INTRODUCTION

This History of White County is presented to the public without apology or excuse. More than four score years have passed since the organization of the county, and on the eve of the celebration of our State's Centennial, the writer was convinced that the proper time had arrived to place, in permanent form, a history of our early settlers, their labors, struggles and achievements. These early settlers of White County were very largely composed of industrious, earnest, God-fearing people, of whom we, their descendants, should justly feel proud. England's great Gladstone truthfully says, "That the man who does not worthily estimate his own dead forefathers will himself do very little to add credit or honor to his country." Pride of ancestry is an attribute peculiar to the human race, but in our pursuit of wealth, honor or position, we often lose sight of those who have preceded us, and when this happens we fail to profit by their example. This is to be deplored. Our best lessons are learned by a study of the lives of those who have left to us a record of self-denial, industry and success.

As a further reason for placing this work before the public, our schools are being made the medium through which local history is taught, and without some work on the subject, the teacher would be obliged to rely largely on tradition which is often fallacious, misleading and erroneous.

No person now living can, from personal knowledge, give an account of the organization and early settlement of our county, and such items as were not found in the records of the White County Historical Society, the files of the local newspapers, or in the records of the various county offices, have been written after a careful search for the truth among those whose accounts often differed, and in such cases the writer has been compelled to accept the version which seemed to him the most credible--of course in such cases it is not claimed that errors have not occurred.

An earnest effort has been made to give a succinct account of the Indian grants, the early settlers, the organization of the various townships and towns within the county, all of which being supplemented with brief sketches of our earliest inhabitants, who have long since passed away, will doubtless prove of interest to the general reader. These brief biographies are often fragmentary and incomplete, but they include all that could be gleaned without recourse to tradition. The compilation of these biographical sketches was accomplished with the expenditure of many days of earnest, unremitting toil, for which the writer neither expects nor asks any compensation. These first settlers have gone their way. To them we owe much of what we enjoy today, and ere their memories are forgotten, we cheerfully inscribe in our local history a tribute to their virtues.

The illustrations in these volumes will be of interest to future generations, as all of them were made from recent photographs and are authentic in every particular. They convey much more information than can be gleaned from the printed page.

The writer is under obligations to all who have in any way assisted him in his labors. He is under especial obligations to Mr. Jay B. Van Buskirk and Mr. James P. Simons, the former for nearly thirty years editor of the Monticello Herald, the latter for twenty years occupying the same relation to the White County Democrat. To both these gentlemen he extends his heartfelt gratitude. Their assistance, freely given, is fully appreciated.

Finally, as before stated, this history is presented without apology or excuse, nor is any charity or indulgence asked of the reader; but it is earnestly hoped it may be the means of awakening a deeper interest in our local history, and a fuller appreciation of our blessings and comforts vouchsafed to us by the labors and privations of White County's pioneers.