Eagle Scout wins revolutionary scholarship

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

As the school year nears its end, high school students are vying for many different scholarships to contribute to their higher education.

Charles City junior Andrew White received a unique scholarship to that end last week, earning an award from the Arthur M. and Berdena King Eagle Scout Contest Scholarship.

Sponsored by the Iowa Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, the scholarship is restricted to Eagle Scouts between the age of 16 to 19 who are still active in the troop and have an ancestor who fought in the revolutionary war.

White, an Eagle Scout of Boy Scout Troop 1078, fulfilled those requirements.

“We were able to trace, on my dad’s side, our lineage back to a relative that fought in the Revolutionary War,” said White.

White’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was Lt. Temple Kendall, who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.

The White family also found a connection to a Lt. David Gregg, who also fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill along with the Battle of Bennington, though the exact relation is difficult to ascertain.

“We’re missing a couple generations for the other one, so we don’t know the exact number,” said White.

White’s exploration of his family tree resulted in more than just finding a connection to Revolutionary War veterans. The family also found links to Civil War veterans and other historical figures.

“[We] just found that we are related through a couple cousins to President John Adams and President John Quincy Adams,” said White.

As part of the application process, White also had to write an essay on a notable figure from the American Revolution, picking George Washington as his subject.

“I picked an easy one since I had about two weeks to write it,” said White.

White’s essay earned him second place in a statewide contest, granting him a $250 award, which will go into his college fund as he plans to attend UNI for mechanical engineering after he graduates next year.