Water

Coincidentally, several of the places my White ancestors lived are associated with water. Ohio Township, Clermont County, Ohio lies on the Ohio River. Wabash Township, Fountain County, Indiana, is bounded on the west by the Wabash River. Shoal Creek Township, Newton County, Missouri, has, well, Shoal Creek running through it. The pattern was broken when my great-grandma and her children moved to Pueblo, Colorado: it sits very close to the front range of the Rockies. However (according to the all-knowing Wikipedia), Pueblo is situated at the confluence of the Arkansas River and Fountain Creek.

It's not surprising that my ancestors settled near major rivers. Rivers gave access to goods and transportation. David White, Sr. may have reached southwestern Ohio in the late 1790s by floating down the Ohio from Pennsylvania on a flatboat. My Baptist ancestors in Indiana likely performed their baptisms in the Wabash, not more than a mile away from their church. Maybe in Missouri they baptized in Shoal Creek.