Uncle Jessie's Bio
Credits: Farm Security Administration
Children sharecroppers in cotton fields
Terry, MS and a shotgun cabin owned by Mississippi John Hurt
Jessie White
(September 24, 1920 – January 29, 2008)
Jessie White was born in Terry, Mississippi on September 20, 1920. He was born at home in a small shotgun cabin. Jessie had 3 sisters and 2 brothers - Lee Dell, Lee Dell Holly, Martha Ann Holly, Mary Lou White, and their baby sister, Virgine White.
Jessie’s family were sharecroppers and Jessie started working in the cotton fields at 5 years of age, using long cotton 24 pound flour sacks. Jessie’s family would also hunt and fish at night and sell the hides and fish for money.
Jessie’s mother played the piano, his father blew the harmonica and his cousins played guitars. The guitar and harmonica were Jessie’s first instruments. Jessie didn’t play the piano until his baby sister passed away in the 50’s. Virgine White was Johnny Lee Hooker’s piano player until she died at a very young age. After she died, Jessie gave up the guitar after 20 years and started playing the piano.
Jessie’s mother ordered his first guitar out of a Sears Roebuck catalogue for a dollar ninety eight. He’d work all day in the fields and come home at night and practice on his guitar. He’d sit up so late he’d almost burn all the coal they needed for the whole week, so his mother frequently made him shut off the coal lamps. He’d sit in the dark until 2-3am and practice until his mother talked him into going to bed.
Jessie’s family used their musical talents in the local church, where they would sing, play the piano and guitars. Religious songs were sung in the fields as they picked the cotton. Jessie would participate in these until he got a taste of the sounds of the blues on his visits to Terry.
Jessie would go into Terry to play at the juke joints on Saturday night. They would play guitars and the harmonica on street corners and in some of the little night clubs called juke joints. Jessie soon moved to Jackson and worked in the saw mills. He also ran gambling houses and whiskey to various other gambling houses.
Jessie met his late wife, Lillian, while gambling in one of his houses. Jessie was palming cards and had won three hundred dollars. The man pulled a gun, Jessie’s girlfriend stood in front of the gun and told the man he had to shoot her and not her man – that’s when Jessie knew he had to marry her. They were together for 45 years and had nine children
(September 24, 1920 – January 29, 2008)
Jessie White was born in Terry, Mississippi on September 20, 1920. He was born at home in a small shotgun cabin. Jessie had 3 sisters and 2 brothers - Lee Dell, Lee Dell Holly, Martha Ann Holly, Mary Lou White, and their baby sister, Virgine White.
Jessie’s family were sharecroppers and Jessie started working in the cotton fields at 5 years of age, using long cotton 24 pound flour sacks. Jessie’s family would also hunt and fish at night and sell the hides and fish for money.
Jessie’s mother played the piano, his father blew the harmonica and his cousins played guitars. The guitar and harmonica were Jessie’s first instruments. Jessie didn’t play the piano until his baby sister passed away in the 50’s. Virgine White was Johnny Lee Hooker’s piano player until she died at a very young age. After she died, Jessie gave up the guitar after 20 years and started playing the piano.
Jessie’s mother ordered his first guitar out of a Sears Roebuck catalogue for a dollar ninety eight. He’d work all day in the fields and come home at night and practice on his guitar. He’d sit up so late he’d almost burn all the coal they needed for the whole week, so his mother frequently made him shut off the coal lamps. He’d sit in the dark until 2-3am and practice until his mother talked him into going to bed.
Jessie’s family used their musical talents in the local church, where they would sing, play the piano and guitars. Religious songs were sung in the fields as they picked the cotton. Jessie would participate in these until he got a taste of the sounds of the blues on his visits to Terry.
Jessie would go into Terry to play at the juke joints on Saturday night. They would play guitars and the harmonica on street corners and in some of the little night clubs called juke joints. Jessie soon moved to Jackson and worked in the saw mills. He also ran gambling houses and whiskey to various other gambling houses.
Jessie met his late wife, Lillian, while gambling in one of his houses. Jessie was palming cards and had won three hundred dollars. The man pulled a gun, Jessie’s girlfriend stood in front of the gun and told the man he had to shoot her and not her man – that’s when Jessie knew he had to marry her. They were together for 45 years and had nine children
