The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 560
A portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Anson S. White appears in this publication.

ANSON S. WHITE.

Among the honored pioneers and foremost agriculturists of Yakima county is
numbered Anson S. White, who now resides at No. 510 North Second street, Yakima.
He was born in Grant county, Wisconsin, December 20, 1848, a son of William and
Margaret M. (Stewart) White, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of
Illinois. In 1846 the parents removed to Wisconsin with ox team and in 1850 the
father again took up the westward march, making his way by team to Portland,
Oregon. In 1851 the mother and children followed him, making the hazardous trip
with a brother and sister who also were coming west. There were at that time
five children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. William White. The winter was passed
in Portland and the family then took up their abode on a donation farm of six
hundred and forty acres near Chehalis, Washington, about twelve miles from
Olympia, where in 1856 the father was killed by Indians. The family had been
attending church, making their way back in a one-horse cart, William White
walking beside the vehicle, when the Indians stopped them. While they talked
with the father the horses ran for home and thus the family was saved. The
Indians killed Mr. White. and subsequently continuing their raid, killed another
settler. The Indians had also raided the property and taken away all of the
horses belonging to the family. Mrs. White was thus left with seven children in
most trying circumstances, the government not even paying her for the lost
horses, as it had done in several cases before. However, she courageously took
up the task of rearing her family and through her unceasing efforts she
succeeded, thus proving herself a woman of the highest qualities of character.
She lived upon the property near Chehalis until death claimed her in 1890.

Anson S. White was but two years of age when he arrived in Washington and he
therefore has been a witness of all the development that has taken place here
and that has transformed a wilderness into a wonderfully developed agricultural
district. Where Indians were wont to roam modern hamlets, villages and towns are
now seen and happy, prosperous people are the visible evidence of the progress
that has been made. Mr. White early became accustomed to frontier conditions
and had to assist in providing for the family. He acquired a public school
education, however, and throughout his life he has used every opportunity in
order to perfect his knowledge, so that he is today considered a well informed
man. In 1866 he came to Yakima county with a surveying party and so favorably
was he impressed with the opportunities here presented that in 1871 he took up
government land on the Wenas where a monument now stands, erected in memory of
the first train of white settlers that passed through Yakima county. This is now
David Longmire's ranch. He then made a trip to the Sound but in 1871 returned to
the valley and lived on the Wenas for one year. At the end of that time he
returned to the Sound and there his wife passed away. In 1872 a return trip
brought him to Yakima and this time he took up his residence in old Yakima City.
In 1878 he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, to which he added
six hundred acres, making seven hundred and sixty acres, all of which he still
owns with the exception of sixty acres. He has devoted his attention largely to
general farming, specializing, however, in dairying and the raising of cattle
and receiving a gratifying addition to his income through this line of business.
To some extent Mr. White has retired, having taken up his residence in Yakima,
his home being at No. 510 North Second street, which property he bought in 1891.

In 1869 Anson S. White was united in marriage to Nancy Hale, a native of Maine
and a daughter of Captain C. H. and Waitstill (Look) Hale. Mrs. White died in
1872 and in 1875 Mr. White wedded Almeda Tigard, a native of Portland, Oregon,
and a daughter of A. J. and Sara J. Tigard, who were pioneers of Portland,
having gone to the City of Roses from Arkansas in 1852. A. J. Tigard was born in
Arkansas, November 24, 1828, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. Upon arriving at a
point three miles west of the present city of Portland, Oregon, he settled on a
donation claim, where he lived until 1872, when he moved to Yakima county and
settled on a homestead in the Cowiche valley, where he resided until his death
on October 6, 1898. He married Sara J. Edwards on September 15, 1848, at
Currington, Missouri, and they became the parents of seven children. She was of
Welsh-Irish descent and died February 2, 1902. Mr. Tigard early in life became a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church and remained an earnest Christian
throughout his life. To Mr. and Mrs. White were born seven children. William,
who now has charge of the home farm, having taken his father's place in active
work, is married and has three children. Margaret is the wife of Ben Chaney, by
whom she has one child, and they reside in Yakima. Guy, who is married and has
four children, successfully follows ranching pursuits on the Yakima Indian
reservation. Roy, who is engaged in ranching in the Moxee district, has a wife
and two children. Aleen is a successful school teacher of Yakima. Charles Hugh,
living on a portion of the old homestead, is married and has two children. Lee
is married and is now in the United States reclamation service. All of the
children received a good education and have attained substantial positions in
life, reflecting honor upon their parents.

Both Mr. and Mrs. White are widely known in their neighborhood and have many
friends in Yakima, all of whom esteem in them honored pioneers of high qualities
of character. They are members of the Methodist church, and fraternally he
belongs to the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. Mr. White served on the school
board and has been active in the promotion of local public enterprises although
he has never been a politician in the commonly accepted sense of the word. In
his political affiliations he is a stalwart republican. There is great honor due
him for what he has achieved, as he is a self-made man, who through his labors
has attained an independent position in life.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.