Joseph White was born near the West Virginia border in St. Clairsville, Belmont County, Ohio on September 29th, 1803, to Virginia natives and Quakers, Nathaniel Sr., and Nancy Anne (Thornton) White. The White family welcomed many children, with Joseph being the second oldest of thirteen.

Joseph married on the 25th of October in 1827 in Ashland County, Ohio to Eleanor C. Coulter. Eleanor was born in Pennsylvania to Jonathon and Mary (Wilson) Coulter. While in Ashland County Joseph learned the trade of cabinet making. After many moves, the White family settled in Kalida in 1841, where Eleanor's cousins, Thomas Coulter and Abigail Hill were living.

Together, Joseph and Eleanor had seven children but only three survived the harshness of pioneer life to see adulthood, Thomas W., Mary, twins Ellen and Joseph, William, Jonathon, and Thomas B. The youngest son, Thomas Benton White, was the only child to be born in Kalida, Ohio in 1843.

While Joseph's time in Kalida may have been a short six-year term he was an involved citizen who was quick to jump in when the village needed him. He was an active member of the Democracy of Putnam County and ran for Sheriff of Putnam County twice. He joined in with other town's men for the construction of a railway from Kalida to the Miami Erie Canal. Several years before his death he found comfort in the local Methodist Church despite being raised as a Quaker. Joseph was also a member of the brotherhood of the Sons of Temperance in Buckeye Division No. 303.

Joseph White passed away on Sunday evening, December 19th, 1847, abruptly after a four-day battle of an inflammation of the lungs, which is a critical condition of pneumonia. Joseph was 45 years old and left a wife and four young children to mourn his loss. Reverend S. Beatty preached a reassuring sermon to a large funeral crowd from 2nd Corinthians Chapter 5 Verse 1, depicting that though our earthly body may fail, God promises us a new and eternal body.