We actually know very little about Reverend Stephen White. He was born about 1760, perhaps in England or South Carolina. About 1784, he married Eleanor Ferguson, possibly the daughter of William Ferguson. Together, they had the following known children: Margaret "Peggy" , Stephen, Charit, Elizabeth "Betty", Jane and Eli Napolean.
A William Ferguson left Ireland in the 1760's and settled near Kings Mountain in South Carolina. He married Eleanor White. Their son, Robin or Robert married Frances Love who was born in Ireland about 1768. Robin or Robert and his wife, Frances, moved to Madison, NC and eventually settled in Haywood County, NC. This group of people may or may not be related to our Eleanor Ferguson, but the coincidence of names may indicate a connection.
Our descent is through Margaret "Peggy" White, born in 1793 in Elbert County, GA. Peggy married Andrew Bryson in Haywood County. The date of the Marriage Bond is 1 May 1817 and shows her father's name as Stephen White. Dillard Love was the bondsman for the marriage. Dillard Love was born in 1789 in Washington County, NC (present Unicoi County, TN), the son of Robert Gustavus Adolphus Love born 1760 in Augusta, VA and his wife, Mary Ann Dillard, born 1767 in Augusta, VA. Dillard Love married Margaret Young and together, they lived in Franklin, NC. His will was probated in Macon County, NC though he died in Unicoi, TN.
Andrew Bryson and his wife, Peggy, made their home in present Macon County in the Sugar Fork area. Macon County was carved from Haywood County in 1828. Peggy was a member of the First Baptist Church of Macon County. She was received by letter 1 Aug 1829.
Reverend Stephen White, along with Humphrey Posey and Adam Corn, were responsible for the establishment of several Baptist churches in GA and NC. We know that Reverend Stephen White was in Elbert County, GA in the late 1780's and 1790's.
Churches Connected with Rev. Stephen White
Shoal Creek Baptist Church: The roots of this church are traced to the 26 July 1828 founding of Mt.Zion Missionary Baptist Church at Yellow Hill in what is now Cherokee County, NC and was then Haywood County, NC. Cullowhee Baptist Church, founded in 1821 is Jackson County, NC's oldest Baptist church. Shoal Creek began with 43 original members and was constituted by a presbytery of three men: Humphrey Posey, Stephen White and Rev. Adam Corn. Originally Shoal Creek Baptist Church was near present Shadburn Ferry Road, at Shoal Creek near the Chattahoochee River, now mostly under Lake Sidney Lanier in lower Hall Co., GA. This location is almost on the Gwinnett, Forsyth and Hall County line. When the lake is low, the footings of the old church may still be seen on one of the main islands of the lake. The current building was erected in 1956.
Present Shoal Creek Baptist Church
Cowee Baptist Church of Franklin, NC was founded in 1828 by Rev. Humphrey Posey and Stephen White. The Presbytery consisted of Elders Humphrey Posey and Stephen White who met at Cowee by request along with fifteen members, all members of the church at Franklin in which Humphrey Posey was elected as pastor 14 Jun 1828. This church held regular meetings at the Caler Schoolhouse on the forks of Caler and Cowee Creeks. On 26 Jun 1830, George F.Caler, Elijah Shepherd and Samuel D. Bryson were appointed trustees and instructed to locate a building site for the church.
Old Liberty Baptist Church: In May of 1804, Shoal Creek Baptist Church in GA received a petition from Liberty Meeting House for help in constituting a church. On 28 Jun 1804, the constitution took place with a membership of 60 persons, under the pastoral guidance of Francis Callaway, Sr., long time member, deacon and minister of Shoal Creek. In 1812, the church was moved to its present site in Cleveland, Oconee County, SC, where worship services were held in a log cabin. This building burned and another erected. By 1905, a second frame building was begun and completed in 1907. In 1958, a brick building was erected. In 1812, the church experienced tremendous growth and from January with 20 members, the church grew to 142 members by October of that year. In 1813, the church saw that the washing of feet was performed at the same meeting with the Lord's Supper. In 1818, this church was a charter member of Tugaloo Baptist Association when this section of South Carolina was in Franklin Co., GA. Early ministers included Reverend Stephen White.
On 17 Sep 1813, a Stephen White entered 100 acres of land lying on the head of a branch running into the Road Fork of Scotts Creek opposite Little B. Battles plantation including the improvement where on David Adams formerly lived. It is interesting to note that William Bryson, brother of Andrew Bryson (husband of Peggy White), also owned land on Scotts Creek from about 1810.
In 1819, a public controversy occurred between Rev. Humphrey Posey and Allen Turner, a travelling Methodist preacher. One of the debates took place in the school house of Reuben Phillips, who wrote that Rev. Joseph Byers and Stephen White answered all the controversies at the house of a Mr. Mason. He continues to write that at the school of the Brittains, Humphrey Posey, who lived in that neighborhood, also "old Brother Stephen White, a hard shell Baptist Minister, had his family in school." He mentions a Jane White, daughter of the "old hard shell preacher" who was converted in the school while singing verses.
A John E. White of Muskogee and Northeastern Oklahoma, was a grandson of Reverend Stephen White. This John E. White was born in Boyd's Creek, TN 21 Mar 1875. It is stated that his paternal grandfather came to America from England in order to be a missionary to the Indians of NC. John E. White's father, N.B. White (Napolean Bonaparte), was a farmer who married Charlotte Huffaker.
A Stephen White, probably born about 1735-1740, was living in Chester, SC about 1752-1764 and was said to have been an Indian trader and a blacksmith. In 1764, he went on a trading expedition with the Indians living near the Mississippi River along with a man named James Hemphill and another named Steele. Attacked and robbed by Indians, Stephen White is said to have made it to the French settlements along the Mississippi where he worked as a blacksmith to earn enough money to return home to South Carolina. On the return trip, Steele is said to have been killed and his body was never found. White and Hemphill returned to Chester County, SC after a year of travelling.
