Biography of Christian Monroe Merica, pages 905 / 906. History of De Kalb County, Indiana. Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago, 1885. Christian Monroe Merica, Superintendent of Schools of De Kalb County, is a native of Ohio, born in Champaign County, Feb. 10, 1853. He was the next youngest of fourteen children of Henry and Diana (Bodey) Merica, native of Rockingham County, Va., of German descent. His father died in 1859, and in the fall of 1864 his mother married David Houser, of this county, and moved here with her family. Young Merica lived with his parents till fourteen years of age, when he hired to his brother William, with whom he remained four years, working upon the farm in the summer and attending the district school in the winter. He then attended the Auburn High School two terms, and in the winter of 1872-‘3 he taught his first term of school in District No.6 (now No. 1) of Butler Township. He subsequently attended school at Auburn two more terms and then taught in the winter, and attended the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso in the summer until the spring of 1876, preparing himself for teaching. From this time until the fall of 1879 he taught school in the winter, and in the summer worked upon the farm and went with a threshing-machine, He was married March 2, 1876, to Minerva Wiant, daughter of J.P. Wiant, Esq., of Butler Township. They have one daughter, Estella, born Dec. 12, 1876. In the fall of 1879 Mr. Merica taught a successful ten-week normal school at Cedar Creek, and again in 1880. At the close of the latter he moved with his family to Valparaiso, and attended the Normal until the following June. He then returned to this county and accepted the Superintendency of the Garrett public schools, which position he held until elected County Superintendent in 1883. As Superintendent, he labored earnestly to establish more uniform and systematic work, to grade the schools, and to elevate the standard of both school and teacher, his work being attended with marked success. In the summer of 1884, assisted by Mrs. Lida Leasure, he conducted an eight-week normal at Auburn, enrolling eighty students. He has made a specialty of the science and theory of teaching, and is conversant with all the new and approved normal methods. In June, 1885, he was again unanimously elected Superintendent, which position he still holds. Submitted by: Arlene Goodwin Auburn, Indiana Agoodwin@ctlnet.com