Benjamin D. White

Source: The Family of William Snelling and Sarah Scott, by James McMillen, 3rd edition, published 3/23/2010.

Benjamin D. White was born about 1840 in MO, probably Johnson Co. He came to California with his mother in 1849, in the wagon train led by his grandfather Benjamin Snelling. He worked the family ranch

Ben was involved in a gunfight in Snelling, CA on 1/28/1853, with men who were threatening Sheriff Bludworth. According to the newspaper accounts of the day, over 40 shots were fired, three men died, but Ben was uninjured.He turned himself in immediately after the gunfight, was freed on bail, and was acquitted of any wrongdoing.

By the time of the 1870 census, Ben was a miner living in Boise Co., Idaho Territory, with his brother Green. In the 1880 census, he is living with his brother in Silver City, Owyhee,Co., Idaho territory, and working in the the quartz mines. He moved several times between Merced Co., CA and the mines of Idaho.

Ben died 9/27/1881 in Silver City, Owyhee Co., ID, of a heart attack.