Benjamin L. Stoker
 

It is perhaps one of the ironies of fate that commissions, boards and special investigators -- oftentimes more romantic than practical -- sent out by the government, organizations or philanthropists, invariably conclude that the farmer is an incompetent. Then there are agricultural adventurers that frighten us with prophecies of hunger, mischievous statisticians that argue the decadence of agriculture, and the theorists with their cure - alls -- all of them deploring the incapacity of the farmer. Such is not the case. The American farmer of today is the most capable workman in the history of the world's agriculture. The farms of the United States produce an annual farm value greater than any other agricultural country on the globe. The American farm is the largest, it is true, but the final test of a successful producer is net receipts per farmer, and that is in favor of the American plowman. One of the best examples of successful farming under advanced twentieth-century methods to be found in Boone county is the fine farm of Benjamin L. Stoker, of Center township.

Mr. Stoker was born January 22, 1853, in Hendricks county, Indiana. He is a son of Tyrie and Sinna (Leatherman) Stoker. The father was born in Kentucky, from which state he came to Boone county, Indiana, with his parents when eight years old, later removing to Hendricks county. Subsequently he removed to Missouri, where he lived with the family, but finally returned to Boone county, Indiana, he spent the rest of his life. He was a farmer all his active years. The mother of our subject was a native of Putnam county, Indiana. To these parents twelve children were born, seven of whom are still living, namely: John is the oldest; William, Mary and Sarah are all three deceased; James and Nancy are both living; Benjamin L., of this sketch; Cenith and Christana are both living; Fred and Nellie are both deceased; Narcissus is the youngest child.

Benjamin L. Stoker grew to manhood in Hendricks county and there received a common school education; also attended school in Perry township, Boone county. When he was twenty-two years of age he went west and joined the regular army, serving under Captain Shinnel in Company H, Sixth Infantry. He was stationed in the Dakotas and Minnesota and for a time was in Canada. He remained in the service five years, proving to be an efficient and able soldier. After an honorable discharge he lived in Minnesota a few years, finally returning to Boone county, Indiana, where he has since resided. He has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, and is owner of one hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Center township, which is all cleared, well tilled and under an excellent state of cultivation. Mr. Stoker has a pleasant dwelling, which he himself built. Mr. Stoker is a natural mechanic and does his own carpentering and blacksmithing, and has his own blacksmith shop. He raises Shorthorn and Jersey cows, Duroc hogs and draft horses, and no small portion of his annual income is derived from his judicious handling of live stock.

Politically, Mr. Stoker is a Democrat, and fraternally, he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Lebanon. His wife is a member of the Christian church.

Submitted by: Amy K. Davis
Source: "History of Boone County, Indiana," by Hon. L. M. Crist, 1914