Hon. Edwin Terry White, a distinguished figure in Yankton, South Dakota, was born on June 6, 1847, in Woodstock, Vermont. He descended from early New England settlers, with his lineage tracing back to the seventeenth century. His father, Samuel White, a noted wood carver from New Hampshire, married Elizabeth Elliott. Edwin White’s career spanned various vocations before he studied law and moved to Yankton in 1870. Serving as a judge and in multiple public offices, White also engaged in business and civic activities, significantly impacting the community. He married Mary L. Bagley in 1874, and they actively contributed to local charitable endeavors.
Hon. Edwin Terry White.— For many years prominent in the legal and general business circles of Yankton, Hon. Edwin Terry White ranks with the city’s most distinguished citizens, besides occupying a conspicuous place in the annals of South Dakota. He springs from sterling New England ancestry and traces his genealogy in this country to an early period in the history of the colonies. Sometime in the early part of the seventeenth century three brothers by the name of White came from England to America and settled in one of the New England colonies, the one from which the Judge is descended eventually making his way to New Hampshire, where he reared a family and where he is supposed to have spent the remainder of his life. From that remote day to the present time the name has been a familiar one in the Granite state and it is also widely and favorably known throughout New England, many bearing it having filled high official stations or otherwise become useful in various spheres of public and civic life.
Samuel White, the Judge’s father, the son of a Revolutionary soldier, was born in January 1800, in New Hampshire, being descended paternally, as already stated, from English, and maternally from Scotch, antecedents. When young he served a seven-year apprenticeship at wood carving, became an expert and highly artistic workman, and the evidences of his skill may still be seen in the state capitol building at Montpelier, Vermont, on which he did all the fine carving. He followed his chosen calling during the active years of his life, achieved a wide reputation throughout New England, and especially in the state of Vermont, where he lived for many years. Samuel White married, in his native commonwealth, Miss Elizabeth Elliott, whose father served with distinction in the war of 1812, and later became an early settler of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where he acquired a large landed estate and where his death occurred during the cholera epidemic of 1833. To Samuel and Elizabeth White were born eleven children, namely: George (deceased), served during the late Civil War in the Sixth Vermont Volunteers; John E., of Auburn, New Hampshire, was the leader of a New Hampshire band in the same war; Stephen, a member of Company C, Sixth Vermont Infantry, Sixth Army Corps, was killed in the second battle of Winchester, Virginia; Samuel G., who also served in the above regiment, has of late years been living in Oregon; Charles K., a resident of Randolph, Vermont; Edwin Terry, whose name introduces this sketch; Elizabeth, deceased; Emily B., an unmarried lady living in Manchester, New Hampshire; Frances, deceased; and Mary C. V., who makes her home in the city of Concord, New Hampshire.
Edwin Terry White was born in Woodstock, Vermont, on the 6th day of June 1847, and acquired his education in the public schools of his native place. At the early age of fourteen years, he began shifting for himself, and for some years his experiences were varied, working at anything he could find to do, including farm labor, peddling notions through the country, and carpentry. By money thus earned, he paid his expenses while attending high school, and after finishing his course he followed the above and other vocations until 1869, when he was appointed second assistant clerk in the Vermont legislature. Meanwhile, at the age of eighteen, he began the study of law at Woodstock, in the office of Converse & French, the leading legal firm of that place, and during this time supported himself, as before stated, devoting his evenings and such leisure as he could find to his books. Hampered by the necessity of self-support, Mr. White pursued his studies under peculiar difficulties and it was not until his twenty-third birthday that he was formally admitted to the bar.
About three days after this event he started west in search of a location and, after stopping for a short time at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he proceeded to Marshalltown, in that state, where C. J. B. Harris, a friend of his, was then living. In 1870, Messrs. White and Harris came to South Dakota, reaching Yankton on July 7th of that year, and immediately thereafter they opened an office and entered upon the practice of their profession. One year later this partnership was dissolved and Mr. White then associated himself with Hon. S. L. Spink, formerly a delegate to the United States Congress, the firm thus constituted lasting about three years and winning worthy prestige at the Yankton bar. Since severing his connection with Mr. Spink, Judge White has practiced alone, but in recent years he has withdrawn largely from general legal and court business and now devotes his attention mainly to insurance, real estate, loans, etc., in which line he enjoys an extensive and lucrative patronage. In 1890 he was elected judge of the courts of Yankton County, which office he filled by successive re-elections for seven years, discharging the duties of the same in an eminently creditable manner and establishing the reputation of an able, impartial, and exceedingly careful and painstaking public servant. He was the first man elected to the judgeship after the admission of South Dakota to the Union, and in addition to this office, he has also been United States commissioner since 1890, besides serving at different times as justice of the peace, city justice, and city clerk, in all of which positions he displayed marked ability and devoted himself untiringly to the public welfare.
On January 1, 1874, Judge White was married to Miss Mary L. Bagley, of Bethel, Vermont, an estimable and accomplished lady, who has not only presided over his home and looked carefully after his domestic comfort, but who, like a true helpmate, has co-operated with him in his various enterprises and endeavors, and by her wise counsel and judicious assistance has contributed in no small degree to the success with which his life has been crowned. Judge and Mrs. White have no children of their own, but they have done much in the way of helping others, being alive to all charitable and benevolent work and ready at all times to lend their influence and active assistance to the promotion of these and other worthy ends.
Politically, the Judge has long been one of the leading Republicans of Yankton and his influence as an organizer and efficient party worker is by no means confined to his own city but is felt with considerable force throughout the state. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to St. John’s Lodge No. 1, at Yankton, of which he served as worshipful master for three consecutive years. He is also a leading spirit in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, in which he has held high office, being at the present time secretary, recorder, and registrar of these bodies at Yankton and also secretary of the Scottish Rite Temple Association here. For a number of years his name has also been prominent in local Odd Fellowship, he being an active worker in Dakota Lodge No. 1, and he is also serving as worthy patron of Keystone Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, at Yankton. He is one of the best-known men in Yankton and, as indicated in preceding paragraphs, his name has been closely interwoven with the history of South Dakota. He has long had the welfare of his adopted state at heart, and as a public-spirited, progressive citizen, lends his generous support and active co-operation to all enterprises calculated to promote its development and foster prosperity. Personally, he is held in high esteem, and his career as an honorable businessman and trusted official demonstrates that the confidence reposed in him by his fellow citizens has not been misplaced.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.