Walter Charles White

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25892591/walter-charles-white

Walter C. White (1876 - 1929)

Beginning in 1900, developed White Steamer cars and trucks that were known for their quality and performance

Provided vehicles for military service during World War I; became a leading manufacturer of trucks and buses after the war.

Innovation seemed to run in the White family.

Walter's father, Thomas White, founded the White Sewing Machine Company. His sons, Windsor, Rollin and Walter turned their interest in the horseless carriage into a successful car and truck manufacturing business. Each of the White brothers contributed a vital element to their partnership. Rollin developed a flash boiler for a steam engine and began building vehicles [and founded the Cleveland Motor Plow Company in 1916, which later became the Cleveland Tractor Company - Cletrac - one of the premier manufacturers of crawler tractors]. Windsor's forte was administration of the company that the brothers formed in 1900. Walter introduced White vehicles to the military and coordinated motor transportation in France for the War Department during World War I.

Between 1901 and 1910, the White Brothers established themselves as the nation's second-largest producer of steam-powered vehicles. Their customers included Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, and celebrities such as Buffalo Bill Cody. The company began producing gasoline-powered vehicles in 1911. By 1919, the White brothers shifted their focus entirely to the production of trucks and commerical vehicles, numbering over 12,000 units annually.

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Walter Charles, born September 8, 1876, was sales representative for the original White steam car in London, England, in 1901. He participated in races and rallies and sold a White touring car to the Prince of Wales. In 1904 he became the American sales manager for White cars and in 1903, the second vice president and sales manager for the White Company. He publicised White cars and trucks by winning many races, performing relief aid after the San Francisco earthquake (1906), participating in U.S. Army military manoeuvres and becoming the chairman of a committee to coordinate motor transportation in France during WWI. In 1921 he became president of the White Motor Company. In 1919 he married Mary Virginia Saunders. They had seven children, two of whom died in infancy. He died in Cleveland as a result of injuries from an automobile accident in 1929.

from http://ead.ohiolink.edu/xtf-ead/view?docId=ead/OCLWHi0294.xml;chunk...