Cumberland County, Maine - John S. White
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Biography
John S. White
Biographical Review
Cumberland County, Maine
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1896
Page 426-427


John S. White, of Portland, Me. A man never quite belongs to the great public or
his acquaintances, but only to the extent of certain external duties and
observances required of him from these sources. In this respect he pays the
penalty of position or acquired reputation outside of his immediate family
circle, but more truly outside of himself. However humble the individual, it is
himself, the Ego, which about fills the horoscope of his life and life
experiences, however trifling and unimportant these may be to outsiders. From
this point of view a work of the character of the volume now in hand is one of
remarkable interest, because one's own biography affords the most entertaining
reading he can possibly be favored with; and, second only to this, his life is
recorded in living print for the gratification of generations in the family line
yet unborn. Herein lies the great value of this work, a family record, or record
for the family, which makes it fairly excusable for the biographer to indulge in
the rare privilege of talking unreservedly about himself, relating the minor
incidents, accidents, and experiences of his life to interested and appreciative
readers.

The subject of this sketch was born in Portland, October 27, 1838. He is the son
of Mary Y. and Darius White, parents whom he honored and revered, both of whom
sprang from old Colonial ancestry. On the maternal side he belongs to the oldest
native family of New England that was not of original stock, being a descendant
of Thomas Young, of Scituate, Mass., who married Sarah, daughter of Peregrine
White, the first child of European extraction born in New England.

After a somewhat turbulent boyhood, such as is incident to boys who are "all"
boys, being of a venturesome and adventurous spirit, which led him, at least on
two occasions, into "scrapes" or accidents, which came near terminating his then
very brief existence, he began to prepare for the serious business of life. He
attended the primary, grammar, and high schools of his native city, and entered
Waterville College (now Colby) in the class of 1861. He remained in college only
one year, and then commenced the study of law in the office of Fessenden &
Butler, of Portland, completing his legal studies at the Law School of Harvard
University, Cambridge, Mass.

He was admitted to the Cumberland bar July 17, 1860, and, after two years'
practice in Portland, enlisted as a private August 2, 1862, in Company E,
Seventeenth Maine Regiment, of which company he was appointed Orderly Sergeant,
August 10. His military career was brief, he being discharged for disability in
the following spring, and sent to Trinity Hospital, Washington, and afterward to
Calvert Street Hospital, Baltimore, where he was laid up for some time. After
recovering his health he made a trip to the interior of Mexico during the period
of the Maximilian War, and, there losing his little available capital, was
obliged to start for home, tramping the highway for many weary miles, night and
day, during which he came near being shot as an (alleged) "d--d Frenchman " by a
party of guerillas, many bands of whom were then encamped in the woods along the
route. While on this tramp, he met one day two horsemen riding toward him, who,
on coming up, halted for a chat or for some other purpose. One of them said he
was a Colonel in the Confederate service. By a singular coincidence, within one
month from that date the subject of this sketch met the same gentleman, astride
the same horse, five thousand miles away from that spot, crossing the
Mississippi on a ferry-boat, then running from Winona, Minn., to the Wisconsin
side of the river.

Obtaining passage from Vera Cruz to New York, Mr. White left Mexico, and shortly
after his return to the States moved to Chicago and opened a law office there.
He met with good success. The times were booming then, especially in a place
like Chicago; but, receiving from his father an offer which promised to be more
immediately profitable, he returned to Boston, and took charge of a branch
concern there, and remained in the business from 1866 to 1888.

Mr. White has never confined himself so closely to business or the law as to he
unable to use his energies in other directions. He has done a great deal of
newspaper and literary work. Before commencing the practice of law he was
connected with the Evening Courier, a Portland war paper; and in July, 1864, he
revived the old Maine Temperance Journal, and kept it alive till the funds,
furnished more liberally by the Hon. John M. Wood than by the subscribers, gave
out. Before this date and after, he did considerable service in the cause of
prohibition and temperance, lecturing throughout Maine, Illinois, and other
States. From 1884, for eight or ten years, he took a conspicuous part in the
promotion of prohibitory legislation and for the advancement of the Prohibition
party. He served as Chairman of the State Committee, and was nominated for
various county and State offices. Aside from this he never took any active part
in politics.

During his business career and for business purposes he travelled very
extensively through the Western and Southern States, and also made a brief trip
to Europe, journeying through England, France, and Italy. In 1894 he published a
book entitled "Humanics," which met with flattering success, having at least
gone through a large first edition. Mr. White is still a young man, or thinks
himself so, and has not, as he believes, reached the end of a somewhat active
career. He has resumed the practice of law, and is now domiciled in one of the
most beautiful summer residences in Maine, on the shore of Long Lake, Naples.