Stephen Van Culen WHITE, Congress, NY (1831-1913)

WHITE Stephen Van Culen , a Representative from New York; born in Chatham County, N.C., August 1, 1831; moved to Illinois with his parents, who settled near Otterville, Jersey County, Ill.; attended the free school founded by Dr. Silas Hamilton in Otterville, Ill., and was graduated from Knox College, Galesburg, Ill., in 1854; entered a mercantile house in St. Louis, Mo.; studied law and was admitted to the bar November 4, 1856; moved to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1856, and practiced law until January 1, 1865; acting United States district attorney for Iowa in 1864; moved to New York City in 1865 and engaged in banking; member of the New York Stock Exchange; was an astronomer and upon the organization of the American Astronomical Society in 1883 was elected its first president; elected as a Republican to the Fiftieth Congress (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1889); was not a candidate for renomination in 1888 to the Fifty-first Congress; resumed the practice of law; died in Brooklyn, N.Y., January 18, 1913; interment in Greenwood Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present