Barclay White

Barclay White (April 4, 1821 – November 23, 1906)[1] was Superintendent of Indian Affairs during the administration of American president Ulysses S. Grant,[2] a published authority on the history of West Jersey and the genealogy of local families,[3] and a pioneering New Jersey cranberry farmer.[4][5]

Barclay White
United States Superintendent of Indian Affairs
In office
1871–1878
Personal details
BornApril 4, 1821
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedNovember 23, 1906(1906-11-23) (aged 85)
Mount Holly Township, New Jersey
Resting placeArney's Mount Friends Meetinghouse and Burial Ground,
Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Rebecca Merritt Lamb
Beulah Sansom Shreve
Adele Wills
ChildrenHoward, b: April 12, 1844
Joseph Josiah, b: January 22, 1846
George Foster, b: Nov. 13, 1847
Barclay, Jr., b: February 20, 1850
ProfessionCranberry grower

Barclay White was born of Quaker parentage at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Joseph White (December 28, 1785 – May 25, 1827) and Rebecca Smith, his wife.[6] His father and uncle, Josiah White, were prominent entrepreneurs.[7][8] He became an orphan at the age of six. White was educated at Westtown School, Westtown Township, Pennsylvania, and Smith's Academy, Wilmington, Delaware.

White lived for many years on his farm at Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey.[9] He was married three times,[10][11] fathering five sons. The children of Barclay and Rebecca Merritt (Lamb) White were: Howard, born April 12, 1844; Joseph Josiah, born January 22, 1846; George Foster, born November 13, 1847; and Barclay Jr., born February 20, 1850, and with his second wife, Beulah, Daniel Smith White born 1853.[12][13] Joseph J. White's daughter, Elizabeth Coleman White, pioneered the development and commercialization of the cultivated blueberry.

Barclay White died at Mount Holly Township, New Jersey and was interred at Arney's Mount Friends Meetinghouse and Burial Ground, Springfield Township.[14]

References
  1. Jordan, John Woolf (1914). A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people. Lewis Historical Publishing Co.; pp. 990-992.
  2. The New York Times, November 24, 1906: "Mr. White attained prominence in National public life when in 1871 to 1878 he was United States Superintendent of Indian Affairs, having charge of seven tribes and six agencies."
  3. The New York Times, November 24, 1906: "Mount Holly, N. J., Nov. 23.- Barclay White, 85 years old, of this city, a descendant of one of the oldest families in this part of New Jersey and one of the oldest settlers in Mount Holly, a prominent citizen of this country, a literary man of some prominence, and a genealogist of recognized reputation, died here to-day after a long illness."
  4. History of cranberry farming in New Jersey. Archived August 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Accessed May 2, 2008. "By the middle of the nineteenth century, the cranberry business had a stronghold in New Jersey especially in the Pinelands in such isolated locales as Ongs Hat, Double Trouble, Mount Misery, Oriental, Calico, Friendship, Penny Pot, and Hog Wallow. There, Barclay White, J. A. Fenwick, D. H. Shreve and Theodore Budd—the founding fathers of the New Jersey cranberry industry—moved New Jersey's cranberry business out of the experimental stage and into a commercial industry."
  5. Lurie, Maxine N. and Marc Mappen (2004), The encyclopedia of New Jersey, New Jersey: New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, p. 182: "Initially, cranberries were harvested from the wild in natural bogs and along stream banks. In 1851 the first cranberry plants were planted by Barclay White in prepared bogs that were established by controlling water levels through an elaborate system of dams, reservoirs, and water control structures."
  6. Shourds, Thomas (1876), History and genealogy of Fenwick's Colony, New Jersey, New Jersey: Bridgeton, pp. 308-24: "Christopher White family" ISBN 0-8063-0714-5
  7. Morton, Eleanor (1946), Josiah White: prince of pioneers, New York: Stephen Daye Press
  8. Shourds, pp. 314-20
  9. New Jersey Mirror (Mount Holly, New Jersey), December 18, 1907: "The subscribers, executors of the estate of Barclay White, deceased, will offer at public sale, on the premises, on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, the farm known as Pine Land farm, midway between Jobstown and Juliustown, Springfield township, Burlington county, N. J.,"
  10. Shourds, p. 314: "Barclay married Rebecca Merritt Lamb, daughter of Restore Lamb, of Burlington County." "His second wife was Beulah Sansom Shreve."
  11. The New York Times, November 24, 1906: "The deceased is survived by a third wife, who was Miss Adele Wills of Philadelphia,"
  12. Jordan, John Woolf (1914). A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people. Lewis Historical Publishing Co.; pp. 990-992.
  13. New Jersey Mirror, November 28, 1906: "The deceased leaves five sons, Joseph J. White, of New Lisbon, one of the largest and most successful cranberry growers in the State, Daniel S. White, proprietor of the Hotel Traymore, Atlantic City, George F. White and Howard White, of Lansdowne, Pa."
  14. New Jersey Mirror, November 28, 1906: "The funeral services were held yesterday morning at 11 o'clock at the Mount Meeting House, Arney's Mount, and were largely attended. Interment was made in the burying ground adjoining."

Bibliography
  • White, Joseph J. (1870). Cranberry culture. New York: Orange Judd & Co.
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