A family legend has said that our Great Grandmother, Catherine Emily White Grout, was linked to the White sewing machine.  Below is an excerpt from a letter Robert Milton Grout wrote to the family quite a few years back.  Here he reveals what he learned about that story.  

Robert:

I’ve also learned that Catherine’s father, Alonzo, was a direct descendent of William White who was aboard the Mayflower. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to establish a link to Thomas H. White, founder of the White Sewing Machine Co., as grandmother always said there was. But it’s clear the White’s and Grout’s were close. In the 1850’s, Thomas White and a William Grout were partners building chairs! After that it seems they were competitors. The White Sewing Machine Co was founded in 1858 and William Grout later opened the New Home Sewing Machine Co.

In 1900, the White family opened the White Motor Co to build steam cars. Apparently, not to be out-done by his former partner, William started the Grout Brother’s Automobile Company in Orange, Massachusetts and made steam cars with the slogan, “It requires only a match to start”.  Hmm, I wonder how long you had to let those warm up on a cold day?