Robert White ( judge ) Robert White ( March 29 , 1759 – March 1831 ) was a distinguished early American military officer , lawyer , judge , and politician in the U . S . state of Virginia . White represented Frederick County in the Virginia House of Delegates ( 1789 – 1792 ) and served as a judge of the General Court of Virginia ( 1793 – 1831 ) . Prior to his political and law careers , White served in the Virginia militia and Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . White was a member of the White political family of Virginia and West Virginia . Early life and education . Robert White was born on March 29 , 1759 in Winchester , Virginia . He was a son of John White , one of the justices serving on the first Bench of Magistrates of the Frederick County court and a grandson of Dr . Robert White , an early physician and pioneer settler of Frederick County . White received his primary education at a grammar school near Marsh Creek in Pennsylvania under the direction of Reverend Craighead , a Presbyterian minister . At the age of 16 , White undertook a hiatus from his education to serve in the American Revolutionary War . Military career . In 1775 , White enlisted as a private in the Virginia militia company under the command of Captain Hugh Stephenson ( or Stevenson ) , which had been organized in Berkeley County , Virginia ( present - day Jefferson County , West Virginia ) . Stephenson ' s company departed for the Boston campaign " a few days " before Daniel Morgan ' s company departed from Winchester . White , along with Stephenson ' s company , departed on June 20 , 1775 from Morgan ' s Spring near Shepherdstown and marched to Boston to reinforce commander - in - chief of the Continental Army George Washington ' s forces who had besieged the British Army forces there . While in Boston , White ' s " chivalric bearing " received the attention of Washington , who " saw in the boy the germ of that remarkable decision of character . " On March 17 , 1776 , British forces withdrew from Boston thus ending the Boston campaign . In the summer of 1776 , White was elevated to the rank of ensign . White then fought as a lieutenant at the Battle of Germantown on October 4 , 1777 under Major William Darke of Berkeley County . Throughout the spring of 1778 , White was engaged in attacking British Army detachments . Later in 1778 at Short Hills , New Jersey , White suffered a fractured femur caused by a musket ball and received a wound to the head from the stock of a British Army grenadier ' s musket . Following the engagement at Short Hills , White was taken as a prisoner of war by the British forces . White had fallen unconscious and was taken to a the tent of " an amiable and accomplished " British officer who had rescued him from death . He was later exchanged and in the autumn of 1778 , White returned to Winchester " by slow and painful efforts , exceedingly lame , weak and emaciated by acute and protracted suffering . " His wounds had not yet healed by the time of his return to Winchester , however , following the removal of bone fragments , the wound began to close . White remained permanently physically disabled as a result of his injuries . While " not fully recovered from his wounds , " White received the commission of a captain of cavalry in 1779 . White commenced the recruitment and training of American troops in Philadelphia to fight in the war , but due to the severity of his injuries , he retired from military service at the age of 20 and returned to Winchester . White was inducted as an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati for his military service during the war . Law and political careers . Following his military service and return to Winchester in 1779 , White studied jurisprudence under his uncle , Alexander White , one of the most preeminent lawyers practicing in the Shenandoah Valley . During the course of his four years of law studies , White read the legal treatises of William Blackstone and Edward Coke among others while lying on his back or propped up on a couch recovering from his injuries . White was admitted to practice law at Winchester in December 1782 , after which he engaged in the practice of law for 11 years . White ' s health continued to improve , and his law practice was " an extensive and profitable " one . In a May 1837 biographical sketch of White published in the " Southern Literary Messenger " , White was described as " an able lawyer , clear and cogent in argument , but not eloquent , his voice rather harsh and shrill , and in the impetuosity of debate his enunciation was sometimes affected even to stammering . " White maintained a " lofty eminence " within the Frederick County bar for over a decade . During this time , White served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1789 to 1792 representing Frederick County . Judicial career and later life . White was appointed as the first judge serving Virginia ' s tenth judicial district which was composed of five counties , including Hampshire County of which he served as one of that county ' s earlier judges . Winchester was chosen by an act of the Virginia General Assembly as the " center point " of the tenth judicial district , where all judicial records were kept . White was the first judge to preside over this district . His appointment as a judge of the tenth judicial district paid a meager compensation of 1 , 600 US $ per annum . White was then appointed a judge of the General Court of Virginia on November 16 , 1793 and he continued to hold that office until his death in 1831 . While serving on the court , White served as the president of the General Court of Virginia for several years before his death . Serving on the General Court of Virginia required White to travel to Richmond in June and November of each year . Until 1825 , White served as both a judge on the General Court of Virginia and a judge of Virginia ' s tenth judicial district . During the War of 1812 , White took a dislike to the " encroachment of military power " as Winchester began to attract a sizable number of recruits going off to fight in the war . White refused to permit military officers to appear before him in his courtroom with their sword s by their sides . Several of White ' s judicial opinions became well known as " powerful specimens of sound learning and extensive research " including the Hyers case , in which the defendant was tried for murder , and the Preston case , in which there was a legal question regarding estoppel . From his office , White conducted the teaching of jurisprudence to John Buchanan , a notable Maryland jurist who later served in the Maryland House of Delegates and as an associate justice on the Maryland Court of Appeals . In the spring of 1825 , White was en route to serve on the court of Loudoun County and stayed the night at a tavern along the Shenandoah River . He was discovered by the proprietor the following morning suffering with paralysis . White remained stricken with paralysis for several weeks and returned to his home in Winchester on a litter . His position as judge of the tenth judicial district was assumed by two judges : William Brockinbough and John Scott . White remained paralyzed for the remainder of his life . On July 1 , 1825 , White gave power of attorney to his son , John Baker White , for the management of his affairs . White later died at his residence in Winchester in March 1831 . Personal life and family . White married Arabella Baker , the daughter of John Baker of Shepherdstown , Virginia ( now West Virginia ) . White and his wife Arabella had three children : White and his family resided in Winchester on Washington Street south of Cecil Street " for many years " until White ' s death in 1831 . White ' s house was one the " earliest built brick houses " in Winchester . The old house built by White was destroyed by fire and its site later became the residence of George H . Byrd , who later deeded the property to his brother , Colonel William Byrd , hence forth it was known as the " Byrd House . " Legacy . In the 1970s , three restored portraits painted in 1799 of White , his wife Arabella Baker White , and their son Robert Baker White and daughter Juliet White Opie , were donated to the Historical Society of Winchester by Baker Hall of Huntington , West Virginia and Louisa Tabb Hall of Charles Town , West Virginia . All three portraits were painted by renowned painter Charles Peale Polk , a nephew of the well - known painter Charles Willson Peale .