He was educated at the public schools of Cincinnati, graduating from Woodward High in 1867.

[4] With the creation of the Diocese of Michigan City in 1898, White was elected to serve as its first bishop, where he was installed on April 25, 1899.

In 1912, he took upon himself the rectorship of St James' Church in South Bend, Indiana, a post he retained till 1920.

White died in office on March 16, 1925, in Seabreeze, Florida, where he had been spending the winter.

He died as a result of a heart disease, followed a period of ill health.