Mahala
(Minor) White
(1823-1885)
Mahala
(Minor) White was born on April 23,
1823 on the family farm at Sego, Perry County, near Zanesville, OH, the daughter
of Daniel and Peggy (Fluckey) Minor Sr.
With her husband, she was a pioneer settler of Missouri and Kansas, but
became a victim of the hardships of pioneer life.
As a 12-year-old, she moved with her parents to Cardington, Morrow County, OH.
On April 2, 1846, in Cardington, Mahala married local farmer Luther White (1820-1891). Luther was born near Cardington on March 4, 1820, the son of Noah and Frances (Newton) White.
Their children were Lester
White, Helen Clark, Layton White and
Frances Jeanette 'Nettie' Bailey. They
lived on a 50-acre farm at Cardington, seen here. Luther
served as a class leader at the local church, the Bethel Methodist Church, circa
1857 and 1864. He is mentioned
several times in the booklet, History of Bethel Methodist Church, published in the summer of 1951.
In 1869, they ventured west with their 4 children, becoming pioneer settlers of Haseville, Linn County, MO. The farm was about 7 miles east of Laredo, Grundy County, MO, and "near the general store, the Methodist Church and adjoining cemetery." It was likely during this stay that Mahala became a permanent invalid.
According to a family manuscript:
In 1884, all of the families, with the exception of Helen, emigrated to Barber County [in] south-central Kansas. After a long and arduous journey by rail to Harper, then by wagon, with their household goods aboard, they reached their destination and homesteaded farms about a mile southeast of the present town of Isabel, located 30 miles northeast of the historic town of Medicine Lodge, Kansas. They were among the first settlers to that sparsely settled territory.
Though in a new home in Kansas, Mahala "did not long withstand the rigors of the climate, nor the hardships of pioneer life, and died within a year." Her death occurred on New Year's Day 1885 near Isabel. She was buried in the Isabel Cemetery.
Afterward, married daughter 'Nettie' Bailey assumed the role of housekeeper in the home. Also residing there were Luther's bachelor son Layton, 4-year-old granddaughter Mabel Bailey, and son in law Richard D. Bailey. When Nettie herself was killed by lightning in 1889, Luther's granddaughter Jennie Gertrude White "went up the road to her Grandfather Luther White's house to take her place."
On Nov. 15, 1891, Luther was standing in the pulpit of the Isabel Methodist Church, conducting Sunday School. As he led the singing of the well-known hymn "Bringing in the Sheaves," he fell over and died instantly. Known as "The Gentlemen of the Plains," he was buried beside his wife.
In 1931, on a visit to the old Minor homestead in Morrow County, OH, grandson Roscoe C. Clark and his family visited the Bethel Cemetery near Cardington, and viewed the graves of his great-grandparents, Daniel and Peggy (Fluckey) Minor. He also photographed the old Luther White homestead, where "the original building was still standing and occupied by a tenant. The farm was then owned by Mrs. Myrtle Pringle Kelly…."
Granddaughter Jeannette 'Blanche' (Clark) Tarter published a landmark history of the family in 1971. In her preface to the book, she wrote:
Our forefathers were the pioneers who played such an important part in the founding and establishing of our great country. They were men of courage, brave and fearless, dedicated to God and country, who suffered many hardships and endured many privations. Let us honor and revere their memory.
In 1996, Blanche's elderly son donated her papers to the Minerd-Miner-Minor Archives.
Copyright © 2000 Mark A. Miner