Daniel Appleton White

Daniel Appleton White (7 June 1776 – 30 March 1861) was an American statesman, lawyer, and Judge of Probate in Essex County, Massachusetts during the nineteenth century. He was elected as a member of the Massachusetts Senate and later elected to Congress but he resigned from the position to become the Judge of Probate for Essex County—a position he held for 38 years. As well as making a successful political and legal career in his own right, Daniel White is a descendant of William White, who settled in Massachusetts in 1635 and would who was a founding father of Newport, Massachusetts in 1640.[1][2][3]

The Honourable

Daniel Appleton White
Portrait of D.A. White
President of Essex Institute
In office
1848 – 1861
Judge of Probate for Essex County
In office
1815–1853
Appointed byCaleb Strong
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's Essex North district
In office
1814–1815
Member of the Massachusetts Senate
from the Essex district
In office
1810–1814
Personal details
Born7 June 1776
Methuen, Massachusetts
Died30 March 1861
Salem, Massachusetts
Spouse(s)
Mary van Schalkwyck
​
​
(m. 1807; died 1811)​
Eliza Wetmore
​
​
(m. 1819; died 1821)​
Ruth Rogers
​
(m. 1824⁠–⁠1861)​
Children3
Alma materHarvard University
Occupation

Early life and family

Birth

Daniel White was born on 7 June 1776 in Methuen, Massachusetts to John and Elizabeth (Haynes) White.[4][5]

Education

He graduated with a law degree in Harvard University in 1797.[1] In 1837, some 40 years after he first graduated from Harvard, the university awarded him the Honorary Doctorate of LLD in recognition of his achievements in the field.[6][7]

Family

White married three times altogether. He married his first wife, Mary van Schalkwyck (the daughter of Dr Josiah Wilder), on 24 May 1807 and had two daughters with him.[1][8] Some years after van Schalkwyck's death on 29 June 1811, White would marry Eliza Wetmore (the daughter of William Orne) on 1 August 1819 in Salem.[9]

Like his White's first wife, Wetmore would die very soon after marrying him. White would be made a widower for the second time after Eliza's death on 27 March 1821.[9] Before her death, though, White and Wetmore would have a son together named Henry.[9][10] White's third and final wife was Ruth Rogers whom he married on 24 January 1824.[11] White and Rogers would remain married until White's death in March 1861.[11]

Massachusetts Senate

White was a member of the Massachusetts Senate from 1810 to 1815.[8]

Congress

In November 1814, he was elected to Congress as the Federalist Party's nomination for the District of Essex North.[12] Being offered the position as Judge of Probate for the County of Essex in 1815, he decided to resign from his position with Congress to take up the role despite protests from some of his friends.[12][13]

Judge of Probate

As well as making strides in legal and political spheres, he was influential in the founding of the Essex Institute in Salem which, in turn, played a significant role in establishing the Essex Historical and Natural-Historical Societies.[14] Appointed by Governor Strong in November 1815, White would go on to remain the County's Judge of Probate until 1 July 1853 after 38 years on the bench—longer than any of his predecessors.[13][15] He ultimately played a significant role in the Probate Court, and legal society generally, throughout his career.

Essex County Lyceum and the Essex Institute

White was a founding member of the Essex County Lyceum, 'the pioneer in the system of public lectures and... [promised] to be potent among the educational and moral influences of the time.'[7] Although not its founder, he was the president of the Essex Institute from its formation in 1848 until his death.[7]

Death and burial

Having moved from Newburyport on 3 January 1817, Daniel would eventually die in Salem on 30 March 1861.[9][16] He is probably buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem.[17]

References
  1. Dwight, Eliza Amelia. Life and Letters of Wilder Dwight, Lieut-Col. Second Mass. Inf. Vols. Boston: Tricknor and Fields. p. 2.
  2. White, Daniel Appleton; Richards, Annie Frances (1889). The descendants of William White, of Haverhill, Mass. Boston : American printing & engraving co. p. 7.
  3. Hurd, Duane Hamilton, ed. (1888). History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men. UMass Amherst Libraries. Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co. p. xxiv.
  4. "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQ63-9MN : 10 February 2018), Daniel Appleton White, 07 Jun 1776; citing METHUEN,ESSEX,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 0823676 IT 2.
  5. Walker, James (1863). Memoir of Hon. Daniel Appleton White. Boston: John Wilson and Son. p. 3.
  6. Walker, James (1863). Memoir of Hon. Daniel Appleton White. p. 42.
  7. Hurd, Duane Hamilton, ed. (1888). History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men. UMass Amherst Libraries. Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co. p. xxvi.
  8. Walker, James (1863). Memoir of Hon. Daniel Appleton White. p. 26.
  9. Walker, James (1863). Memoir of Hon. Daniel Appleton White. p. 33.
  10. Walker, James (1863). Memoir of Hon. Daniel Appleton White. p. 63.
  11. Walker, James (1863). Memoir of Hon. Daniel Appleton White. p. 36.
  12. Hurd, Duane Hamilton, ed. (1888). History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men. UMass Amherst Libraries. Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co. p. xxv.
  13. Walker, James (1863). Memoir of Hon. Daniel Appleton White. p. 30.
  14. Walker, James (1863). Memoir of Hon. Daniel Appleton White. p. 58.
  15. Hurd, Duane Hamilton, ed. (1888). History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men. pp. xxv–xxvi.
  16. Walker, James (1863). Memoir of Hon. Daniel Appleton White. p. 62.
  17. Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed 17 August 2019), memorial page for Judge Daniel Appleton White (7 Jun 1776–30 Mar 1861), Find A Grave Memorial no. 32171470, citing Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Bob on Gallows Hill (contributor 46630279).
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