An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, by Rev. H.K. Hines, D.D., The
Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, IL., 1893

WILLIAM H. WHITE, one of the leading attorneys of the Seattle bar, was born in
Wellsburg, Brooke county, West Virginia, May 28, 1842, and was the eldest son of
Thompson and Sarah (Fulton) White, natives of Pennsylvania and descendants of
pioneer settlers of that State. Thompson White was a miller by trade and
occupation, owning and operating both flour and saw mills at Wellsburg, where he
passed his life. He was a Whig in early life, but with the breaking out of the
war he became a Unionist and a stanch Republican, though being of a retiring
disposition he never was very active in political life. William H. received his
early instruction from the private schools of the State, and then entered
Vermillion Institute at Hagersville, Ohio, and was there engaged when the war
broke out. In May, 1862, he enlisted at Ashland, in Company B, One Hundred and
Second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but after three months in the field was
promoted as First Sergeant. Their service was in the Army of the Cumberland,
under Generals Buell, Rosecrans and Thomas. After passing through a number of
battles, Mr. White was seriously wounded at Athens, Alabama, in the fall of
1804, and was discharged at the close of the war. Returning to his home in
Wellsburg, he entered upon the study of law in the office of Hon. Joseph H.
Pendleton, an eminent lawyer of West Virginia, and was admitted to the bar
before the Supreme Court of West Virginia in 1868. Shortly afterward he was
elected Probate Judge of Brooke county, on the Democratic ticket, and re-elected
to the same office in 1810, which he resigned in 1871, after deciding to remove
to the Territory of Washington. He arrived in Seattle in 1871, without an
acquaintance in the Northwest. The population of Seattle then numbered about
1,200, the leading practitioners of law being Hon. John J. McGilvra, James
McNaught and Colonel Charles H. Larrabee. Soon after arrival Mr. White entered
into co-partnership with Colonel Larrabee, which association continued up to
1873, when, with the failure of Jay Cooke and the general stagnation of
business, Mr. White decided to go to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He soon became
dissatisfied with the East, and in 1874 returned to Seattle and resumed his
partnership interest with Colonel Larrabee, which continued until 1877, when the
Colonel withdrew to go to California. Mr. White then continued alone up to 1881,
when a co-partnership was formed with his present associate, Charles F. Munday.
This partnership has continued without change, and to-day the law firm of White
& Munday is recognized as the oldest legal firm in the State. In 1876 Mr. White
was elected by the Democratic party as Prosecuting Attorney for the Third
Judicial District, which then embraced the counties of Pierce, King, Snohomish,
Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Jefferson, Clallam and Kitsap. Under his
administration the only white person legally executed in the Territory west of
the Cascade mountains, up to the admission to Statehood, was convicted and
sentenced in King county. In 1878 Mr. White was elected a member of the
Legislative Assembly of the Territory, and served as Chairman of the Judiciary
Committee. In 1884 he was sent by the citizens of Seattle to Washington,
District of Columbia, to urge upon Congress the forfeiture of the unearned land
grant of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, and argued the case before the
Committee on Public Lands, both of the Senate and House of Representatives. The
effect of the movement was to hurry forward the construction of the Cascade
branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad. In 1884 the nomination of Mr. White by
the Democratic convention as Delegate to Congress was strongly urged by the
people of western Washington, and he was defeated by only a few votes. In July,
1885, he was appointed United States Attorney by President Cleveland, and
remained in that office until the admission of the Territory to Statehood, in
November, 1889. During the anti-Chinese riot in February, 1886, Mr. White took
an active part in the defense of the city and the conviction of the instigators
of the uprising. He also prosecuted offenders for similar offenses at Olympia,
and succeeded in convicting six individuals and sending them to the
penitentiary, which had a salutary effect upon the final solution of the
question. Mr. White has always taken a decisive stand on the school question and
has advocated progression in buildings and facilities to elevate the standard of
the public schools. The firm have been attorneys for the Board of Education of
the city for a number of years, besides representing a number of corporations
and conducting a large general practice. Mr. White has not neglected his
opportunities for investment. He owns, near Redmond, a valuable farm of 320
acres, which is being highly improved, and also a handsome cottage home on the
corner of Stevens and Mina streets, bordering on Lake Washington, where he
resides. Mr. White is not married. Socially, he is Fast Grand Master of St.
John's Lodge, No. 9, F. & A. .M., and Past Commander of Stevens Post, G.A.R.

Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in January 2004 by Jeffrey L. Elmer

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Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies
Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individual featured in the biographies.