Moses White was born to George McNutt and Sophia Moody (Park) White in Knoxville, Tennessee on December 19, 1829. He graduated from East Tennessee University with a degree in law in 1850. White practiced law in Knoxville until moving to Memphis shortly before the start of the Civil War. He enlisted in the 37th Tennessee Infantry (CSA) as a colonel on October 26, 1861 and served both with his unit and on detached recruiting duty. White was wounded at the Battle of Murfreesboro and near Fort McAlister, Georgia, where he was captured on the march by Federal forces on December 13, 1864. He was sent to Hilton Head, South Carolina and then to Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C. He escaped on February 3, 1865, while being transferred to Fort Delaware. After his escape, White apparently returned to his unit, as he was paroled in Meridian, Mississippi on May 10, 1865. He returned home to Tennessee, where he resumed his legal practice in Knoxville, became editor and partial owner of the Knoxville Tribune, and was elected as a trustee of East Tennessee University in 1877. White retired to farm in 1897 and died in Knoxville on November 1, 1907.