Joseph Livingston White (c. 1813 – January 12, 1861) was an American lawyer and politician who served one term as aU.S. Representative fromIndiana from 1841 to 1843.

White was born inCherry Valley, New York, probably in 1813 or 1814, though the exact date is not known. He was educated in Cherry Valley, attendedRensselaer Polytechnic Institute, studied law inUtica, New York, and wasadmitted to the bar.

After becoming a lawyer, White moved toMadison, Indiana, where he began a practice. He was elected as aWhig to theTwenty-seventh Congress, and served one term, March 4, 1841, to March 3, 1843.

After leaving Congress White moved toNew York City, where he practiced law and became involved in several business ventures.

In 1848 he opposed theWhig nomination of slaveholderZachary Taylor for president, and was a delegate to the convention of antislavery Democrats andConscience Whigs that formed theFree Soil Party and nominatedMartin Van Buren to oppose Taylor andDemocratic nomineeLewis Cass.

In the 1850s White was president of a company that included his brother David andCornelius Vanderbilt, which received a contract from the government of Nicaragua to operate steamships and a railroad between theAtlantic andPacific Oceans, as well as constructing a canal between the oceans. To further his business interests, White became a supporter ofWilliam Walker's attempt to overthrow Nicaragua's government.

While inCorinto, Nicaragua on January 5, 1861, to lobby for an exclusive contract to produce rubber, he was shot by Jonathan Gavitt, a business rival who was also attempting to receive the rubber production contract. White survived for several days, but died from his injuries on January 12, 1861. He was interred in the Corinto City Cemetery.

Though testimony indicated that Gavitt asked a servant to retrieve his pistol from his hotel room while he sat with White, and that he aimed deliberately, Gavitt claimed his shooting of White was an accident, and he was acquitted.

• United States Congress."Joseph L. White (id: W000382)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

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