John, in another thread you had mentioned being intrigued by that nearby cemetery. With this developing John R. White angle, I'd say it becomes even more intriguing.

Note the plat maps indicate the White farm bordered said cemetery on two sides. But look at that 1876 plat. It indicates the rectangular cemetery, with a seemingly hand-drawn irregular connected addition to the cemetery which reaches directly onto the White's property. That irregularly drawn addition disappears from the plat in its next iteration two decades later. Maybe because what was there were all-but forgotten unmarked graves which had melted away into the landscape?