Times Obit) at El Molino Viejo (The Old Mill), the home he bought for his daughter on July 12, 1859 (Crandall article).

Sources

• White, H. M., William S. White, D.D. and His Times, 1891, reprint 1983; pp. 20-21.
• Pittman, Mrs. H.D. ed, Americans of Gentle Birth and Their Ancestors, 1970, vol. II, pp 346-347, Addendum p. 403.
• Dibble, Ernest F., Joseph Mills White: Anti-Jacksonian Floridian, 2003, pp. 6, 163.
• Will of Philip White of Franklin Co, Kentucky, Jul 6, 1822, Franklin Co, Kentucky.
• 1833 Anderson County Tax List, microfilm at KY Land Office, Frankfort, KY.
• Field Officers of the Florida Militia, 1830, compiled by Nadine Doty-Tessel, Florida State Archives, The Florida Genealogist, Fall 1987, p. 12.
• U.S. Census, 1840, database, FamilySearch, St. Louis, St Louis, Missouri, p. 135.
• U.S. Census, 1860, database, FamilySearch, Thomas J. White, 1860.
• Crandell, John, The Life and Times of Thomas J. White, M.D., Southern California Quarterly, Summery, 1997, vol. LXXIX, No. 2, (includes extensive footnotes).
• Dumke, Glenn S., The Masters of San Gabriel Mission's Old Mill, California Historical Society Quarterly, unk date, vol. 45, p. 263.
• Ward, Jean Bruce, Some New Thoughts on an Old Mill, California Historical Society Quarterly, unk date, vol. 53, pp. 148-149.
• Davis, Win J., An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California, Col. Perrie Kewen, 1890, p. 369-373.
• Los Angeles Star, Dec. 21, 1861, p 2, col 3.