My Genealogy Hound

MRS. S. B. WHITE, the subject of this sketch, was born in Greenfield, Saratoga County, N. Y., November 22, 1826. William Brown, her father, was born in Rhode Island in 1798, of parents whose lineage included the name of Roger Williams and the Windsors and Browns of the early religious and political life of New England. He inherited from such ancestry the deep religious faith and earnest political convictions to which he adhered through a long, consistent and useful life. From early manhood he was a resident of Saratoga County, N. Y., where he was united in marriage in the year 1823 to Hannah Grippin, whose sterling qualities of practical piety, good sense, energy and thrift attested her New England origin. In 1854 they removed to Watervliet, Mich., where the remainder of their honored and respected lives was passed. Mr. Brown died in 1876, at the age of seventy-eight years. His wife died in 1890, aged eighty-eight years.

Mrs. White was one of three children, the others being Jerusha A., now residing in Saratoga County, N. Y.; and Mary B. Lee, residing in Minneapolis, Minn. Mrs. White’s early life was passed in Saratoga County, N. Y. She received her education in the common schools of Saratoga County and at Glens Falls Academy, and for six years or more taught in the schools of Saratoga County, N. Y. In 1853 she went to Milwaukee, Wis., where she was chosen to fill the position of teacher in the preparatory department of the Milwaukee Female College, where she remained for years previous to her marriage.

The paternal grandfather of Mrs. White, Benjamin Brown, was a native of Rhode Island, and a farmer by occupation. Unto him and his wife, whose maiden name was Huldah Windsor, were born three sons and two daughters, three of whom, William, Windsor and Lydia, married and reared families, while two remained single. Grandfather Brown and his good wife settled in Saratoga County, N. Y., in an early day, and spent the remainder of their days in that community. They were people of great worth of character. He was a Universalist and she a Baptist in religious opinions.

August 28, 1856, our subject was united in marriage with Dr. Benjamin F. White, who was born in Cherry Valley, N. Y., in May, 1828, being the son of George and Artemisia (Havens) White, natives of the Empire State. The father, who was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal denomination, was sent about 1840 to Green Bay, where he was one of the pioneer preachers. In 1852 he went to California, and afterward spent a few years in Fond du Lac County, Wis.

First a Whig and later a Republican, the Rev. Mr. White was quite active in politics. During the Civil War he received the appointment of clerk in the War Department, and afterward was transferred to the Pension Department. He died about 1885 at Washington, D. C., at the age of eighty-six. He had retired from active work about three years prior to his demise. Possessing mental gifts of an unusually high order, he was peculiarly fitted for ministerial work, and was one of the most successful preachers in that denomination. His wife, a woman of rare mental qualities and strength of character, passed away at the age of eighty-three, at Washington, D. C. They were the parents of six children.

In the common schools of the various places where his father resided, Benjamin F. White received his education. He commenced the study of medicine with his uncle, Dr. Havens, in Cherry Valley, and in the spring of 1856 was graduated from Rush Medical College, Chicago. In 1852 he went to California and remained for two years, returning thence to the East and entering Rush College, as above stated. At the close of his studies, he opened an office in Two Rivers, Wis., where he conducted his practice for a time. Later he went to Prairie du Chien, Wis., where he conducted an extensive practice.

In the spring of 1861 he was commissioned Surgeon of the First Wisconsin Infantry, Col. Starkweather commanding. To him belonged the distinction of having been the first surgeon appointed in the State. At the end of the three months’ campaign he was compelled to resign on account of being afflicted with chronic diarrhoea, and, being too ill to join his regiment at its re-organization, returned to his home, honorably discharged, where he remained until the spring of 1862. He was then solicited to go to Madison, Wis., and superintend the work of preparing the hospital for the reception of prisoners from Island No. 10, but pending a second appointment in the army as surgeon, was again taken ill, and died at Madison May 1, 1862. He was one of the prominent physicians of the State and was identified with the State Medical Association. In his social connections, he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

At the age of eighteen Mrs. White united with the Baptist Church, and after the death of her husband she joined the Congregational Church at Watervliet, Mich. She is the mother of two children, one of whom survives, Benjamin F., who was born in Watervliet, and is now a resident of that village. July 2, 1891, he married Miss Ida E. Floodman, the daughter of John and Ida E. Floodman, of Trade Lake, Wis.