Albert Smith White was a descendant of Thomas White, an early settler of Weymouth, Massachussets. He was born at the family homestead at Blooming Grove in Orange County, N. Y. , the son of Nathan Herrick and Frances (Howell) White. The father was the presiding judge of the Orange County court for twenty years.
He was graduated from Union College in 1822, studied law at Newburgh.
He was admitted to the bar in 1825, removed to Indiana the same year, and, after brief periods at Rushville and Paoli, in 1829 settled permanently in Tippecanoe County, residing either at Lafayette or on his farm near Stockwell. In 1830-31 he was assistant clerk of the Indiana House of Representatives, and for the four succeeding years was clerk of that body. In 1836 he was elected to a seat in the national House of Representatives as a Whig, and in March 1839 was elected to the Senate. In the House he served on the committee on roads and canals, and introduced a few resolutions, but refrained from active participation in debates. With Oliver Hampton Smith as his colleague, he took his seat in the Senate, December 2, 1839, at the opening of the Twenty-sixth Congress. A few days later he was appointed a member of the committee on Indian affairs and from the beginning of the third session of the Twenty-seventh Congress until the close of his term, in March 1845, he was chairman of that committee. He became an important member of the committee on roads and canals, and served effectively on the committee to audit and control contingent expenses. When in 1852 the bill for apportioning the membership of the House of Representatives among the several states was before the Senate, he delivered a scholarly and cogent address in favor of "popular" as against "party" representation and advocated measures for the security of the federal government rather than the rights of the states. Between 1845 and 1860 White was engaged in the practice of law and in the building of railroads in the valley of the Wabash. He was the first president of the Lafayette and Indianapolis Railroad, and for three years was manager of the Wabash and Western Railroad. He served once more in the House of Representatives as a Republican from March 1861 to March 1863. His most notable activity was the introduction of a resolution for the appointment of a select committee to propose a plan for the gradual emancipation of slaves in the border states. As chairman of such a committee he reported bills for indemnifying the loyal owners of slaves in Maryland, Missouri, and other states. Although the plan had the warm support of President Lincoln, it was not popular with White's constituents and cost him his renomination. On his leaving the House, Lincoln appointed him one of three commissioners to adjust claims of citizens of Minnesota and Dakota on account of depredations committed during the Sioux Indian massacre on the Minnesota frontier in August 1862. A second appointment by Lincoln made him judge of the United States District Court for Indiana, a position he held until his death at his residence near Stockwell.
White was a man of small physique and thin visage, with a large aquiline nose. He was well versed in belles-lettres, and in legal and political lore.
He married a member of the Randolph family of Virginia and was survived by his widow, two sons, and two daughters.
