Archibald S. White (1867-1924)

He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He came to Cincinnati where he was the first President of the Columbia Gas & Electric Company. During the 1890s, he processed salt in Ludlowville, New York, before syndicating the country's salt companies and then selling what had become the International Salt Company for a small fortune in 1899. Now a wealthy millionaire, he devoted his time to travelling in Europe where he studied art and music, notably at Paris. He returned to business in 1914, forming the brokerage firm of White & Co., at New York, which he sold three years later. He was a close friend of Count Johann H.A.H.A. von Bernstorff, the German Ambassador to the United States. In 1905, he married the actress Olive Celeste Moore (1880-1960) and bought her Woodlea as a wedding present. They also had houses in the Adirondacks and at Santa Rosa, California. In 1914, he had a cameo appearance in The Million Dollar Mystery. He divorced Olive in 1918 and moved to the Alexander McDonald mansion in Cincinnati, staying at the Plaza when he visited New York. He died at Santa Rosa, without children.