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Note: N2792 Henry White Meriwether (1840–1884)
© The Meriwether Society, Inc.
Henry was born 25 Apr 1850 in Lexington, Georgia, the fifth of ten children born to Francis Meriwether and Lucy Jane Victoria White. His siblings were Valentine Ham, Mary Frances, Cosby, Martha, Sarah Victoria, Charles Scott, Francis, Charles and Thomas. His parents died by 1856, leaving him an orphan at about the age of 16.
In 1857, he is listed in the roster of students at the University of Virginia, with his home residence being Lexington, Georgia. He is in his first session, attending schools in Latin, Greek and Math.
By 1858 he has moved to the Shelby County, Tennessee, or DeSoto County, Mississippi area. He married Virginia Tennessee Herndon, daughter of Benjamin Franklin Herndon and Caroline Matilda Yates, on 14 Sep 1858 in Shelby County, Tennessee. Henry was aged 18y4m20d and Virginia was 18y8m19d. They moved to Hernando, Mississippi where she died on 15 Jul 1859, aged 19y6m19d, just ten months after the marriage, from complications of child birth. It is believed the child died as well.
By 1860 he has moved to Hernando, Mississippi, where he is farming. With him in the household in the 1860 Census is brother Charles, age 13, and W. H. Crawford, relationship unknown, a physician.
On 18 Dec 1860 in Hernando, Henry married Sarah Frances "Sallie" Payne, daughter of Jordan Payne and Pernettie Joyner. He was aged 20y7m23d and she was 21y8m29d. Henry and Sallie become the parents of seven known children: Georgia Tallulah, William Henry, Pernettie Payne, Victoria Cosby, Americus Payne, Frank White and Charles Minor Meriwether. Frank died as an infant but all the rest survived to adulthood.
The Civil War began four months after Henry and Sarah married. He eventually enlisted in the Confederate Army on 1 Mar 1862 in Hernando and served as a private in Co. I, 29th Mississippi Infantry. He was taken prisoner 24 Nov 1863 during the Battle of Lookout Mountain at Chattanooga. Initially sent to the military prison in Louisville, Kentucky, he was eventually sent to the prison camp at Rock Island, Illinois, where he remained until paroled in April 1865.
Two of his children were born in the early 1860s during the war, with the remaining five born after he returned from prison camp.
Henry died suddenly at the age of 44 in Hernando. The DeSoto Times dated 13 Sep 1884 described him as "one of the country's most intelligent and useful citizens, one of its most upright and valued members, we deeply deplore this untimely loss of our brother. In just 44 years Henry White helped settle a new territory, married twice, fathered eight children, had a successful plantation, became a valued member of his community and fought to preserve a way of life he believed in."
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Note: N2795 CS Army, Civil War
He served as a private in Co. I, 29th Mississippi Infantry. He enlisted March 1, 1862, in Hernando, MS. He was taken prisoner November 24, 1863, in the Battle of Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, TN. He was initially sent to the military prison in Louisville, KY, and then sent to the prison camp at Rock Island, IL on December 3, 1863.
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