Minerva White: Mt. Holly Gap Toll Gate Keeper and Her “Treasure”

Miss Minerva White and her mother, Matilda Vickers, came to Mt. Holly from Virginia in 1859. Minerva worked for several years in the paper mills in Mt. Holly, but about 1870 she and her mother took charge of the toll gate and ran a small store.¹ After her mother’s death in 1885, Minerva continued to operate the Mt. Holly toll gate for another 19 years.

A little after midnight on July 10, 1904, Miss Minerva was attacked in her bed. She had fallen asleep while waiting for several returning teams to pass through her gate, and she was awakened by hands pressing on her shoulders. She thought it was one of her customers who had come for tobacco; she lived alone and never locked her doors. She called out his name but got no answer. Instead her assailant threw her to the floor. She tried to fight him, but he beat her. When she could fight no longer, she offered him $5 if he would spare her. He ran out of the house while she was struggling to light a lamp. When she got the $5, she threw it out the window. Her assailant caught it and ran off.

A short while later Milton Paul was passing the gate house. He heard a strange noise coming from inside, and when he went in he found Minerva. He summoned a group of townsmen to investigate and several of them stayed with Minerva until the morning. George Smith of Upper Holly was arrested for the attack and taken to jail in Carlisle.²

The newspaper reported that “when it became evident that Miss Minerva White could not recover, J. P. Bixler, Sequestrator of the turnpike…” and several others, examined the toll house for any papers belonging to the company. While doing so, they found a chest in the attic containing many packages of coins which they took to the Deposit Bank in Carlisle. When the money was counted it amounted to $2,650.³ Later, while several ladies were cleaning out Minerva’s house, they found another $1,125 tucked away in several places bringing the total to almost $4,000.⁴

Minerva White died on the morning of October 28, 1905.⁵ She was buried in Carlisle’s Old Graveyard. Her stone is inscribed “Minerva White March 1, 1829 – October 28, 1905. Daughter of Matilda Vickers.”

Because of the money involved, the story of Minerva White started snowballing. She was no longer just a single lady from Virginia who had kept the toll gate at Mt. Holly. The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reported that she had come from one of the “first families of Virginia.” That she had been “disappointed in a love affair…” and gone to Mt. Holly Springs where she “obscured herself in a position as toll gate keeper…” After her death, “In old chests the searchers discovered rolls of faded silk and satin, evening gowns and magnificent laces hidden away with great care.”⁶

The Jackson, Mississippi newspaper ran a story with the headlines: “They Want Her Money. Unique Case in Pennsylvania Town. A HERMIT LEFT MONEY.” The newspaper embroidered her story even more. They wrote that “she lived a hermit-like life not allowing visitors in her house nor have social intercourse with her neighbors.” Colonel Charles H. Mullin, a leader in Cumberland County Republican affairs, and members of his family performed many acts of kindness for “Minerva” thinking her penniless, the newspaper reported.⁷

The fight for Miss Minerva’s money was on. According to the laws of Pennsylvania, the first person who informed the state of a death in which there is no will and no heirs is entitled to a 30% share of the estate. Several hours after Minerva White’s death, Camp Hill lawyer, Addison M. Bowman, filled out the paper notifying the state’s Auditor General’s Department and took it to Harrisburg. But, “two days later he was informed that Colonel Mullin of Mount Holly Springs had beaten him by two hours in filing the formal notice of Miss White’s death.”⁸

Not only did Attorney Bowman and Colonel Mullin both claim a share of Minerva’s estate, but because of all the publicity, supposed heirs from Maryland, Virginia and Minnesota appeared. Counsel was hired to explore the claims, but they could not be substantiated. In the end, in July 1906, the court awarded the 30% (about $1,200) to Colonel Mullin, and after court costs and expenses, the rest of Minerva White’s “treasure” ($2,513.96) went to the state of Pennsylvania.⁹