Andrew Hood White
Among that numerous band of vigorous octogenarians of which Greene county is so justly proud there are few who have a wider acquaintance or are held in higher regard than the venerable Andrew Hood White, who for many years was actively engaged in the mercantile business at Clifton and who is still living in that pleasant village, of which he has been a continuous resident since the latter '50s. Mr. White was one of the founders of the public-school system in Clifton and was for years clerk of the local school board. He also has been for years a member of the session of the Presbyterian church at Clifton, now the senior elder, and has thus been long recognized as among the leaders in good works throughout that part of the county and in the adjacent sections of the neighboring county of Clark. Mr. White is a South Carolinian and proud of it, though he has never had occasion to regret the choice which made him a citizen of Ohio away back in the days of his young manhood, for this section of the Buckeye state has come to be very dear to him during the many years in which he has been a participant in its development. The manner of Mr. White's coming to and definite determination to settle in Greene county is but one of the countless instances showing upon what a slender chance human choice sometimes depends. He was born in Chester county, South Carolina, April 27, 1835, son of Abram and Esther (Thompson) White, both of whom also were born in that state, of old Colonial stock, the former born in 1793, who were substantial landed proprietors there. Reared in his home county, Andrew H. White received excellent schooling there and remained until he was twenty-one years of age, when he took a trip West, spending a year at Camden, Arkansas. At that time his brother, the Rev. W. G. White, was engaged in the ministry of the Presbyterian church at Clifton, in this county, and upon his return from the West he stopped at Clifton for the purpose of making a brief visit to his brother. So favorably impressed did he become with the outlook here, however, that he determined to make this his permanent home, readily coming to the conclusion that the attractive village of Clifton would be a most desirable point in which to engage in business. That he might be better qualified for a mercantile career, Mr. White went to Cincinnati, where he took a thorough course in a business college and then for a year afterward was engaged as a clerk in a general store at Dayton. He then returned to Clifton and there opened a store. From the very beginning of his commercial undertaking Mr. White was successful and he continued in business, carrying on the same in the building in which he started his store, for forty years, or until his retirement from active business about fifteen years ago, when he sold his store. Since then he has been living retired, though he still retains interests of one sort and another that prevents time hanging heavily on his hands. From the very beginning of his residence in Clifton Mr. White has taken an active interest in school affairs. For years he was clerk of the school board and thus the Clifton schools virtually grew up under his eye and in a measure under his direction. Politically, Mr. White is a Democrat of the old Jacksonian school and for years was regarded as one of the leaders of that party hereabout.
On April 18, 1866, Andrew H. White was united in marriage to Margaret J. Hand, who was born in this county, in the neighborhood of Yellow Springs, a daughter of John and Sarah (Johnson) Hand, the former of whom died when his daughter Margaret was two years of age, his widow surviving him for years. The latter was a native of Mason county, Kentucky. Mrs. White died at her home in Clifton on May 24, 1893, and is buried in the beautiful cemetery there. She left one daughter. Miss Florence Kennett White, who is a great stay and comfort to her father in the latter's declining years. Miss White was given excellent educational advantages in the days of her girlhood and has traveled quite extensively in the South. Mr. White is now the senior elder of the Presbyterian church at Clifton and for many years has been clerk of the session, his interest in church work thus extending to all departments of the same; an interest that he is happy to say does not wane with advancing years.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918