Layton White
(1852-1917)
Layton White was born on June 3, 1852 near Cardington, Morrow County, OH, the son of Luther and Mahala (Minor) White.
As a teenager, he fell in love with a sweetheart, Sylvia Larkin, of Cardington. When she died soonafter, he vowed to remain true. He never married, but was said to be "frugal, honest and upright. He had those sterling qualities that frontier life coupled with Christianity develops."
In 1869, he and his parents were pioneers settlers of Haseville, MO, and in 1884 moved with them again to Isabel, Barber County, KS, when he was 32. According to a landmark history written by his niece J. Blanche Tarter:
He proved up on the claim where the town of Isabel now stands. In 1887, the Santa Fe Railroad extended its line west and went through his farm. His name appears on all abstracts of lots in the town, as he was the original owner of the townsite. In exchange, he became owner of the 160 acres to the southeast. Before the coming of the railroad, he and his brother sometimes "freighted" to Harper for supplies. While on the trips, they picked up and sold the bleached buffalo bones left on the prairie by the earlier fur traders. A few years later, he often made trips to Cairo, Kansas, where he got flour for Isabel…. He made the race for a homestead when the Cherokee Strip was opened 16 September 1893, and succeeded in staking out a claim.
Though not an artist, Layton once opened a photography studio under the name of "Mathis and White" as a favor to a friend.
He and his nephew, Otis White, spent three years in New Mexico, from 1915 to 1918, where he owned a farm.
Layton died on Nov. 24, 1917 at the St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, KS. He was buried in the White family plot at Isabel, KS.
Copyright © 2000 Mark A. Miner