George
H. White
(1863-1957?)
George H. White was born in April 1863 in Hopwood, Fayette County, PA, the son of Perry G. and Mariah (Minerd) White.
In 1880, at age 17, George was living with his parents in Hopwood and working as a laborer. By 1912 he had moved to Pittsburgh, PA, and worked as a foreman of Block Signal Service.
In about 1884, George married Helen "Ella" Daugherty (1865-1930s), the daughter of Alexander and Julia Daugherty. The Whites had five children -- Arthur Earskin White, George "Albert" White, Hazel A. McManus, William White and Mary J. Kapan.
Circa 1900, the Whites resided on Dyke Street in Hazelwood, a community near Pittsburgh, where George was employed as a day laborer, and their eldest son Albert, age 16, was a grocery clerk. Following a popular family occupation, George was a signalman for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
When the federal census was taken in 1910, Ellen was enumerated as head of her household, at age 43, with son Albert and daughters Hazel and Mary. Ellen is marked as being married, for 26 years, but George's whereabouts are not indicated. The family resided that year on Elizabeth Street in Pittsburgh.
George and Ellen moved to Harmony, Butler County, PA sometime before 1930, where he continued his work on the railroad. Their home was along Perry Highway, today known as "Route 19." During this time, a grandson came for a visit, staying for two weeks and receiving a fishing pole as a gift, which he used with joy in a nearby creek.
Ellen suffered from throat cancer, and passed away in Harmony sometime between 1930 and 1935.
George outlived Ellen by more than two decades. As he aged, he moved into the home of his son George in Allegheny County, PA. He is believed to have died there in about 1957, at the age of 94.
The Whites are mentioned in the 1912 book by John W. Jordan and James Hadden, Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette and Greene Counties.
Daughter Mary White ( ? - ? ) married (?) Kapan. He is said to have been a vice president with either the Peoples Natural Gas Company or the Equitable Natural Gas Company.
Daughter Hazel White ( ? - ? ) married (?) McManus. More will be added here when learned.
Son
Arthur Earskin White (1884-1935) is one of a tragic many cousins to lose their
lives in the coal,
coke and steel workplace. He also labored on the railroad and as an
electrician as a young man. He is seen at left, posed with a favorite gun
and the deer he shot with it. After leaving home, he found work in the coal fields
of Western Pennsylvania as a master mechanic, superintendent and assistant
superintendent. He played on and managed a baseball team in Hopwood, and later
managed a team at the Clyde Mine. He is said to have been president of the
United Mine Workers of America local union No. 688, the second person to hold
that office. He married Roberta "Berdie" Estlick (1894-
? ) and had 11 children -- Leona White, Alfaretta Hackney, Florence Fullem, Arthur
H. "Pete" White, Donald H. White, Gwendolyn F. Price Crossland, Holbert J. White, Eileen B.
Hess, Dorothy Bergamasco Jackson, Harold H. White and George White. Circa 1920, they lived at the Revere Coke Works near Uniontown, Fayette County,
where Arthur was a machinist in the coke plant. The 1930 census shows the family
in Luzerne Township, Fayette County, with Arthur continuing his skill as a coal
mine machinist. Tragically, on Thanksgiving Day 1935, he was found badly
injured, with a fractured skull, after falling into a coal barge while working
at W.J. Rainey Inc.'s Clyde Mine in Fredericktown, Washington County, PA. He
died a day later at Brownsville General Hospital, at the age of 57. A newspaper
article claimed that just prior to his death, Earskin had drawn his first pay in
more than a year due to debts he owed to the company store. His remains were
laid to rest in the Hopwood Cemetery, near the final resting place as his
grandparents and great grandparents.
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Arthur Earskin White washes his grimy hands in a bucket at the Clyde Mine near Fredericktown, shortly before he was killed there. |
Granddaughter Leona Beatrice White (1910-1937) moved to Fairmont, Marion County, WV, making her home on Jefferson Street. She suffered from a perforated gastric ulcer, and died following surgery in Fairmont at the age of 27 on Nov. 1, 1937. Her remains were returned to Hopwood for burial.
Granddaughter Florence White ( ? -1995) married Albert Fullem. They resided in the Uniontown area.
Granddaughter Alfretta White ( ? -1978) married Clark Hackney and lived in Uniontown.
Granddaughter Gwendolyn White ( ? -1990s) married Ed Price and Morris Crossland. She had three children, and also collected vintage Mustang automobiles.
Granddaughter Eileen White ( ? -1983) married Spike Lewis and William Hess. She had 11 grandchildren and died in 1983. Her son William Hess Jr. served in Vietnam, and her great-grandson James Rohrer served in Grenada with the 82nd Airborne.
Grandson Arthur "Pete" White ( ? -2002) married Helen. He served in the US Army 77th Infantry and saw action on Okinawa, receiving a Distinguished Service Cross for heroism. He retired from the Clyde Mine in Fredericktown, and passed away in 2002.
Grandson Donald White ( ? -1998) married Lillian and had four children. He retired from the Clyde Mine and died in 1998.
Grandson Holbert White married Elaine Castana and had three children. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, and his ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during the battle of Leyte Gulf. When he was a boy, he visited with his great-aunts Annie Hopwood and Mollie Daugherty in the town of Hopwood. They showed him Civil War memorabilia and took him around town to meet other relatives still living there.
Grandson Harold White married Genevieve and has two children. During his working career, he labored at the Clyde Mine and also worked for Ford Motor Company in Ohio. During World War II, he served with the military police in Italy, and following the war was on duty during the Nazi war crime trials in Nuremburg, Germany. (Another cousin, David Olson, was at Nuremburg as a military guard of the prison cell of Nazi war criminal Herman Goering.)
Grandson George White married Julie and had three children. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War.
Copyright © 2000-2004, 2007 Mark A. Miner