AM WHIT A ND HI FATH S UEL E S, ER H A HIT J UDGE T OM S W E . F A T HE R W HO W A S A F O L L O W E R O F A S , U R Y I N T HE E A R L Y DA YS F M H DI M O E T O S . D H N R Y . N R A E , , O , L I , R A R I A N O F T HE S O , I E T Y 21, 19- 03 . T H HI S T O R I , A S O , I T Y O F D AW A R E L E E L E , W I M I N G T O N L , 1 0 9 3. Monograph S A M E L W HI U T E . The wheels of time move swiftly and surely . Men come o f m an such and go and are forgotten . B ut few the y make an impression as to leave behind them a record that is remembered . on e tw o J ust hundred and years ago , Samuel White was appointed United States Senator by Governor Richard Basset t , to succeed Dr . Henry Latimer , who had resigned the office , and after the lapse o f a century it is with difii culty that enough information can be gotten together to make a ‘ respectable biography Of this man w ho held the exalted position Of United States Senator from Delaware . I nvestigation establishes the fact that Samuel White was 1 0 a son Of Thomas White , and that he was born in 7 7 , on the farm Of his father in Mispillion H undred , Kent County , f V o . Delaware , a few miles from the illage Whiteleysburg ‘ The father , Thomas White , was known as J udge White , having from 1 7 7 7 until 1 792 served as one of the Justices of ’ the Court o f Common Pleas and Orphans Court Of Kent County , during the last two years o f that time as Chief Justice . This Court existed under the first constitution Of 1 6 the State , adopted in 7 7 , bu t was abolished by the consti t u t io n o f 1 2 . o f his 7 9 Judge White , at the time death , was o f n e o f Register Wills for Kent County . He was o the large fl z land owners in Kent County and an in uential citi en . F a c s im ile of the S igna t w e ’ of T ho ma s W hite . A M E L E JVD E 4 S U WHIT A HIS FA TH R . I n 1 7 7 7 when Francis Asbury made his advent into Dela ‘ of ware as the pioneer preacher Methodism , Judge White and his brother Dr . Edward White became much interested in him and in the cause which he represented , and in time , o f both became converts , and afterwards warm adherents his faith . Asbury spent much time at the home of the t w o White brothers, but he became particularly attached to Thomas White , and in his j ournal speaks of him as his , ’ dearest friend in America , and says that Judge White s h home was the onlyhome t hat e ever had . Asbury never married , and being in the Methodist itinerancy from his early days , had no permanent place of abode . Most of the - Methodist preachers were English born , and one of their tenets was a refusal to bear arms Denounced by other , sects as noisy , pestilential fellows and suspected by the authorities of enmity to the patriotic cause , the Methodists fell into great disfavor during the Revol ution . J udge White , because of his adherence to the Methodist cause and his close friendship for Asbury , was suspected , of being at least lukewarm towards the independence of the colonies and so strong did the senti ment become against him that in the 1 T autumn of 7 77 he was arrested and imprisoned as a ory . After being separated from his family some weeks , which o f was a source great concern and distress to them , he was exonerated and discharged . This was while Asbury was sheltered and cared for on the . 1 8 1 6 . White plantation On the death of Asbury in , Rev Ez ekiel Cooper , one of the earliest Methodist preachers from on the peninsula , preached a funeral discourse Asbury in S ’ t . George s Church in Philadelphia in the course of which , , referring to this period , he said , Asbury found an asylum , ‘ S A J PI UE L W E A E HIT AND HIS F TH R . 5 as his castle o f safety in the house and with the hospitable f o s . one family his fast and firm friend , Thomas White , E , , o f of the Judges the Court in Kent County , Delaware . He was a pious man and his wife one o f the holiest of women , they were great friends to the cause of religion and to preachers generally . From this place of retreat and protec tion , as in a castle of repose and safety , he could correspond ff e brethern with his su ring , who where scattered abroad in different parts . He could also , occasionally travel about , visiting the societies and sometimes preaching to the people . in some of their movements the y had to be very cautious and circumspect , for they were watched as the hawk watches on the partridge the mountain , and as the wolves watch the f fl , sheep o the pasture and the lambs of the ock . The fact that subse, uently J udge White was honored with importan t public station w ould indicate that he continued in favor w ith the populace as well as with those in authority . One o f the earliest Methodist Churches on the peninsula was , ’ , White s Chapel , named for the Judge , and situated near ’ A Judge White s residence . church bearing the same name still stands a few miles from the Old site . The original ’ White s Chapel falling in disuse , went to decay , but years afterwards , the frame work that remained , was removed a o r mile more westward , across the State line into Maryland , and there it was used as part of the super - structure of what ’ was called Lee s Chapel , and for many years was regularly used f or Methodist services . I n course of time it was sup ’ planted by Shepherd s Chapel and the building , still in a of or good state preservation , is used as a barn storehouse ’ O ld o f on the Carter farm , adj oining the location Lee s Chapel . E S A M UE L WHITE A N D HIS FA TH R . I t was at Judge White ’ s house that the first conference of 2 8 th 1 the Methodist preachers was held on April , 7 79 , and it was here that the important and significant step was taken of appointing Francis Asbury , the general assistant or superintendent in America , with the right of determining i , uestions in conference after d ue considerat on . From this time Asbury became the recogniz ed centre of Methodism in ’ America , and in Judge White s house was born the idea of Episcopal Supervision . 1 Judge White died at his plantation in 795 , in the sixty fif h of t year of his age . Asbury in speaking the death of , , J udge White , makes this entry in his j ournal This news was attended with an awful shock to me . I have met with O f nothing like it in the death any friend on the continent . I have lived days , weeks , and months in his house . He was a friend to the poor and oppressed , he had been a professed churchman , and united to the Methodist connec tion about seventeen or eighteen years . His house and heart were always open , and he was a faithful friend to liberty in spirit and practice , he was a wise , indulgent ff . husband , a tender father , and an a ectionate friend , Judge White devised his home place , called Belisle to his son Samuel White . This son seems to have had the advantage of a good education . He studied law presumably with Richard Bassett , and was admitted to the bar at Dover 1 in March 793. Soon after his admission he seems to have deserted his native county , and as far as is known never occupied the farm which his father devised to h im . The 1 80 6 con farm he sold in to John Orrell , and with this his nection with Kent County ceased . He took up his residence in Wilmington , where he resided during all the time he was S A flI U E L W E A A E HIT ND HIS F TH R . in public life . He was a Federalist in politics , but held no office until appointed United States Senator on February 8 h 1 0 1 2 t 8 . , , by Governor Bassett Richard Bassett , like Judge White was a communicant in the Church of England . The story is told that Bassett had of been engaged in the trial a case at Denton , Maryland , and was driving from Denton to his home in Dover , and ’ for stopped at Judge White s supper , Mrs . White was enter O f taining Asbury and some his companions , and sought to o ut o f o f keep them sight the distinguished lawyer .