Barclay White

Who was Barclay White?

Barclay White was Superintendent of Indian Affairs during the administration of American president Ulysses S. Grant, a published authority on the history of West Jersey and the genealogy of local families, and a pioneering New Jersey cranberry farmer.

Barclay White was born of Quaker parentage at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Joseph White and Rebecca Smith, his wife. His father and uncle, Josiah White, were prominent entrepreneurs. He became an orphan at the age of six. White was educated at Westtown School, Westtown, Pennsylvania, and Smith's Academy, Wilmington, Delaware.

White lived for many years on his farm at Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey. He was married three times, fathering four sons. The children of Barclay and Rebecca Merritt White were: Howard, born April 12, 1844; Joseph Josiah, born January 22, 1846; George Foster, born November 13, 1847; and Barclay Jr., born February 20, 1850. Joseph J. White's daughter, Elizabeth Coleman White, pioneered the development and commercialization of the cultivated blueberry.

Barclay White died at Mount Holly Township, New Jersey and was interred at Arney's Mount Friends Meetinghouse and Burial Ground, Springfield Township.