Peter White

Peter White (October 31, 1830 – June 6, 1908) was one of the original settlers of Marquette, Michigan. He was a banker, businessman, real estate developer, and a philanthropist; and was involved in a number of the area's iron mining-related businesses, including acting as a director the Cleveland Iron Company. White served in many local and state public offices, including postmaster, county clerk, school board member, state representative and senator, and as a member of the state library commission and a Regent of the University of Michigan. Poet William Henry Drummond said of White, "the trail Peter White has cut through life is blessed by acts of private charity and deeds of public devotion that will serve as a guide to those who follow in the footsteps of a truly great, and above all, good man."

Early life (1830–1848) Peter White was born on October 31, 1830, in Rome, New York, the son of Peter Quintard White and Harriet Tubbs White. Peter's paternal grandparents were Captain Stephan White, who commanded Fort Stanwix in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War and Mary Quintard White, from whom Peter received his middle name. White attended school in Green Bay, and his father remarried. In 1842, White became dissatisfied with his family life, and left home to fend for himself at the age of 13.

As White travelled he encountered Bela J. Chapman, a prominent man of Mackinac County. “It was he who had brought Peter White, a small homeless waif to the North Country,” to Mackinac Island, where White performed odd jobs until he found steady employment tending a store. While in port in Bay City, Michigan, White fell while boarding the ship and broke his arm. the swelling subsided, Pitcher reset the arm, and White's arm was saved. but as soon as he was able he began work as a clerk at Freeman & Bro., a store on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit. He stayed on as a clerk for a year, then shipped out, hoping to be an assistant lighthouse keeper at the Waugoshance Light.

The iron fields and the founding of Marquette (1849–1850) In 1849, Robert J. Graveraet arrived on Mackinac Island, looking for men to accompany him to prospect in the newly discovered iron fields of the Upper Peninsula, on behalf of what would become the Marquette Iron Company. A friend, customs inspector Samuel K. Haring, urged White to join the party. The ship had arrived, and the party cleared the ground in the area to locate a town. Although still young, White was much in the confidence of Graveraet, the party's leader, due in part to White's nimble mind and facility with languages. In particular, White could speak both French and Chippewa, and Graveraet would task White with some delicate missions requiring one versed in language. By the fall, the town of Marquette had swelled in size, with workers for the Carp River Forge rolling into town. White took a job carrying mail between Marquette and L'Anse, but the pay never materialized, and he returned to his job at the company store.

Public service in Marquette (1851–1857) In the summer of 1851, the county of Marquette was organized, splitting off from Houghton County. White was elected county clerk and register of deeds, despite not being of the requisite age. Bruce knew Peter White's father Stephen, and apparently did not know that the Carp River settlement was growing moribund as its forge failed, and so appointed Peter White as the new postmaster of Carp River. Because White's store was more convenient, more citizens began sending mail through the Carp River post office than the next-door Marquette post office, and the postal service, whose officials were in far-away Washington, D.C., soon closed the Marquette office. The Cleveland Company purchased the assets of the Marquette, including the company store where White worked. In 1855, Peter White assumed the management of 64 acres of land in Marquette, which the Cleveland Company had received from the Marquette Iron Company. This was White's first taste of real estate dealings, a career which he expanded later. White ran for a seat in the legislature, hoping to represent Marquette while the land distribution was debated. White then took over the position of land register and collector of customs for the port. He also began the firm of Peter White & Co. in 1853, for the purpose of conducting banking business. four of whom died young. and a chapel built by Peter White in memory of his 12-year-old son Morgan.

Peter White the businessman (1858–1880s)

In addition to his earlier real estate dealings, White began contracting to supply materials for construction. In 1862, White incorporated, starting the First National Bank of Marquette and serving as its first cashier.

White was also in the business of selling iron, usually piecemeal to schooners returning to more southern ports. Acting on that notion, White went on a buying spree, traveling to other ports such as Detroit and buying up iron warehoused there, often the same iron he himself had sold earlier. an office he held until his death. In addition to his banking and real estate business, he invested in other businesses. He at one time owned The Mining Journal, selling it in 1868 to Alfred P. Swineford, Mining-related business opportunities abounded in the Marquette area; White was a director of the Cleveland Iron Company, and the Munising Furnace. He also began an insurance company, He was naturally a Democrat, although he broke with the party later over certain monetary positions.

In 1875, White was elected to the Michigan Senate, and was particularly successful in getting aid for a railroad between St. Ignace and Marquette. He also introduced a bill to establish a state-supported school in Marquette. Although White again declined to run for re-election, he did campaign for Democratic presidential nominee Samuel J. Tilden, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1882, and in 1884 campaigned for Grover Cleveland.

Peter White the philanthropist (1880s–1908)

White served as the Park and Cemetery Commissioner for Marquette for over forty years. With that accomplished, he convinced the city council to accept the gift, and used his own fortune to improve the park and maintain it for five years. He provided the city of Marquette with a bronze statue of its namesake, Jacques Marquette, which was unveiled in 1897.

In 1899, after many years of advocacy by White and others, the Northern State Normal School (now Northern Michigan University) was opened. in 1902, the school built the Peter White Science Hall.

One of White's most enduring philanthropies was the sponsorship of the Marquette public library. He began the library in 1872, constructing its first building and donating 10,000 books from his personal library to the city. White endowed fellowships at the university in history and classical studies, He fell on the street and died almost instantly. He was survived by one daughter and two grandchildren.