Daniel Appleton White (1776-1861) was born in Methuen, Massachusetts, the eleventh child of John and Elizabeth (Haynes) White. He attended Harvard College, graduating in 1797, and taught for two years at Medford School. White returned to Harvard as a Latin tutor and began studying law. He was admitted to the bar in 1804 and practiced in Newburyport and Salem. White married Mrs. Mary (Wilder) van Schalkwyck (1780-1811) in 1807; the couple had two daughters before Mrs. White died in 1811. He served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1810-1815. White was appointed Judge of Probate for Essex County in 1814, a post he held for thirty-eight years. He remarried in 1819 to Mrs. Eliza (Orne) Wetmore, who died in 1821 after giving birth to their only son, William Orne White. In 1824, he married for the last time, Mrs. Ruth (Hurd) Rogers. Ruth brought her daughter, Emily Rogers, from a previous marriage and then gave birth to Henry Orne White in late 1824.

Mary (Wilder) van Schalkwyck White (1780-1811) was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, daughter of Dr. Josiah Wilder and Mary (Flagg) Wilder. She married Antoine Van Schalkwyck, a planter from Guadeloupe, West Indies in 1801. The Van Schalkwycks sailed for Guadeloupe shortly afterwards; within months of their arrival Antoine Van Schalkwyck was dead of yellow fever. Mary returned home to Concord, Massachusetts where she remained until her marriage to Daniel White in 1807. Mary and Daniel were parents to Elizabeth Amelia White Dwight (1809-1883) and Mary Wilder White Foote (1810-1857)

Eliza (Orne) Wetmore White (1784- 1821), daughter of Salem merchant William Orne, married William Wetmore of Salem in 1804. William died in 1807; there were no surviving children. Eliza then married Daniel Appleton in 1819. She had one son with Daniel, William Orne White (1821-1911), and died shortly after his birth.

Ruth (Hurd) Rogers White (1784-?) was the cousin of Mary White, Daniel's first wife, through a second marriage of their relatives. Ruth Hurd married Abner Rogers, a correspondent and friend of Daniel. Abner died in 1814. Daniel and Ruth wed in 1824; they had one son, Henry Orne White (1824-1887).

William Orne White (1821-1911) was the son of Daniel and Eliza (Orne) Wetmore White. He attended Exeter Academy and Harvard. He traveled throughout Europe and then entered Harvard Divinity School in 1843. His Unitarian ministry took him to Maine, Missouri, and Massachusetts before settling in Keene, New Hampshire. White remained in Keene until his retirement in 1878, after which he moved to Brookline, Massachusetts. White married his childhood friend, Margaret Eliot Harding (1823-1903), in 1848 and the couple had Eliza Orne White (1856-1947) and a son who died shortly after birth. The couple adopted a daughter, Rose White, who married Dr. D.W. Nead in 1900.

Eliza Orne White (1856-1947) was the daughter of William Orne White and Margaret Eliot Harding White. White was a prolific author, writing books for both adults and children. She never married and lived in Brookline, Massachusetts with her father. While deaf and blind the last thirty years of her life, White continued to write and publish. White wrote and published a total of forty-one works including When Molly was Six, Peggy in her Blue Frock, A Browning Courtship, and Winterborough.