(Youngest child of Isaac and Eleanor (Rinders) White.)
Harmon White, 3d g. Isaac White, 2d g. Wm. White, 1st g.
Harmon White married Sarah Dean, of Salisbury, Ct. Their children were born in Salisbury, Ct.
Children of Harmon White and Sarah Dean:
Harmon White died suddenly Oct. 15, 1818. After his return from service in the Revolutionary War, he was unable to sleep excepting in his chair and here he died. His wife, Sarah Dean, died Sept. 11, 1810. Harmon White and wife are buried in the cemetery at Cayuta, but a few rods distant from the home they occupied.
Harmon White served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He was with Col. Ethan Allen when Fort Ticonderoga was surrendered, and was with Gen. Sullivan when he disbanded his army at the close of the war, near where the village of Horseheads is now situated, in the southern part of Chemung Co., N. Y. In the spring of 1800 he came to what is now Cayuta, Schuyler Co., N. Y. , accompanied by his second son, John, then a young man nearly twenty years of age. That section of New York was at that time an unbroken wilderness. The farm where he settled is now owned by a grandson, Wm. B. White. It is a picturesque place, surrounded by hills and mountains stretching in every direction. At the time that Harmon White came there were but half a dozen other settlers within miles of them, and panthers, bears and other wild animals were frequent visitors. They soon built a snug log house, a couple of acres were burned over and sown to wheat, which yielded bountifully, and as they had brought no plow with them, they were obliged to plant corn by making holes in the sod, yet in this way they raised a sufficient quantity for the family when they came the next year, and also fattened a supply of pork.
They spent the summer in "clearing land," and caring for the crops they had placed in the ground. The little Cayuta creek comes noisily rushing down from the highlands back of the house, and at that time fish of all kinds were abundant in its clear waters, but prized above all others, then as now, were trout. The creek crosses the farm near the house Mr. Wm. B. White, the present occupant of the farm, said that "Uncle John" told him, that one day in the spring of 1801, he and his father were at work plowing back of the house; when it was nearly noon, his father says, "John, you unyoke the oxen and feed them, and I'll catch some trout for our dinner." He took a linen fish line from his pocket, cut a pole on which he tied it, baited the hook with white grubs from a stump near by, and threw it into a deep pool that was shaded by a huge hemlock tree. Within fifteen minutes he had thrown out of the water nine speckled beauties, that together weighed 13 pounds. The clear pool is still shaded by a venerable hemlock, but we looked in vain for its former inhabitants. (I know this is a true fish story, for I have seen the pool.) Harmon and John White went back to Connecticut in the fall, and returned in March, 1801, bringing the remainder of the family with them. Abram Hollenbeck also came. His wife was a niece of Harmon White. While crossing the Hudson river, the horses broke through the ice, the sleigh, with its precious freight, being nearly submerged in the water. One horse came near being drowned, the other, a large cream colored animal, with black mane and tail, and a black stripe down his back, (it had a significant Dutch name which I have forgotten), swam to the shore, drawing the sleigh, together with his nearly drowned mate. The banks were steep, and Mr. Hollenbeck, who had crossed in safety, threw a rope to Mr. White, who tied it to the sleigh, and some men who had witnessed the scene, came and helped draw it up the bank. There were probably two sleighs, as it would have been impossible for one alone to accommodate a family of nine persons and the household articles which they undoubtedly brought.
It is recorded in the history of New York that John White built the first saw mill in Cayuta in 1816, and Jesse White kept the first store in 1808.
Soon after the family had settled here, two of the neighbors started for New York City, their nearest market, with loads of venison, poultry, butter and other produce. They stopped at Binghampton to remain over night, during which the horse belonging to one of them was so badly kicked by that of his fellow traveler, that it was necessary to kill it. The selfish man went on with his load, leaving his unfortunate neighbor miles from home with his load and but little money, no way to go on, or to return home. The next day he was standing out of doors, thinking sorrowfully of his trouble, when he heard a team coming and saw that the driver was Mr. White. He asked him the cause of his trouble, and being told, says, "We'll fix it all right." He fastened the sleigh behind his. Very soon a man with an empty sleigh came along and took the load in his until he reached his home, when he sold one of his horses to the man for $60, Mr. White giving his guarantee for the note.
Genealogy of the White Family by Mrs. Jennett E. Vanderpool. 1899. pp.86-88