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The
White and March Families |
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Thomas and Margaret March
White were my third great grandparents. In 1845,
they packed up six children and headed off from the north of
Yorkshire to the wilds of Wisconsin. On the way, another child
was born and six more were born in Wisconsin. This website is
an ambitious attempt to record the details of their lives and their
children's lives for posterity.
It has been a long time coming. My grandfather, George Leybourne White, a grandson of Thomas and Margaret White's eldest son John, spent hours telling me tales of the past when I was a child and teenager. I listened in fascination and begged for more. Alas in the supreme confidence of youth, I thought I could never forget the fascinating details of my family. I wrote nothing down. After his death in 1964, the memories began to fade and by the time I was in my early thirties, I could only recall bits and pieces. In addition, there was always an old photo album on a prized antique table in our home. My sister and I often poured over the pictures imagining the lives that we only knew from the fleeting moments of the camera and the stories Grandpa told--we even had our own special names for some. Many were identified in handwriting on the backs, handwriting identified by my father as that of his uncle, Allen Whitford White (died in 1948.) Eventually what began as a simple little project to identify a few of the unlabeled pictures, grew into a massive project to gather information about the families of Thomas and Margaret White and about Margaret's parents George and Sarah Hillary March. You can navigate through the resulting website by using the links bars at the tops and bottoms of each page or from the links below. I suggest for an initial foray to work from left to right in the menu bar below. [Thomas & Margaret White][George & Sarah March][George & Sarah March Letters][Places in England] [Signal Hill Farm][Eastern White Oak Cemetery Markers] More detailed information about the children of Thomas and Margaret White and their descendents can be found at the following links. A couple of pages are still under construction. I would be delighted to hear from other family members and be able to include their family information.
Children of Thomas and
Margaret White Much of the information and materials for this website were gathered in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Then as happens in life, children, travels, a career teaching high school biology and coaching science fairs, a number of household moves, and other genealogical projects made it easy to avoid the onerous task of organizing, writing and documenting the many notes, photocopies, and pictures I had amassed. Recently I was contacted by a younger family member who was anxious to find out about the White family. At first I dribbled out a few bits and pieces but I quickly realized it was time to do justice not only to my own work but the work that many other family members contributed so long ago. Beryl and Merlyn White, Rosslyn Brown, and Bob Lehr from the line of Edward Ocean White, Art and Eileen Wendt from the line of Sarah White Glendinning, Mr. and Mrs. Laurance Darrach from the line of Ruth White Howsley, my beloved cousins Lois McCutcheon and Dorothea Gerhold from the line of John White variously invited us to stay with them, fed us, entertained our children, gave us guided tours, gathered family information and shared memories and family pictures and artifacts. In addition, Ms. Linda Leone of the Sutter Yuba Genealogical Society very generously hand copied a multitude of records for the line of Ruth White Howsley from local genealogical records. Others who contributed were Mrs. Harry White whose husband was the son of James White, James Nethery who is from the line of Sarah White Glendinning and who gave me what information I have about the descendents of Barbara White Patterson. Beverly White, Dean White, Joyce White Lanners, Edward A. White and John McLoraine kindly sent information about their families. Finally I thank my family for putting up with my obsession for all these years. To my husband Walt for his help and support and his companionship on so many trips--for copying records and photographing old pictures. For graciously encouraging me to make many solo genealogical pilgrimages and for underwriting the costs. To my sons, Andy and Ken, sorry about all those vacations to cemeteries while all the other kids were at Disneyland and the beach. Thanks for being such good sports about the stinging nettles and the mosquitoes and the lightening storms and the snakes. . . To protect the privacy of living family members, I have only included information through three (or four in a few cases) generations from Thomas and Margaret White. I have verified most of what is presented via the public record and have so noted in the endnotes for each page. I have not verified the masses of information about contemporary family members. I will send a file with that information to family members who will assure me that the information will not be made public. We do not wish to have this work posted as a Family File on any public or commercial websites. I will be happy to receive additional information about the descendents of Thomas and Margaret White and will be delighted to include appropriate records, documents and photographs contributed by family members. Enjoy Nancy White Custer |
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