"Portrait and biographical album of Coles County, Illinois"
  
EV. SILAS WHITE, who for the last thirty-five years has worthily officiated as a minister of the Church of God, in connection ) with agricultural pursuits, in the vicinity of Charleston, is widely and favorably known in this section as an individual possessing all the elements of a kindly Christian character, whose days have been filled with industry and usefulness. He is now passing down the hill of life a life that has had many sorrows, but has also held many joys and pleasures. His history, briefly narrated, is in substance as follows:
Mr. White was born in Wayne County, Ind., March 3, 1818. and is the son of Asa and Polly (Lewis) White, natives respectively of North Carolina and Kentucky. The parents were married in the Blue Grass State and not long afterward be- came residents of Indiana, being among the first settlers of Wayne County, where they engaged in farming pursuits. In 1840 they set out for Illinois, and coming to this county the elder White rented a tract of land which he occupied until 1861. He then removed to Douglas County, where his death took place during the war. Both parents were devoted members of the Baptist Church, and reared a family of eight children.
Rev. Silas White was reared on the farm, receiving such education as is afforded in the district school, and remained under the parental roof until seventeen years of age. His father then gave him his time, and he learned the carpenter’s trade, at which he worked in connection with farming, and gave to his father a portion of his earnings. He thus followed the life of an exemplary and dutiful son, and when twenty-two years of age took the first step toward establishing a home and domestic ties of his own. This was his marriage with Miss Mary J., daughter of Solomon Boone, and whom it is supposed was the grand-niece of the famous Kentuckian, Daniel Boone, who so delighted in fighting the Indians during the pioneer days. Mrs. White was born at Pickaway Plains, Ohio, in about 1822.
After their marriage the young people located upon a farm in Wayne County which our subject rented for one year, and from which he removed in 1842, to this county. Here he entered 120 acres in Hutton Township, and having saved quite a sum of money from his former earnings, was enabled to purchase the land when it came into market. He occupied this until the spring of 1844, in the meantime laying off the grain fields and pasture lands, building neat and substantial fences, and improving the property with good farm buildings. Upon the homestead thus established he continued a resident for over forty years, and was then admonished by declining strength that he must rest. He accordingly rented his farm, and purchasing a snug home at Charleston, repaired to it with his estimable wife. Mr. White added to his first purchase of land until he became the possessor of 250 acres, which constitutes one of the finest farms in that section of country.
The children of Rev. Silas and Mrs. Mary J. White included five sons and five daughters, of whom only two sons survive. The elder of these, Monroe, married Miss Mary Hall, and they have six daughters—Sarah F., Hannah A., Millie H., Lucy E., Sarah J. and Charity E. Isaac married Miss Josephine Sandoe, and is the father of three children—Zaccheus Boone, Emma M. and Effie E.
When Mr. White came to this county he settled in the timber, and the howling of wolves and panthers was often heard in the night around their cabin home. There were plenty of deer and wild turkey, and the family always enjoyed the luxury of wild meat. The first dwelling was a hewed-log house, 22x18 feet, which was well built and considered very fine for those days. , Of this Mr. White was the main carpenter and builder, getting out his lumber by means of a whip-saw, by which he also manufactured his flooring, doors and window casings. The next business was to clear the ground around it, and the first year he succeeded in getting ten acres in a good state of cultivation. The next spring he put in a crop of corn and wheat, the former of which brought but fifteen cents per bushel and the latter thirty-seven and a half cents. He pursued the even tenor of his way thus year after year, welcoming with pleasure the little faces that came one by one to the household circle, and bending with sorrow over the many graves which contained the forms of his loved ones, most of whom died in early childhood.
Mr. White commenced his labors as a Christian minister in 1850, and was ordained two years later. He often recalls the time when lie traveled through the country from one appointment to another, and the kindly manner in which he was treated by the pioneers, who, living partially isolated, were always rejoiced to welcome the face of a friend. He received a rich reward for his labors in witnessing the salvation of souls, and was the humble instrument in turning many from the errors of their ways. For these services he required not money, glad if he could accomplish something for the Master, and now while nearing the close of a long and useful life he has the satisfaction of being able to look back upon his years as well spent, and upon a life which has not been in vain.
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