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- WHITE, Dr. Clarence Henry, Pioneer, Physician, College President, Oil Man. Among the great pioneers Avhose memory America honors, none have rendered more important or noble senice to mankind than has Dr. Clarence Henry White, pine settlement physician and surgeon, backwoods school teacher, brilliant graduate of several leading medical schools, college president and educator, profound medical scholar and scientist, lumber magnate and one of the organizers and leading executives of the Crude Oil Industry of Southern California. He was a man of sound, keen judgment and tremendous vital force, and combined a warm sympathy for suffering humanity with stern ideals regarding right and wrong. His dynamic personality, his astonishing endurance under the strain of hardships that had defeated lesser men, and his never-failing pioneering spirit and staunch faith are contributing factors to his spectacular success in every field of endeavor in which he was interested. Dr. Clarence H. White was the descendant of a long line of distinguished ancestry, including physicians, educators and soldiers who had taken an active part in the early wars of the country, and who had in times of peace been prominent, public-spirited men, and leaders in their various communities. Clarence Henry White, the subject of this sketch, son of Welcome Washington and Abigail (Hoard) White, was born in Wellsburg, Erie County, Pennsylvania, June 12, 1848, and died October 10, 1927, at Los Angeles, California. Dr. White attended the public schools of Erie County until 1863 and later was graduated from Newton Academy, Sherbourne, New York. He began the study of medicine with his relative, Dr. Owen, of Sherbourne. He took a course in the Straton College, Erie, Pennsylvania, from 1865 until 1866, after which he again returned to his medical studies. From 1866 until 1868 he read medicine with his uncle, Dr. Oliver C. Joslen, at St. Johns, Michigan, and during the spring and fall of those years taught country school. His students in this backwoods country school were boys, grown to manhood, who worked on the river in summer and in the timber woods during the winter months. Discipline and order were unheard of previous to his arrival, and little interest was taken by the overgrown scholars in actual instruction and "book larnin'." The school had been practically disbanded for some time previous to the advent of Dr. White, due to the fact that the scholars had successfully "licked" each of the teachers who had volunteered to teach and "subdue" them. The experience was of great A'alue to young Clarence White, and taught him priceless lessons in understanding human nature, and in guiding other men. His native ability as an organizer was improved by this difficult experience. Among the many thrilling incidents of that period of Dr. White's life, was the never-to-be-forgotten occasion when the entire school of twentyfive- year-old backwoods boy scholars decided they would "lick the teacher." Then ensued a struggle in which he found it necessary to discipline his unruly pupils in no uncertain terms. His knowledge of surgery stood him well in hand in administering to the wounded after the "battle" was over. After that event there was no question as to who was the boss and leader, and the "boys" soon grew to respect and love their fearless teacher. Numbers of these same boys in later years, as business and professional men, returned to thank their old teacher and disciplinarian for changing the current of their lives, and making them realize the benefits of an education. Dr. White was a student at the medical department of the University of Michigan and later attended the Detroit Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1872. He attended the University of Buffalo during 1873. Dr. White finished his medical studies in 1874, and devoted the best years of his life to the care of an isolated population in Michigan's northern wilderness, performing a hard and lonely service for a humble, vigorous, fearless people on the outposts of civilization. He went into the pine forests as far north as the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad would carry him, which was the little town of Paris, then the terminus. For many years he was the only surgeon from Paris to the Straits of Mackinac, two hundred and fifty miles to the north, and to the port of Manistee, sixty miles west. During those stirring pioneer days, Dr. White time and again swam swollen streams, like the Pere Marquette and Muskegon, in cold weather, to reach some sick patient; or rode alone on horseback into the dark forests, seventy-five, eighty, a hundred and even a hundred and fifty miles to aid a suffering pioneer or to administer to an Indian needing his attention. Many, many operations he performed, during those hardy pioneer days, in log cabins with only the flickering light of a candle to indicate where the incision should be made, and thanks to his thorough knowledge of anatomy, and to his remarkable skill as a surgeon, these operations Avere completed and successful. It must be remembered that during those early days in the lumber industry of northern Michigan, from 1875 to 1885, human life was cheap. In addition to the terrific hardships and dangers of the industry, the chief pastime of the log and river crews, as they came out of the woods and from the river drive, was the "free-for-all fight" or the "gang fight" of the men of one organization against the men of a rival organization. The results were, as the groups came out of the woods, the ordinary individuals took to the protection of the indoors and left the streets of the village to the whisky-crazed woodsmen until all had become so badly off from fight and drink that the marshal could round them up and herd them into the town "lock-up." For days after one of these battles, smashed heads and broken bones were plentiful and the frontier doctor was the one who was in universal demand. Dr. White was a powerful man physically and although only 5 feet 8 inches in height, weighed 230 pounds, and in such physical condition as only a rough life, outdoor exposure and a home in the saddle could give. One of the many hundreds of incidents of those pioneer days is here quoted which will show his indomitable will, his quick impulse to succor'the needy, his unlimited personal courage and his "never-say-die" battle spirit. In the spring of 1878, after breaking winter's camp and finishing the "big spring drive," two river crews from the Muskegon River struck Paris the same afternoon, and as was customary they proceeded to "limber up, liquor up, and then clean each other up," while the inhabitants retired behind bolt and key. On this particular occasion, there were more than seventy-five men in the battle. At last one side, with more liquor aboard than the other, was gradually getting the worst of it. The "battle royal" had been on some two hours when Dr. White rode into town. Pulling up his horse in front of the hotel, he saw a group of more than thirty hob-nail booted and wildly drunken river men kicking a man, who, on his knees, was too far gone to help himself. Taking in the situation at a glance, the doctor vaulted from his horse and fought his way into the seething mass of men, a smashing blow here, heads knocked together there, he at last fought to the center. He grasped the blood-covered unfortunate and dragged him to the sidewalk. Three times during the rescue he had to drop his burden and three times fight the gang all over again. Finally single handed he dragged his burden into the hotel office where the bystanders had locked themselves. He then proceeded to bind up the wounds, and those who saw the rescue say that he spent nearly half the night in repairing the heads and dressing the cuts of the gang he had rushed in the street. It was for a long time a byword in Paris, when the river gangs hit town, "Where's Doc White?" The doctor was quick as a flash in a fight, ahvays sacrificing himself for the "underdog," vigorous and untiring in doing for others, possessed of unlimited determination in battling for what he considered the right, yet moderate in his habits and prided himself that what he knew of liquor was only its color and smell. At any pioneer picnic of old settlers gathered in northern Michigan one can always start the stories going by asking, "Does any one here know of Dr. Clarence White?" During this period, in addition to his practice of medicine, Dr. White was elected in 1875 Superintendent of Schools in Mecosta County, which position he filled for two years. At the beginning of his term of office he recognized that the schools in that part of the State were of little A-alue and that the few log schools which had been established were in a very unsettled condition. There was little pretense at instruction and little or no organization of a permanent character and no connection with the educational organization in the southern and more adr vanced part of the State. He immediately set to work to organize a complete system of schools in his territor}r, and as a result of his great popularity and the confidence the people placed in him, the work was speedily and successfully accomplished. The organization of the school system of the county was accomplished with so much vigor and determination, and with so little friction, that at the close of his term of office, nearly all the people of his district desired him to continue in that position, but the press of his medical practice forced him to decline another term. He, however, served as member of the Board of Education for a number of years while a resident of Reed City, and during his entire lifetime his interest in education never flagged, and he was always among the first to promote any new developments in educational methods. Dr. Clarence H. White moved to Hersey, Michigan, in 1879, and assumed charge of the medical and surgical cases resulting from the lumber operations in that locality. When the railroad was completed to Reed City in 1880, he removed to that community and remained there until 1895, serving as mayor of that city from 1882 to 1886. At Reed City he established the American Hospital Association and operated this establishment himself. During the years intervening between 1882 and 1890, this was the most northern hospital located in the southern peninsula of Michigan,and was situated in the midst of a pioneer country surrounded by a territory served by more than two hundred lumber mills. During that period there were literally thousands of sick and wounded cases treated at this hospital. The patients came from the sturdy workers in the north woods, the river drive and the lumber mills. It appears to be a significant characteristic of the life story of Dr. White, that he always seemed to seek out the most needy spot, and to devote his tremendous enthusiasm and energy to helping that particular community. Dr. White became interested in the lumber business and at one time owned a large part of Bois Blanc Island near the Straits of Mackinac. He also became interested in a number of other lumber operations, but when the industry had finished cutting pine in 1895, he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. During his residence in northern Michigan he was surgeon of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad (Pennsylvania Railroad) and of the Pere Marquette Railroad. He was also president of the United States Federal Examining Board from 1881 to 1895, as well as a member for northern Michigan of the Medical Examining Board for West Point Academy. It can also be mentioned at this point, regarding Dr. White's lumber activities, that he was president of the White and Brainard Lumber Company of Benton, Arkansas, and personally owned and operated extensive tracts of oak and pine land located near Benton, Londsdale, and Klondike, Arkansas, also tracts along the White River in the same State. At one time he was associated with Justice S. Stearns in lumber operations at Weiner, Arkansas. Despite the press of his professional work, Dr. White never ceased his academic studies, in further specialization, along the branches of medicine in which he was most interested. In 1881 he took his post-graduate degree at Fort Wayne Medical College at Fort Wayne, Indiana, now affiliated with the University of Indiana. In 1890 he attended the Chicago Policlinic, specializing in abdominal surgery. Over a period of years he also completed post-graduate work in other leading universities, including Johns Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore and the Rush Medical College in Chicago, now affiliated with the University of Chicago, and also spent some time in the study of surgery in other medical institutions and hospitals. He was a profound medical student and scientist and was the first surgeon in northern Michigan to perform the Gastro-Enterostomy operation, and was among the first in that State to recognize the value of microscopic analysis in his professional work. The first microscope used in Northern Michigan was brought there by Dr. White, who had purchased it in Philadelphia while doing post-graduate work there, and who took it with him to the north woods. It has been said by his contemporaries that during the years between 1874 and 1896, Dr. White knew more men by name in Northern Michigan than did any other resident of the State. This popularity resulted in his becoming prominent politically, and he was chosen delegate to county, congressional, State and national conventions of the Republican party, also serving on the county and congressional committees of that party. He was an intimate friend of Senator Zach Chandler, President Angell of the University of Michigan, Governor Hazen S. Pingree, Governor Cornelius Bliss, Governor John T. Ritch, and Senator J. C. Burroughs. Dr. White was dean for three years and president for seven years of the Medical College at Grand Rapids, Michigan, which he organized with a number of professional friends in 1897. During the ten years of his association with that institution he was also professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine. During his many years of active practice and teaching, he originated new and advance methods of treating bowel and intestinal disorders, and during his years as a college professor he instructed many students as well as visiting physicians and surgeons in these methods and in their application. Many of his former students are now prominent in their profession, a number serving as surgeons in the United States Army, one a medical missionary in Persia, two practicing their profession in Los Angeles and one in Pasadena. While living in Southern Michigan, in addition to his being president and professor of the Grand Rapids Medical College, he was on the surgical staffs of all of the hospitals of Grand Rapids, of the Butterworth Hospital, of the Union Benevolent Association, of the Children's- Home and Hospital, of the Saint Mary's Hospital and of the Grand Rapids Detention Home and Hospital, and on the visiting surgical staff of hospitals in other cities. He also served as city physician of Grand Rapids, Michigan, during the years 1898 and 1899, and was also a member of the city Board of Health. He was president of the Osceola Medical Association from 1880-81 and president of the Medical Association of Northern Michigan from 1882-1884. He was vice-president of the Michigan State Medical Society, member of the Peninsula Club, the Lakeside Club, the O-Waushte-Nong Club, the Lincoln Club and the Masonic Club of Grand Rapids. In 1907 Dr. White left Grand Rapids and went to California, intending only to spend the winter. However, he became interested in a new oil field which was being developed by some of his eastern friends in Kern County, California, and he visited that field and became interested in the original Lake View Oil Company, which he helped organize. This company was afterwards taken over by the Union Oil Company. Dr. White was one of the nine men who furnished the necessary capital to drill and operate the first well, which was the original Lake View gusher, which, up to 1910, was the greatest oil well ever brought in in California, flowing in excess of twenty-five thousand barrels a day for over a year and known the world over, through its write-ups in newspapers, syndicate and magazine articles and through illustrations and moving picture news reels. Dr. White became so interested in the oil industry that he decided to remain in California permanently, and although he had come as a tourist in 1907 he did not return to Grand Rapids until after 1911. He had, however, maintained his office and his official connections in Grand Rapids, and in 1910, on deciding to remain permanently in California, he arranged for the closing of his affairs in Michigan and for his equipment and library to be shipped to Los Angeles, where he opened his office for the practice of medicine and where he continued in residence until his death. The Union Oil Company bought fiftyone per cent of the stock of the Lake View Oil Company in 1910, thus obtaining the controlling interest. Dr. White therefore organized the Lake View No. 2 Oil Company, of which he was the principal stockholder and president, serving that company as its president and chairman of its board of directors for eight years. During that time it developed its lands in Kern County, and in 1914 brought in a Avell of even greater volume than the original Lake View gusher. This Lake View No. 2 Oil Company gusher flowed for a number of weeks at over one hundred thousand barrels per day, and from May 10 to November 30 of that year it averaged over forty thousand barrels of crude oil daily. In 1913 the Interstate Oil Company was organized and Dr. White became a directorandvice-president, serving in that capacity from 1913 until 1922. From 1922 until 1926 he was vice-president, member of the executive committee, and director of the Interstate Oil Corporation, Avhich has producing oil wells at Maricopa, Pentland, Taft, Signal Hill, Sunset, Huntington Beach and Newport, with its refinery at Pentland, California, The responsibilities of these important executive positions did not entirely absorb the interest of Dr. White's stupendous vitality. He continued in the practice of medicine and was frequently called in consultation by his professional colleagues who recognized the superior quality of his technical skill and training. He followed all new developments and discoveries in the medical field and was always a step ahead of the average in his grasp of the trend of science. Dr. White owned and operated a number of mining properties in California and Arizona. He was director of the Michigan Land and Water Company; president of the Grand Rapids Society of Southern California; a thirty-second degree Mason belonging to both the Knights Templar and the Mystic Shrine. He was a member of the Eastern Star, Knights of Pythias, Elks, and Odd Fellows lodges; a member of the City Club, Municipal League and Sierra Madra Club of Los Angeles. Politically he was affiliated with the Republican party. Such a record of achievement as thus briefly told stands as a lasting monument to the fine worth and character of Dr. Clarence Henry White. It shows, more clearly than any descriptive words, that he was dynamic, that he was vital and that he was one of that great group of pioneers whose splendid faith, unfailing courage and tireless energy have laid the foundations for our present civilization. His passing, in October, 1927, was mourned by both the State of Michigan and the State of California, by many professional and business associates and by hosts of admiring, loving friends. On the death of Dr. White in California, an editorial of appreciation was published in the "Grand Rapids Press," of Grand Rapids, Michigan, under date of
October 20, 1927. This editorial expresses the thought in his old home in Michigan; a portion of said editorial is here given:
One of the last of a rare group of public servants passed away in California this week with the death of Dr. Clarence H. White, former Michigan camp and pine settlement physician and surgeon. . . . For many years he was the only surgeon from Paris to the Straits of Mackinac, two hundred and fifty miles north, and to the port of Manistee, sixty miles west. Yet this man who gave himself to a life of constant hardship, who time and again swam swollen streams like the Pere Marquette in cold weather to reach a patient, was one of the outstanding surgeons of his day, a high officer of the Michigan Medical Association, a profound medical student and scientist with a splendid education. . . . To the care of an isolated population in Michigan's northern wilderness, he devoted the best years of his life which might have been spent in every luxury. His reward was like that of another veteran of the medical frontier, Dr. Wilfred T. Grenfell, who performed a similar hard and rugged service for the Labrador Coast. It lay in the sense of a big job handled well for its own sake; in the pleasure of. serving a humble, vigorous, fearless people on the outposf of civilization. Michigan is better for recalling such a life. Dr. Clarence H. White married, July 2, 1877, Mary Anna Hardy, of Grand Rapids, born August 22, 1855. They were the parents of one son, Floyd G., who is president and general manager of the Interstate Oil Corporation of Los" Angeles. He married Gladys Rose Barnard, and they are the parents of three daughters: Helen Rose, Betty Barnard, and Jacqueline Jane.
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The H600 Project Genealogy DB
1848 - 1927 (79 years)