White, James B.

Born: 1828-06-05 Greene County, Ohio

Died: 1903-07-28 Christian County, Illinois

Flourished: Springfield, Illinois

James B. White, attorney and farmer, taught school for several years beginning at age eighteen. He read law in Hamilton, Ohio, and then studied law at Cincinnati College about 1851 to 1853. Following his graduation from Cincinnati College, White began practicing law in Springfield, Illinois in 1853. In 1857, he was elected prosecuting attorney for the Eighteenth Judicial District and held the office for eight years. White partnered with attorney George W. Shutt in 1857 and 1858. Abraham Lincoln encountered White in the Sangamon County Circuit Court on numerous occasions. By 1860, White owned real estate valued at $10,000. He was a Democrat and a Freemason.

History of Christian County, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brink, McDonough, 1880), 207-8; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Montgomery County, OH, 14; Catalogue of the Law School of the Cincinnati College, for the Academical Year 1859-60 (Cincinnati: E. Morgan & Sons, 1859), 28, 29; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 9 May 1857, 3:1; 19 June 1858, 1:4; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Springfield, Sangamon County, IL, 249; Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Christian County, ed. by Henry L. Fowkes (Chicago: Munsell, 1918), 2:799; For legal cases involving Lincoln, search Participant, “White, James B.,” Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org; Morrisonville Times (IL), 30 July 1903, 1:2; Gravestone, Morrisonville City Cemetery, Morrisonville, IL.