John Baker White

John Baker White (August 24, 1868 – June 2, 1944) was an American lawyer, military officer, and Democratic politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia. White served as a captain in the West Virginia National Guard during the Spanish–American War and as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps during World War I. White was a member of the City Council and Board of Affairs of Charleston, West Virginia from 1907 to 1911, and frequently served as the city's mayor pro tempore. He was later appointed a member of the West Virginia Board of Control, where he served as the board's treasurer, secretary, and president at various times.

White was a member of the White political family of Virginia and West Virginia and was the son of Hampshire County Clerk of Court and West Virginia Fish Commission President Christian Streit White (1839–1917) and the grandson of Hampshire County Clerk of Court John Baker White (1794–1862). White was a nephew of West Virginia Attorney General Robert White (1833–1915).

Early life and education John Baker White was born on August 24, 1868, in Romney, West Virginia. He was the only child of Hampshire County Clerk of Court Christian Streit White (1839–1917) with his first wife Elizabeth "Bessie" Jane Schultze White (1837–1869) and the eldest of his father's five children. He was a grandson of Hampshire County Clerk of Court John Baker White (1794–1862), for whom White was named, and a great-grandson of the prominent Virginia judge Robert White (1759–1831). His uncle Robert White (1833–1915) served as Attorney General of West Virginia. As a representative of Governor MacCorkle, White traveled across the state to high-profile events, such as the June 1895 strikes at the Crozier Works on Elkhorn Creek in McDowell County, to urge calm and to provide the governor with situational awareness on the strike. White performed as Governor MacCorkle's private secretary for four years until the end of his administration's term in 1897.

During the West Virginia general elections of 1892 and 1896, White was recognized for his leadership efforts in support of the campaigns of Democratic candidates.

Law career While he was employed at the West Virginia State Capitol, White began studying jurisprudence with legal coursebooks.

Military career In 1888, White volunteered his service in the West Virginia National Guard, White had previously attempted to enter the service of the U.S. Army through its various training schools to serve in World War I, but he had been rebuffed each time due to his advanced age of 49. White continued to carry out his duties in London until June 1919, by which time the war was over, when his base section there was closed and he was transferred to the United States military's general headquarters in France. White later served as the board's president for two years.

Marriage On August 22, 1939, White married Mary Ann Williamson near Malvern in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Williamson was a native of Berkeley County, West Virginia, but resided in Athens, West Virginia, at the time of her marriage. Williamson was a graduate of Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, of Concord College in Athens, and of the University of Kentucky in Lexington. She had been a member of the faculty at Marshall College in Huntington since 1934. The medical certification of White's death stated the cause of his heart failure was due to age and overexertion. At the time of his death, White was residing at Capitol Street in Charleston. The Henry G. Davis Club was founded "for the study of political economy and the science of self-government; for the education of the young men of the State of West Virginia in these sciences and the promulgation of such information, literature and statistics as will in the judgment of its directors be best suited for such purposes".

Legacy In his Bench and Bar of West Virginia (1919), Atkinson remarked of White's service in Charleston city government: "His chief aim was to render a service that would advance the interests of the people, without showing favors to any class or classes of the citizens of Charleston. His service in that high office marked him as a man of high honor, firmness and probity." Atkinson remarked further of White: "Such men are rarely found in this or any other portion of this wide world which we inhabit."