Samuel White was born in Granville, March 4, 1813. The history of his brief but brilliant career is well given in an address delivered by the Hon. Isaac Smucker, on the occasion of the Pioneer meeting at Newark, July 4, 1885. "He early developed talents of a high order and was ambitious to acquire an education. He went to school on the Hills when opportunity offered, often barefooted, even in mid-winter, sometimes when snow covered the ground, although the school-house was a mile or more away. His method was to heat a small board quite hot, wrap it up, then start at his best speed toward the school-house and run until his feet became very cold, when he would lay his hot board down and stand on it until his feet became comfortable; then he would start again. There was a half-way house at which he stopped to warm up his board before arriving at the school-house. It would be safe to predict that such a boy would not go through life without an education."
In 1831 he was the first student to enter Granville (now Dennison) University, but left this institution to complete his education at Oberlin, on account of his view on the slavery question. In 1838 he began the practice of law. He became one of the editors of the Newark Gazette. Was elected to the Legislature in 1843; was a Whig candidate for Congress in 1844, but died at Delware, Ohio, July 28, 1844, and Columbus Delano, who took his place on the Whig ticket, was elected. Mr. Smucker says:
"Sam White was a man of remarkable force and power as a public speaker; he was fearless, independent, outspoken, frank, honest, never giving utterance to opinions he did not believe, and always ready to give expression to thoughts that he entertained without fear, favor, or affection." In the famous crusades of his time against slavery intemperance, and the abridgement of freedom of speech he was always in the front ranks playing the part of Richard, the Lion-hearted, and playing it best when and where the fight was hottest."
On one occasion in the western portion of Hartford township, "he, an overpowered, helpless victim, fell into the hands of a satanic, inhuman mob, who rode him on a rail, and inflicted upon him other indignities accompanied by circumstances of humiliating degradation; many of the mobocrats even favoring the proposition to blacken him with lampblack and oil, and threatened to inflict still other and more offensive indignities upon him, which, if those fiendish mobocrats had not relented and moderated their ferocious temper, would have ended in murder."
Historical Collections of Ohio, Vol 2, by Henry Howe. (pub 1888)