Ruth Berkeley White

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'''Ruth White''', author and Baha'i (b 27 Jun 1888, Winstead, [[Connecticut]])
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'''Ruth White''', author and Baha'i (b 27 Jun 1880, Winstead, [[Connecticut]])
  
 
This article was writen and is copyright 2007 by Will Johnson, [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com], Professional Genealogist.  My thanks to [[Frederick Glaysher|Fred Glaysher]] who spent his own funds to get copies of material Ruth deposited in the Library of Congress, and for his help on compiling the information here.  My thanks as well to the webmasters and editors at [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/ h-net.org/bahai] for hosting Ruth's works, from which some of this material is sourced.
 
This article was writen and is copyright 2007 by Will Johnson, [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com], Professional Genealogist.  My thanks to [[Frederick Glaysher|Fred Glaysher]] who spent his own funds to get copies of material Ruth deposited in the Library of Congress, and for his help on compiling the information here.  My thanks as well to the webmasters and editors at [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/ h-net.org/bahai] for hosting Ruth's works, from which some of this material is sourced.
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In her book Baha'i Leads out of the Labyrinth, she gives some biographical details of her life. She states that her "stage name" was Ruth Berkeley, but [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL009.gif on page 9] in 1912, in Boston, she refers to herself as "Miss Berkeley", and a few pages later [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL012.gif on page 12] states that she was writing articles for newspapers, and that both her parents were Roman Catholic.  While a little later on, [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL023.gif on page 23] she relates that she had been on the stage, but had given it up.  She went to Boston to write for the newspaper, but then about 1912, returned to New York City and was doing art drawings for a fashion magazine. [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL027.gif On page 27] on 24 Aug 1912, Abdul Baha calls her "Miss Ruth Berkeley".  [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL110.gif Here on page 110 she states] : "When last I visited London it was as a member of the Sir Johnstone Forbes-Robertson company.  Although I had been greatly interested in my stage career...." This statement would seemingly correspond to when she played the part of "The Red-Haired Girl" in ''The Light That Failed'' in or about 1903 (see primary documents below).
 
In her book Baha'i Leads out of the Labyrinth, she gives some biographical details of her life. She states that her "stage name" was Ruth Berkeley, but [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL009.gif on page 9] in 1912, in Boston, she refers to herself as "Miss Berkeley", and a few pages later [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL012.gif on page 12] states that she was writing articles for newspapers, and that both her parents were Roman Catholic.  While a little later on, [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL023.gif on page 23] she relates that she had been on the stage, but had given it up.  She went to Boston to write for the newspaper, but then about 1912, returned to New York City and was doing art drawings for a fashion magazine. [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL027.gif On page 27] on 24 Aug 1912, Abdul Baha calls her "Miss Ruth Berkeley".  [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL110.gif Here on page 110 she states] : "When last I visited London it was as a member of the Sir Johnstone Forbes-Robertson company.  Although I had been greatly interested in my stage career...." This statement would seemingly correspond to when she played the part of "The Red-Haired Girl" in ''The Light That Failed'' in or about 1903 (see primary documents below).
  
Robert Alan Kraft compiled a genealogy of the Pierrepont families, and uploaded it in 2000 [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Genealogical/Pierpont%20Family/pierpont.gen here].  It states that her birth name was Emma Decker, that her parents were Peter Decker and Anna Geiger and that she was born in Brooklyn.  However, based on her several entries in the Ships logs below I think she was more-then-likely born in Goshen, Litchfield County, [[Connecticut]].  She states variously Goshen or Winsted as her birthplace, and the two towns are about 10 miles apart.  Her birthday of 27 Jun is consistent, her birthyear being either 1886 or 1888.  It is possible that someone has merged two different women togetherSo we cannot be sure at this time what her maiden name was, or who her parents were.
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Robert Alan Kraft compiled a genealogy of the Pierrepont families, and uploaded it in 2000 [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Genealogical/Pierpont%20Family/pierpont.gen here].  It states that her birth name was Emma Decker, that her parents were Peter Decker and Anna Geiger and that she was born in Brooklyn.  However, based on her several entries in the Ships logs below I think she was more-then-likely born in Goshen, Litchfield County, [[Connecticut]].  She states variously Goshen or Winsted as her birthplace, and the two towns are about 10 miles apart.  Her birthday of 27 Jun is consistent, her birthyear being stated as either 1886 or 1888.  Noticing the dates on which she was on-stage, I have to conclude that she lied about her age later onI'm now going with the idea that she was born in 1880.
  
 
Since she definitely was living in or near New York City when on stage there, it's entirely possible she, at that time, lived in Brooklyn, which would explain the confusion over where she was born.
 
Since she definitely was living in or near New York City when on stage there, it's entirely possible she, at that time, lived in Brooklyn, which would explain the confusion over where she was born.
  
 
==Marriages==
 
==Marriages==
She states that her first married name was Mrs George Rowell, and by this marriage she had a daughter, but I know nothing more of the daughter or the husband.  Her second husband Herbert Lawrence White (1869-1953), graduated in law from Cornell University, but was set-up as a businessman in his family's company the Utica Drop Forge Company.  Herbert [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Genealogical/Pierpont%20Family/pierpont.gen in Robert Alan Kraft's Pierrepont genealogy], is shown with a wife Emma (Ruth) Decker born 27 June 1880, but note that there, they state, that this couple were married on 28 Oct 1912 in Chicago, which is a bit odd.  Ruth relates how she and Lawrence met [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL034.gif on page 34] apparently in New York City at a Bahai gathering.
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She states that her first married name was Mrs George Rowell, and by this marriage she had a daughter. (Could [http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=2853263&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=13 this] be her?) Her second husband Herbert Lawrence White (1869-1953), graduated in law from Cornell University, but was set-up as a businessman in his family's company the Utica Drop Forge Company.  Herbert [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Genealogical/Pierpont%20Family/pierpont.gen in Robert Alan Kraft's Pierrepont genealogy], is shown with a wife Emma (Ruth) Decker born 27 June 1880, but note that there, they state, that this couple were married on 28 Oct 1912 in Chicago, which is a bit odd.  Ruth relates how she and Lawrence met [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL034.gif on page 34] apparently in New York City at a Bahai gathering.
  
 
[http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL035.gif On page 35] she states : "Five months after my first meeting with Lawrence White we were married....It was his first marriage and my second.  Ruth Berkeley was the stage named of Mrs. George Rowell; the result of my first marriage had been a daughter."  She then talks about how Abdul Baha left New York, so evidently Ruth and Herbert Lawrence White must have been married by the end of 1912.
 
[http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL035.gif On page 35] she states : "Five months after my first meeting with Lawrence White we were married....It was his first marriage and my second.  Ruth Berkeley was the stage named of Mrs. George Rowell; the result of my first marriage had been a daughter."  She then talks about how Abdul Baha left New York, so evidently Ruth and Herbert Lawrence White must have been married by the end of 1912.

Latest revision as of 20:28, 12 August 2008

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