Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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White, Hugh Lawson 1773-1840

Jurist; born in Iredell county, N. C., Oct. 30, 1773; enlisted as a private under General Sevier in 1800, and was with him when the power of the Cherokee Indians was crushed at the battle of Etowah. White is said to have decided that battle, for in the crisis of the action he shot and mortally wounded King Fisher, the leading chief, whereupon the Indians fled in all directions. White then studied law in Philadelphia, Pa., and began practice in Knoxville, Tenn.; was a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1811-17; and was elected United States Senator in 1825 and in 1831. In the convention at Baltimore, Md., May 20, 1836, when Martin Van Buren was unanimously nominated for President, Tennessee was not represented, that State having nominated Judge White for President in October of the previous year. Tie carried his State by nearly 10,000 majority and also received the electoral vote of Georgia. In 1840 he was placed upon the Whig ticket under the leadership of General Harrison, but owing to ill-health was not able to make the canvass. He died in Knoxville, Tenn., April 10, 1840.