Horace Logan White

Not sure about his middle name. Several sites say "Lawrence", but FindAGrave says "Logan", just going to leave it as "L." for now.

Horace L. White, a WWI vet and electrical supplies salesman, seems to have been doing fairly well in spite of the nascent Great Depression, as the family owned their home and -- perhaps more importantly for Betty's future career -- a radio.

Both Horace and Tess were raised in Chicago with a single sibling of the opposite sex and Canadian-born mothers (thank you, Canada, for sharing yet another comedic talent with your Southern neighbor). Both also had immigrant fathers, meaning that all four of White's grandparents were born outside of America, but the specifics are surprising. It turns out that the ethnic brew that created Betty White is one-quarter Danish, one-quarter Greek, one-quarter Canadian, one-eighth Welsh and one-eighth English. Her Canadian portion sports branches that meander back not only through Canada, but also New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts to the early days of the United States, and eventually back to England, so in fairness, her English percentage should be rounded up a bit.

Perhaps what's most striking is the Danish-Greek combination. Her Danish grandfather, Christopher White, came to America as a young man and bounced around Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois working as a salesman dealing in everything from hats to rubber. It's possible that his wife Ettie was the quasi-namesake for Betty.

References

• "Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7QF-24R : 18 May 2016), Horace Logan White in entry for Betty Marion White, 17 Jan 1922; Oak Park, Cook, Illinois, United States, reference/certificate 54, Cook County Clerk, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm 1,308,638.

PFC Trench Mortar Battery, 4th Division, World War I. Horace was the father of actress Betty White (1922 - ).

Horace White and his wife and baby daughter (Betty White) family moved to Alhambra, California in 1923, and later to Los Angeles during the Great Depression. To make extra money, he would build radios (crystal radio) and sell them wherever he could. Since it was the height of the Depression, and hardly anyone had a sizable income, he would trade the radios in exchange for other goods, including dogs on some occasions. (In a 2018 PBS program about Betty White, she was seen speaking lovingly of her mother and father and the pack trips they took to the Sierra Nevadas when she was girl. Betty and her parents were "all animal persons" in her words.)

Contributor: Little Orange in the Big Apple (46817308)

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Dec 31 2021, 21:29:33 UTC