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Penn in the 18th Century

 

Thomas White (1704-1779)

  • Founder and Trustee 1749-1772
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  • Lawyer
  • Deputy Surveyor of Baltimore County
  • Philadelphia Justice of the Peace

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    		Portrait of Thomas White

     

    Lawyer and surveyor Thomas White was born in London and educated at St. Albans grammar school just outside London, England. In 1720 he left England for the colonies, living first in Maryland. Here he was commissioned a colonel in the Maryland militia and appointed Deputy Surveyor of Baltimore County before moving to Philadelphia around 1745.

    In Philadelphia White was a founder of the Academy and College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania). In 1752 he was named a Justice of the Peace in Philadelphia county.

    Thomas White and his wife Esther Hewlings were the parents of William White (1748-1836), D.D., first Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania. Thomas White died at his farm in Maryland in 1779.

     

     

    REFERENCES
    Matriculates, University of Pennsylvania 1740-1900, Alumni Record, American National Biography entry for William White (1748-1836)

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