Albert Union "Bert" White
New London--Albert U. White, 85, one of the oldest pioneer residents of New London died in the New London hospital this morning after an illness of four years. His residence is on West Main St. He was born in the same house where he spent all his life. Mr. White had been a prominent merchant here for many years. He and a brother, Carl V. White, started the A. U. White Drygoods Co. here in a building erected 108 years ago. At the present time they also had stores in Oberlin and Wellington. The original store in New London was discontinued in 1930, when it was destroyed by fire. Mr. White was the Ohio State chess champion in 1895 when he was only 16 years old. He was the great grandson of John and Fear Gerry White, who were the uncle and aunt of the famed Commodore Perry. All 11 generations of the family have lived in two counties. Funeral services will be held Monday at 2:30 p.m. in the Eastman Funeral Home with Rev. L. A. Crawford officiating. Burial will be in the Grove Street Cemetery. The body is at the funeral home where friends may call.

Albert Union White

<Bert gained the Ohio State championship in 1895, early in his 16th year, thereby earning the right to compete in the National Chess Championship tournament later that year.>

Something is amiss here... 1895-16=1879 not 1869.

And there was no National tournament in the US in 1895 (Lipschutz and Showalter played a match for the title that year US championship match (1895) how in all creation isn't this in the TI? I'm clearly slacking off on my duties!!).

White tied with Strunk for second place in the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Ohio Chess Association in Feb-1889 (Charles Miller took first).

So, let's be clear - BDE seems to be consistent in referring to Sr. as the one without the Jr., and the one living consistently (pre- and post- 1900) in (New) London OH.

The Jr., according to BDE, didn't live in New London, but moved about. Of course, being a good son, he remained in the vicinity of New London, doubtlessly to facilitate visiting his parents.

Since some researchers seem so competent at obtaining the genealogical details - could we please have the same level of detail for the Sr.?

One hopes that there are games by the Sr. that could be added to the db. But maybe not? (Is he the one that fell into the 7-move mate?)

Is the 1952 newspaper article fully vetted in the details it provides about events of long ago? Perhaps some level of skepticism applies (it always applies!).

We chatted by email. They agreed the figure is <Ernest Scott Maguire> during additional conversation, one participant noted he uses <CG> after I extended invitation for all of them to review profiles on <CG> they recognize.

<There are many other chess players from Philadelphia that could likely benefit from a peek to see their names and bio were correctly listed.>

To which Mr. Heisman replied with:

<I have a comment on this: I stopped playing serious, slow rated chess in 1991. Around that time my son Delen (b.1983) starting playing in tournaments. Since we are both “D.Heisman”, I noticed [at least one game] on chessgames.com played by Delen after 1991 incorrectly attributed to me! Of course, since he was just a beginner then and I was a master these games do not reflect well on what people think I played! Regards, Dan Heisman>

I replied,

<Hi Dan, I could find this one after 1991.

Dan Heisman vs Donald Stubblebine
USA-chT Amateur East (2002), Parsipanny, rd 4, Feb-17 Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation (D35) 0-1 D Heisman vs D Stubblebine, 2002

Please let me know and I will request they attribute the game(s) properly.>

He replied:

<Yes, I did not play USATE in 2002 (my only event in 1991 was the Liberty Bell Open; all other 1991 “D.Heisman” events are 8 year old Delen). The 2002 game was Delen, not me. Much appreciated. Thanks, Dan Heisman>

There are two <Albert White>'s, and thus far only one of them has been researched. I'd like to see some genealogical data for <Jr.>.

I'm noticing some surprises in setting up a timeline - suggesting Sr. may have fathered Jr. at a very young age.

So young, in fact, I'm considering the possibility of adoption of an older child as a potential explanation.

Or perhaps the Jr. was really a cousin, and the press adopted the nomenclature to distinguish such similiarly, and closely related, players.

I'm putting in a challenge though, that any White games which explicit notice of the player being from anywhere else than <New London> or <London> OH are from <Jr.> and not <Sr.>.

There are two <Albert White>'s, and thus far only one of them has been researched. I'd like to see some genealogical data for <Jr.>.>

I'm fairly certain the data provided by <NCA> is for the junior Albert, being that his father is given as Albert Union White?

I highly doubt the BDE is referring to Senior living in New London post-1900, being that he died May 20, 1899 (born Apr 5, 1830);

<I'm noticing some surprises in setting up a timeline - suggesting Sr. may have fathered Jr. at a very young age. >

He had Junior when he was 38/39. I guess that could be young to some people (but I'm going to actually assume you are just confused about something).

I was in a particularly sour mood, which accentuates my natural skeptical predilections. But the reportage has some inconsistencies (e.g. living his whole life in the same house, and sometimes being a jr. sometimes not, etc)

I'm still reviewing my material, having gone to the library for a Proquest session. Let me digest (or should that be digess?) and I'll report back.

One thought before I go, the (Lodi/Nova) business could be a postmark issue, if all those games were correspondence. The early history of post offices might be involved.

Yes, if the dob 1869 is the Jr., then that would be the case. But I was thinking he was the Sr..

He actually had many children not listed in <NCA>'s listing, fwiw. One of which was A.E., who I was thinking might have been the Jr.

Again, as admitted, I needed to review more and was thinking out loud, perhaps a bit too publicly.

(My starting point was to take the BDE reportage as showing there might be two different players (relatives of some kind) overlapping. I also was a bit shocked that a supposedly high level master player could fall for a 7-move mate but I guess it happens!)

But that's the nature of the game - when the pieces fit together properly the picture holds up.

* * * *

I found this piece in <Cincinnati Enquirer (1872-1922); Mar 4, 1898 p3>:

"The site of the postoffice in New London, Ohio, has been removed to the building owned by Albert White at $132 a year"

So it's wasn't as frontier after all (certainly not like it was in 1816 when the original White bought his large family from New York to New London in a bobsled!)

* * * *

Here's <Albert Sr.>'s tombstone engraving: