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SIXTH GENERATION

85. Herschel LeRoy WHITE was born on Jan 9 1910 in Columbus, Indiana. He died on Dec 12 1976 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was buried in Washington Park Cemetary; Indpls, Ind.. Herschel detested his given name and went by the initials of "H. L." or the nick name of "Whitey" for most of his adult life. Most of his friends and business associates never knew his real name. He worked in sales since he was a small boy, however, his first experience in sales was not a good one. His father, Irven, sold Bibles door to door and often went from Columbus to the smaller surrounding towns and spent the day selling house to house. Herschel decided at 14, at the end of his sixth grade that he was ready to quit school and join his father in business. Irven gave him a sample kit, took him to Seymour, Indiana and said, "Knock on every door, sell 'em a Bible and I'll pick you up in time to return home for supper". At 4:00pm Irven went to the designated spot and no Herschel, Irven drove all over town and still no Herschel. Irven contacted the Seymour police and they searched but were unable to locate him. Irven went back home to see if Herschel had contacted his mother Ida, and there he was, sitting under a tree drinking lemonade in the shade. He had knocked on two doors and when they turned him down he walked the 17 miles back home to Columbus and decided this was not his cup of tea. No record was made of Irven's reaction but he must have given him another chance and it must have worked out better. Herschel never returned to school and he worked his way to top salesman in every field he entered from that time on. He sold Bibles until the depression, he dug ditches for a dollar a day during the worst of the depression and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps when all work dried up in Indiana. He moved to New Lebanon, Ohio and sold milk door to door, first from a horse drawn wagon, then in one of the first milk trucks owned by the Blossom Hill Dairy in New Lebanon. He moved back to Indianapolis, Indiana and sold bread for Colonial Bakery to groceries and restaurants. He worked for a period as a door to door laundry / dry cleaner route man for Lux Laundry, he later became route supervisor for them before leaving to sell tools to garages and filling station mechanics for Snap-On Tools. In each of his endeavors he worked his way from the bottom to positions of middle management. He was up for promotion to District Sales Manager with the tool company until they discovered that he had only a sixth grade education. When they refused to promote him for that reason he quit and started his own company. He said many times, that it was the best thing that ever happened to him. He enjoyed a great success with White's Tool Company and achieved more personal success and realized more financial comfort than he ever thought possible.

He was married to Maryann NOBLITT (daughter of Benjamin Ferguson NOBLITT and Maude Mae CHAMBERS) on Apr 21 1928 in Columbus, Indiana. Maryann NOBLITT was born on May 2 1912 in Columbus, Indiana. She died on Mar 23 2001 in Greensburg, Indiana. Maryann's Noblitt family genealogy is well documented with four books written tracing the lineage from Jacques De Noblet in France through John Noblitt and his brothers who arrived in the U.S. in the 1729 time frame. The books "Down the Centuries with the Noblitts" printed in 1956 and compiled by Loren Scott Noblitt; "From Whence Ye Came" printed in 1982 compiled by Lela Grant Carruth; "Three Centuries of the Noblitt family" printed in 1995 by Halbert's Publishing Co., 3687 Ira Road, Bath, Ohio 44210 and "Genealogical Collections" by John Hyndman Noblitt. The lineage from Jacques De Noblet to Maryann is as follows:

Jacques De NOBLET, born 1649 in France, married Caterine Bertrand,
died 1703; Son Peter NOBLET born 1677.

Peter NOBLET, married Marie Godfrey,
died 1719; Son John NOBLET born 1690 in Ireland.

John NOBLET, married Ann Brereton,
died 1748, children; (7); John NOBLITT born Dec 3, 1743.

John NOBLITT married Rebecca KEYS born Jan 21, 1752.
children; (5); William NOBLITT born Aug 6, 1776.

William married Polly VANDEVEER.
children; (10); John NOBLITT born Dec 3, 1801.

John NOBLITT married Jane FERGUSON.
children; (7); James Ferguson NOBLITT Sr. born Feb 2, 1832

James Ferguson NOBLITT Sr. married Minerva POLEN.
children; (10); Benjamin Ferguson NOBLITT born Feb 4, 1875.

Benjamin Ferguson NOBLITT married Maude Mae CHAMBERS.
children; (8); Maryann NOBLITT
Herschel LeRoy WHITE and Maryann NOBLITT had the following children:

child+102 i. Dolores Ann WHITE.
child103 ii. Mildred Lynn WHITE was born in Aug 1930. She died in Aug 1930.
child+104 iii. Betty Maxine WHITE.
child+105 iv. Jerry LeRoy WHITE.

He was married to Mary Nina KENNETT (daughter of Matha Everett KENNETT and Polly Jane COFFEE) on Dec 26 1945 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mary Nina KENNETT was born on Oct 21 1922 in Montecello, Kentucky.