Allison White

Allison White (December 21, 1816 – April 5, 1886) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. He was born in Pine Township, near Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, on December 21, 1816. Raised in central Pennsylvania, he attended the local public schools, reflecting the limited but expanding educational opportunities available in the early nineteenth century.

White pursued higher education at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, an institution that was then emerging as a prominent liberal arts college in the state. After completing his studies and being graduated from Allegheny College, he turned to the study of law. He read law in the traditional manner of the period and, after sufficient preparation, was admitted to the bar. White then commenced the practice of law in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, where he established himself as an attorney and entered public life within the legal and civic circles of the region.

As a member of the Democratic Party representing Pennsylvania, White contributed to the legislative process during one term in office. He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth Congress and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania during a significant period in American history, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents. During his tenure, he served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings, a position that placed him in a key oversight role concerning federal spending on government structures at a time of growing national infrastructure. His congressional service reflected both his party’s priorities and the concerns of a state undergoing rapid economic and industrial development.

White’s time in Congress was limited to a single term. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1858, ending his brief but notable period of federal legislative service. After leaving Congress, he redirected his energies from law and politics to business pursuits, in keeping with the broader economic transformations of the mid-nineteenth century.

In his later career, White engaged in the lumber and coal business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, capitalizing on two of the state’s most important natural-resource industries. He eventually formed a partnership with Charles and Edward Julius Berwind, a collaboration that laid the foundation for what became the Berwind Corporation, a major enterprise in the coal and related industries. Through this partnership, White participated in the early development of a firm that would grow into a significant presence in American industrial and corporate history.

Allison White died in Philadelphia on April 5, 1886. He was interred in Highland Cemetery in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, returning in death to the region where he had begun his professional life. His career encompassed law, national legislative service, and substantial business activity, reflecting the varied paths of public and private engagement followed by many nineteenth-century American politicians.