Joseph H. White, born October 3,
1812 and died July 12, 1887, and Sarah Smith, born November 5, 1815, died June
22, 1896, both natives of Kentucky, were married in that state about 1837. In 1844, they moved to Missouri,
going by boat, via the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers
to St. Louis. From that point, they continued overland to Trenton, Grundy County, near the Iowa border.
Here, Joseph White farmed and
worked at a grist mill until 1858. In
October of that year, he and his family, which now included four children,
joined a wagon train bound for Texas. They arrived at Birdville, Tarrant County,
December 4, but stayed only a few days before moving farther east to a location
now included in Richland Hills, near the intersection of Highway 121 and Oak Grove Road. A brick home at 5128 Jennings Drive has replaced the
original log house.
As early as 1858, much of the land
was open range, since fence building was a slow and difficult process. With the coming of spring and abundant
grazing, the horses which brought the White family to Texas disappeared. There was some possibility that they had been
stolen or that their homing instinct, plus an abundant supply of tender grass,
had started them on a return trip to Missouri! The latter proved to be true when their owner
followed the trail and overtook the horses just before they crossed the Red River.
In the spring of 1859, Joseph White
moved to a farm a mile west of Spears Grove, the hill top landmark about half
way between Keller and Watauga. In 1860,
he bought 160 acres of land in the Bransford community. This farm became the permanent home where the
children grew to maturity and the parents lived the remainder of their
lives. Both are buried at White’s
Chapel.
The children of Joseph and Sarah
White are:
1)
Alexander F., born in 1840 and died in 1899.
2)
William H., born December 10, 1841 and died December
12, 1920. He was married to Rebecca
Thompson, born February 6, 1858 and died September 12, 1881.
3)
Mary E., born September 10, 1843 and died September 12,
1923. She was married to Elihu Newton,
born January 23, 1845 and died April 21, 1925.
4)
Lewis Cass, born in 1848 and died in 1929. He was married to Nancy Jane Grimes.
All members of the family are
buried at White’s Chapel, with the exception of Lewis Cass, whose grave is in Mt. Gilead
Cemetery.
Sources:
Otto Taylor
Cemetery records at Mt. Gilead
and White’s Chapel.
