Earl F. White

As printed in 1910

EARL F. WHITE.

All the lines of business which are found in an enterprising progressive city are represented in Geneseo, and among the leading merchants of the town is numbered Earl F. White, now proprietor of a bakery and confectionery establishment and ice-cream parlor. He has a well equipped place and the excellent line of goods which he carries and manufactures assures him a liberal and continued patronage.

The tide of emigration has usually set toward the west and a great majority of Henry county's citizens have come from districts farther east. Earl F. White, however, is an exception to this rule for he was born in Fairfield, Clay county, Nebraska, March 10, 1875. His paternal grandfather, Daniel White, was one of the early settlers of LaSalle county, Illinois, where he lived for many years. He acted as justice of the peace there and was connected with commercial interests as a hardware dealer and druggist in Earlville. His death occurred in that town when he was eighty-three years of age. Unto him and his wife, Mrs. Eleanor White, were born three children: George D., Jefferson, and Hamilton.

George D. White was born in Illinois, but seeking the opportunities of a district farther west became a farmer of Clay county, Nebraska, when it was still a pioneer region. Returning to Illinois, however, he became proprietor of a grocery store in Mendota. Afterward he returned to Nebraska, where he died. He wedded Sarah A. Avery, a native of New York and a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Avery, who were likewise born in the Empire state. The father became one of the pioneer settlers of LaSalle county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming at an early day, hauling his wheat to Chicago with an ox team before the building of the railroads. He was closely associated with the early development of the county and aided in laying broad and deep the foundation upon which has been built the present prosperity and progress of this section. He died in Earlville in 1883 at the age of eighty-one years and his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Avery, also reached an advanced age. As stated, Sarah A. Avery became the wife of George D. White and, still surviving her husband, now lives in Earlville at the age of seventy-three years, her birth having occurred in 1836. She is a consistent member of the Baptist church. The death of Mr. White was caused by illness contracted while serving his country as a soldier in the Civil war. After the outbreak of hostilities between the north and the south he responded to the country's call and joined Company D, Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served three years and seven months as a private. He never faltered in the performance of any military duty but loyally followed the old flag in battle or on the long, hard marches. Unto him and his wife were born two sons and three daughters, but only three are now living: Eleanor, the wife of William Prentice, of Earlville, Illinois; Earl F., of Geneseo; and George, also of Earlville.

The youthful days of Earl F. White were largely passed at Earlville and in attendance at the public school there he mastered the common branches of English learning, continuing his studies until he was graduated from the high school with the class of June, 1893. His first undertaking in the business world was made as a clerk in a general store and he has since been connected with commercial interests. In the spring of 1903 he established a bakery and restaurant business on his own account in Earlville and was building up a good trade when in the fall of that year his business was destroyed by fire. In 1904 he resumed business but in the succeeding fall sold out and removed to Kewanee where he acted as assistant foreman of the bread department of the West Side Bakery. On the 4th of May, 1909, he came to Geneseo and purchased the bakery and confectionery business of John L. Morrow, bringing to its conduct broad experience in this line of trade, as well as a firm determination to win success if it could be secured by honorable methods.

Mr. White belongs to Shabbona Lodge, No. 294, I. O. O. F. and to the Modern Woodmen Camp. In politics he is a stanch republican, believing firmly in the party platform. His social qualities and sterling worth make him a popular young man and he has gained in large measure the esteem and good will of his business colleagues and associates in Geneseo.

As printed in History of Henry County, Illinois (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.