William White, Sr.

Descendant of Mayflower passengers William White and Susanna (Winslow) White.

The American progenitor of the White family of Freetown and Acushnet, Massachusetts, William White the Immigrant, was a passenger on the Mayflower and an early settler of Rochester, Mass. The Freetown branch of the family, headed by Thomas White (1722-1799), principally consisted of yeomen farmers, although one member, Marchant White (ca. 1795-1880), served as a Massachusetts state legislator in 1856. William White, Sr. (1721-1817) was the head of the Acushnet branch of the family whose most notable members, William White, Jr. (1757-1865) and his sons, Phineas White (1785-1877), William White III. (1787-1875), and Benjamin White (b. 1798), owned and operated a cotton mill from about 1800-1844 in a part of Fairhaven which later became the town of Acushnet. The mill was built near the site of a sawmill and between 1800-1814, several other buildings were added to the complex including a gristmill, dye house, and dwellings for operatives. Before the company was sold in 1844, it was known as William White Jr. & Company until 1841 and then as Phineas White & Company from 1841-1844.

William White, Sr. is interred in the White Cemetery, Freetown, Bristol County, Massachusetts.

A Patriot of the American Revolution for MASSACHUSETTS with the rank of MATROSS. DAR Ancestor # A124417