Published: April 09, 2007 10:08 am      

REMEMBERING YESTERYEAR: Lumberman had roots in NT

Pendennis White was one of the Buffalo area’s foremost business men.

Born in Albany in 1860, he was the son of Alfred White, a leading railroad man, and William H. Gratwick’s sister, Elizabeth. Alfred White was connected prominently in the 1860s with the Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad.

Pendennis White’s early boyhood was spent in Detroit. He began his business career at the age of 14, working in a hardware store.

In 1879 Pendennis White went to Otsego Lake, Mich., employed by Gratwick, Smith & Fryer Lumber Co. He later became mill and yard superintendent for the firm in North Tonawanda. After two years in this capacity, he was sent by the firm in 1883 to Louisiana.

In 1885 Pendennis White established the firm of White & Rider in New York City, and in 1890, the firm became White, Rider & Frost, with offices in New York and North Tonawanda. In 1901, Pendennis White partnered with William H. Gratwick to form White, Gratwick & Co., which later became White, Gratwick & Mitchell. This company carried on an extensive white pine distribution business.

Prior to this, White and Gratwick had been associated with Merrill, Ring & Co., a great lumber, lake shipping, and ore transportation concern in Duluth, Minn.

On Dec. 6, 1883 Pendennis White married Virginia Kent, daughter of lumberman Alexander G. Kent. They had two daughters, Dorothy Gratwick and Virginia Kent White. For a period of time, Pendennis White and his family lived in the Kent family home at 208 Goundry St.

In 1897 Pendennis White was made chairman of the Trade Relations Committee of the National Wholesale Lumber Dealers’ Association. He served as president of this organization for two terms. He was also one of the founders and a president of the White Pine Association, a society composed of lumber merchants of Buffalo and North Tonawanda.

In 1904 Pendennis White organized the Stevens-Eaton Co., a well-known jobbing house in New York City. He was this company’s president at the time of his death in Buffalo on May 31, 1906.

His death came when the automobile in which he was riding was struck by a trolley car.

He had also been president and founder of the Adirondack Lumber and Fire Insurance Co. of New York and was identified with several other lumber insurance companies. He was considered the head of the lumber insurance movement in the United States.

He also was involved with the International Traction Company and the Wood Products Company of Buffalo.

“Remembering Yesteryear” is produced under the auspices of the North Tonawanda History Museum. We invite individuals with stories or news of local history to tell to write nthistorymuseum@aol.com or call 213-0554.