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Stephen White

Stephen White was born on October 21, 1810, in Monongalia County, Virginia. When he was about ten years old, Stephen moved with his family to the head of Dunkard Creek. He married Sarah A. Bradford on November 9, 1829, in Deep Valley, Pennsylvania. Stephen died April 2, 1885, in Deep Valley, Greene County, Pennsylvania.  Sarah A. Bradford was born October 1, 1811, in Springhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of John Bradford (1787-1855) and Mary Ditterline (1793-1837).   She died in 1864, in Greene County, Pennsylvania.
Stephen White and Sarah A. Bradford had nine children:  
Mary Jane White– born June 5, 1831, in Jollytown, Greene County, Pennsylvania; died April 20, 1917, in Aleppo Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania. Married Jacob Moore on October 25, 1849, in New Freeport, Greene County, Pennsylvania.
James White– born November 17, 1832, in Springhill, Greene Co., Pennsylvania; died April 20, 1862, in Greene County, Pennsylvania.  Married Cassandra Shriver in 1856.  
William White– born May 10, 1835, in Greene County, Pennsylvania; died October 31, 1921, in Augusta, Woodruff County, Arkansas. Married Phoebe Ann Hupp on April 3, 1856, in Cameron, Marshall County, Virginia.
Sarah White– born January 28, 1837, in Springhill, Greene County, Pennsylvania; died 1864. Married Isaac R. Jobes on March 26, 1854.   
Harriet White– born November 21, 1838, in Springhill, Greene County, Pennsylvania; died 27 March 27, 1862, in Greene County, Pennsylvania.
Margaret Jane White– born October 21, 1840, in Springhill, Greene County, Pennsylvania; died January 29, 1923, in West Finley Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Married Dr. Thomas Carpenter on March 5, 1865, in Greene County, PA.
Bradford White– born March 29, 1842, in Springhill, Greene County, Pennsylvania; died May 31, 1934, in Arlington, Reno County, Kansas. Married: 1) Catherine Stewart on March 6, 1865; 2) Sarah Bissett on December 23, 1880.
Lydia Ann White-- born July 16, 1846, in Deep Valley, Greene County, Pennsylvania; died August 26, 1870, in Deep Valley, Greene County, Pennsylvania. Married Dennis Franklin Berdine, Sr., on February 23, 1865, in New Freeport, Greene County, Pennsylvania.
Elizabeth White-- born September 5, 1850, in Deep Valley, Greene County, Pennsylvania; died about 1881, in Springhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania. Married Johnson Berdine on May 11, 1869, in Greene County, Pennsylvania.
On March 25, 1865, Stephen married a second time, in Greene County, Pennsylvania, and his new bride was Lucinda “Lucy” Booher Wright, a widow, who was born October 1, 1831. She already had six children that Stephen helped raise.  She died July 8, 1879, at the age of 47.  They had four children together:
Lucinda “Lucy” White– born February 10, 1866, in Deep Valley, Greene County, Pennsylvania; died 1895. Married Milton Ellwood Rinehart.
John Darling White– born November 28, 1867, in Deep Valley, Greene County, Pennsylvania;
died February 4, 1951, in Princeton, Mercer County, West Virginia. Married Mary Chaffin.
Joseph Shackleford White– born November 17, 1869, in Deep Valley, Greene County, Pennsylvania; died May 18, 1938, in Burton, Wetzel County, West Virginia. Married Edith Franklin.
Montezuma Z. White– born September 6, 1872, in Deep Valley, Greene County, Pennsylvania; died May 10, 1945, in Williamson, Pike County, West Virginia. He married: 1) Emma Spillman; 2) Pearlie; and 3) Nellie Clark Lynch.
Stephen is buried with his second wife, Lucinda Booher Wright, in Deep Valley, Pennsylvania, behind a blue house on state route 3010.  The land was once part of Stephen White’s farm.  

Obituary of Stephen White, dated April 3, 1885.  An Old Citizen Dead                
Deep Valley, Greene Co., PA– Stephen White, an old and respected citizen, died yesterday after a brief illness of one week. On (the) Friday before his death he was going about his work of feeding and, when near his stable, he had a paralytic stroke. He fell, lying some time before being found. He could not speak, and when removed to his house, remained in a comatose state until he died.  He was 75 years old, being the oldest son of William and Mary White of upper Monongalia County, West Virginia. He leaves 9 children. All of his brothers and his sister raised large families.  Like other men, Stephen White had his friends, and likewise his enemies, but it would probably not even do him justice to say that he had done more for the community in which he lived than any other man who ever lived in it. Being one of the first settlers, he came here when there was no church, when vice and immorality reigned supreme. Being a kind and generous man as well as a faithful Christian, he began at once... to educate and train the people, and it has been said that in the course of a few years, he had worked a powerful revolution.  He built school houses in the township and hired teachers, sometimes almost at his own expense he bought Sunday school libraries; built churches and paid the preachers for preaching; in fact, he was a father and a friend to all who came to him. People taking advantage of his generosity rendered him poor in money but rich in friends. He went to his last resting place followed by the prayers of all who knew him. Perhaps no man ever died who, were he to take a retrospective view of his life, could look back on a life more consecrated.
Signed, J.H.R.

Martha “Ella” White Spragg, in the same essay she wrote about William and Mary Darling White, mentioned that Stephen founded a school near his first home around Maidsville and Morgantown, and also built a church on the farm in Dunkard Creek, naming it Bethel. Ella also mentioned that Stephen became a miller or a “millwright” and operated a mill on his first farm in Dunkard, near his parents and siblings, but later moved to Deep Valley, in Greene County, Pennsylvania, where he also operated a farm and mill. According to Ella,
Stephen, the first born, learned to be a millwright, settling here (The White Settlement) on a hill with a mill of his own, afterward moving to Deep Valley, PA, where he owned and operated a large flour mill for many years, grinding flour for the whole White tribe, also boarding them for a day or two while the grist was being ground. There was great rejoicing in the family when father (Ella’s father, John Darling White), would come home from the mill, having been gone two whole days and a night.
Reminisces Of The Whites, Martha Ella White Spragg, p. 2.
 

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