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From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin, publ. 1901 - page 67-68
BARTIMEUS WHITE. The days of this venerable pioneer are well-nigh spent. Born in 1811, he is approaching life's ninetieth milestone, and the narratives of the lives of such men as he are replete at once with interest and instruction. Grant county can boast few citizens of so advanced an age or a life more void of offense. For a period of sixty-five years he has been identified with the development of this portion of the State, having first settled in the southwestern part in 1835, when Wisconsin was a Territory, in part of Michigan, its' forest not felled, and its soil unbroken.
Mr. WHITE comes of sturdy, stalwart New England stock, his ancestry in America being traced back to 1635-36, when some of his progenitors settled in Braintree and Weymouth, Mass. Our subject's parents, Samuel and Mary (HAYHOOD) WHITE, were residents of Braintree, Mass., in which town he was born and passed his early years. He was one of a family of seven children born to his father's first marriage. After the death of his mother, his father married a second time, the issue of that union being a family of five or six children. Samuel WHITE died at Braintree, in his eightieth year. Of the seven children born to Samuel and Mary WHITE, Bartimeus alone survives, while of the second marriage, only one daughter is yet living, Mrs. Phoebe CHEESMAN, a widow, born in 1822; she has a son and a daughter living, both of whom have married, and the son has two grandchildren.
Bartimeus WHITE when a boy of ten years was apprenticed to learn the trade of a shoemaker, and worked as a journeyman for several years. His health failing, he had recourse to an ocean voyage, with the most beneficial results; but on his return, fearing that the confinement incident to working at his trade might induce a return of his trouble, he resolved to join the long procession of emigrants who were even then wending their way westward, in search of homes. It was on Oct. 8, 1834, that he departed from Braintree, and just six months later, in the spring of 1835, he reached the lead mines of southwestern Wisconsin, in which he worked for six years. He then began farming, a pursuit which he has followed during the greater part of his subsequent life. His first farm was in Jamestown, Grant county, but in 1862, desirous of affording his children better educational opportunities, he removed with his family to his present home, which is situated directly south of the city of Lancaster Here he is passing his declining years, in the company of the wife who has been his companion and helpmeet for fifty-five years, happy in his memories of the past, and looking forward to the future with serene hope. It has been his lot to witness great changes and stupendous advances. Twenty-two National administrations have passed into history since his eyes first saw the light of day, and the country has passed, victoriously through four wars. Slavery has been abolished, and State after State have been admitted to the Union. Steam and electricity have become the trained and docile servants of man, and the entire systems of manufacture, industry and commerce have been revolutionized. All these strange sights have his eyes witnessed, and yet, despite his ninety years, he is still vigorous in body and clear in mind. His memory is remarkably good, taking him back to events of his early childhood, and he has some recollection of his paternal grandfather, who lived in the "new large square house," his parents occupying the dwelling. At the time of his grandfather's funeral he remembers climbing on a chair to look out of a window when the remains were brought out and placed on a table for the last look. Honored by his fellowmen, loved and revered by his family and friends, Mr. WHITE calmly awaits the summons that shall whisper in the ear of the soul, "friend, go up higher."
In 1845 Mr. WHITE returned to Massachusetts to claim the hand of his promised bride, Miss Nancy LEACH, of East Bridgewater, that State, who was born Feb. 28, 1822. Of the children which have been born to their union two died in infancy. Those yet living are Abby F., Franklin, Hattie E., Mrs. Mary MARKS, Mrs. Ida KING, Mrs. Marcia A. HALL, and John. The last named is now living in Kansas not far from Kansas City; he returned eastward as far as Kansas after eight years experience in southern California, which he found too dry to afford a good living to a man in moderate circumstances, with a young family; he has a wife and three children.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck