Robert White (May 28, 1876 – August 15, 1935) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia. White served four consecutive terms as the Prosecuting Attorney for Hampshire County, West Virginia (1912–1928), and served one term in the West Virginia Senate (1931–1935), representing the state's 15th Senate district in the 40th and 41st Sessions of the West Virginia Legislature. During the 1933 legislative year, White served as the floor leader for the Democratic Party members of the West Virginia Senate.
White was born in Romney, West Virginia, in 1876 to Hampshire County Clerk of Court Christian Streit White (1839–1917) and his second wife Catharine Steele White (1837–1869) and he was the grandson of Hampshire County Clerk of Court John Baker White (1794–1862). White was educated at Potomac Academy and began his career in public service at the age of 16 as Deputy Clerk of Court in his father's law office. He studied jurisprudence at the West Virginia University College of Law graduating in 1899.
White began practicing law in Romney, and he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Hampshire County in 1912. He was elected to the position four times, and served terms from 1912 to 1928. In addition, White served as the county's Commissioner of School Lands and as one of the county's Chancery Commissioners and Commissioners of Accounts. He was elected to represent the 15th Senate district in the West Virginia Senate in 1930 and served in the senate until 1934. In 1933, White was chairman of the senate's Judiciary Committee and he was also appointed to two special committees: one on economy and efficiency to study state and municipal government spending, and another to investigate the road commission's awarding of a contract for gasoline, oil, and grease to the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey over the Elk Refining Company.
Following a prolonged illness, White died in Romney in 1935 at the age of 59.
Early life and education
Robert White was born on May 28, 1876, in Romney, West Virginia. He was the second child of Hampshire County Clerk of Court Christian Streit White (1839–1917) and his second wife Catharine Steele White (1837–1869), and was the third eldest of his father's five children. White was a grandson of Hampshire County Clerk of Court John Baker White (1794–1862) and a great-grandson of the prominent Virginia judge Robert White (1759–1831). His uncle Robert White (1833-1915) served as Attorney General of West Virginia and his brother John Baker White (1868–1944) was a military officer and later served as a Charleston city councilman and president of the West Virginia Board of Control.
White received his early education in the public schools of Romney, and attended Romney's Potomac Academy. At the age of 16, he began his career in public service, serving as the Deputy Clerk of Court in the office of his father, Christian Streit White, who was then serving as Hampshire County's Clerk of Court. In 1894, White graduated from Potomac Academy at the age of 18. Two years later, he began studying jurisprudence at the West Virginia University College of Law in Morgantown. He graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1899, earning a Bachelor of Laws degree. White cast his first vote for Democratic Party presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan in the United States presidential election of 1900.
Law career
Following his graduation in 1899 from West Virginia University, White returned to Romney and established a law practice. In 1903, he became associated with his father Christian Streit White in a law practice, following the conclusion of his father's term as the Hampshire County Clerk of Court. White continued to practice law with his father until 1912, when he was elected to his first term as prosecuting attorney for Hampshire County.
Political career
Before the age of 21, White represented Hampshire County as a delegate to a West Virginia Democratic Party state convention.
In 1912, White was first elected to serve as the prosecuting attorney for Hampshire County and was re-elected to the position four times, serving four, four-year terms from 1912 to 1928. While serving in this position, he was a strong proponent of the Good Roads Movement and under his leadership, the first concrete bridge was constructed in Hampshire County by the County Court.