John W. White was born in North Carolina on May 31, 1804. A resident of Warren County, North Carolina, he served as the deputy clerk for the local county court and by 1850 he assumed the role of clerk of the court, a role he held through 1860. He also worked as an agent for Nelly Taburn in her application for a widow's pension. He died in Warren County on November 16, 1862.