James White was born in Rowan County, North Carolina in 1747. He fought in the Revolutionary War from 1779 to 1781, attaining the rank of Captain of Militia in the Continental Army. In 1783 he toured the Tennessee Valley around Knoxville to look for land, as he was entitled to a land warrant because of his military service. In 1786 he settled on the present site of Knoxville and built White's Fort. When the Territory South of the River Ohio was separated from North Carolina, White's Fort and the surrounding town (renamed Knoxville) became its seat of government. James White served as the presiding Justice of the Peace for Knox County when it was founded in 1791. He was a member of the Tennessee Constitutional Convention in 1796, and afterward served as a state senator, becoming speaker of the Tennessee Senate in 1801 and 1803. He also owned several grist mills and donated land to Blount College, the ancestor of the University of Tennessee. He died on August 14, 1821 on his farm near Knoxville.

James White married Mary Lawson in 1770, and the couple had seven children. Their oldest, Hugh Lawson White, served on the Tennessee Supreme Court, was named a United States District Attorney, and served in the U. S. Senate.