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Reverend James Jones White was the son of Presbyterian Reverend William Spotswood White and Jane Isabella Watt. He was well educated in Greek, Latin, French and German. He was a teacher at the Charlottesville Classical Academy from 1847-1850, when he returned to school to continue his studies. He was teaching at the Davis Institute in Halifax County when he was offered the Chair in the Greek Studies Department at Washington College(now Washington and Lee University). He was affectionately known as "Old Zeus" by his students and colleagues. He enlisted in the Confederate Army 2 June 1861, and was made Captain of the 4th Virginia Infantry, Company I. That company was made up of many of the students at W&L. He resigned that commission 6 September 1861, due to illness. He then returned to his professorship and W&L, and continued there until 1893. At the death of Robert E Lee, White was made acting president of the University, and again fulfilled that role several times during the tenure of George Washington Custis Lee. At his death, the University Board of Trustees wrote a most poignant and elegant resolution of his accomplishments, his contributions, and his legacy of 40 years at the University, and set up an $8,000 fellowship fund in his memory.
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Reverend James Jones White was the son of Presbyterian Reverend William Spotswood White and Jane Isabella Watt. He was well educated in Greek, Latin, French and German. He was a teacher at the Charlottesville Classical Academy from 1847-1850, when he returned to school to continue his studies. He was teaching at the Davis Institute in Halifax County when he was offered the Chair in the Greek Studies Department at Washington College(now Washington and Lee University). He was affectionately known as "Old Zeus" by his students and colleagues. He enlisted in the Confederate Army 2 June 1861, and was made Captain of the 4th Virginia Infantry, Company I. That company was made up of many of the students at W&L. He resigned that commission 6 September 1861, due to illness. He then returned to his professorship and W&L, and continued there until 1893. At the death of Robert E Lee, White was made acting president of the University, and again fulfilled that role several times during the tenure of George Washington Custis Lee. At his death, the University Board of Trustees wrote a most poignant and elegant resolution of his accomplishments, his contributions, and his legacy of 40 years at the University, and set up an $8,000 fellowship fund in his memory.
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