Collection Information
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Cataloging Information
Processed
by
Charles Latham
7 April 1993
Updated 14 May 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 2 folders
COLLECTION DATES: 1898-1905
PROVENANCE: Byron Troyer, Borderland Books, 620 E. 44th St., Indianapolis IN , October 1969
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society
ACCESSION NUMBER: 1969.1105
Edward M. White ([1861]-1934), lawyer, prosecutor, and politician, was born in Decatur County, the son of Isaac G. White, a farmer. After graduating from the law school of the University of Michigan, he moved to Muncie, and practiced law in partnership with W. F. White. His wife was a writer and dramatic reader.
White was active in Republican politics. In 1898 he was named prosecuting attorney for Delaware County, and in 1902 he was elected city commissioner in Muncie. In both offices he took stands against monopolies and utilities-- traction, water, electric. In 1905 he was named judge of city court in Muncie.
He spent four years in Washington, D. C., as a legal adviser at the Justice Department. For sixteen years he was assistant attorney general of Indiana, serving under four different attorneys general. In this position he took action against gambling, notably at French Lick and at a notorious pool hall in Lake County.
White ended his legal career in Indianapolis, in partnership with James Bingham, one of his former chiefs at the state justice department.
Sources: Materials in collection
Indiana Biographical Series, Vol. 13 page 64
This collection, filling two folders, consists of letters, commissions, clippings, and pages from a scrapbook. The dated items run from 1898 to 1905.
Material in the collection traces White's legal and political career, mainly in his Muncie years. Included are his commissions as prosecuting attorney (1898) and city judge (1905) (both in OM 0289).
Clippings in Folder 2 give election tallies, notices of White's appointment to various offices, and press reports of some of his political and prosecutorial exploits.
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://157.91.92.2/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, SC 1564).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.