Biography of Henry Rice Davidson, pages 731/732.733/734. History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914. Henry Rice Davidson An enumeration of the representative citizens of DeKalb county would not be complete without specific mention of the well-known and popular gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. A member of one of the old and highly esteemed families of this locality and for many years a public-spirited man of affairs, he has stamped his individuality upon the community and added luster to the honorable name which he bears, having always been actuated by a spirit of fairness in his dealings with the world in general, and leaving no stone unturned whereby he might benefit his own condition as well as that of his friends and the favored section of the great commonwealth in which he has been content to spend his life. Straightforward and unassuming, genial and obliging, Mr. Davidson enjoys the good will and respect of a wide circle of friends throughout this part of the state. Henry Rice Davidson, a native of Wayne county, Ohio, was born on March 13, 1865. His father, Henry Davidson, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and was a bishop in the church of Brethren of Christ, being deeply interested in religious work. He attained to prominent and influential place in his church and was editor of the church paper. Eventually he moved from Pennsylvania to Michigan, where he bought a farm and followed agricultural pursuits, as well as preaching. About 1881 he went to Kansas his second wife, whose maiden name had been Fannie Rice, died in 1894, and shortly afterwards he returned to Pennsylvania, where he later married Katie Brenneman, a native of Mechanicsburg. He died on March 17, 1903, and his widow is now living in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. By his first marriage Henry Davidson became the father of five children, namely: Mrs. Mary Yoder, a widow who now lives in Ohio, and is the mother of two children; William, who is a farmer in Ohio, is married and has one child; Isaiah C. is the principal of the high school at Barberton, Ohio, which position he has held for nineteen years; Mrs. Carrie Landis, whose husband is a hardware merchant, lives in Kansas, and they have two children. By his marriage to Fannie Rice, Mr. Davidson became the father of eight children, namely; Mrs. Lydia Brewer, who lives in Kansas and is the wife of a retired farmer; Mrs. Rebecca Doner, of Ohio, whose husband is a farmer, and they have four children; Francis, a minister of the Brethren in Christ, has been a missionary in South Africa for the past fifteen years; Mrs. Emma Deihl, whose husband, John Deihl, is represented elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Henrietta Brechbill, whose husband John Brechbill, is also represented elsewhere; Henry Rice, the immediate subject of this sketch; Albert who lives in Colorado, is married and has two children; Mrs. Ida Huffman, whose husband is a minister of the Brethren in Christ, and also operates a large creamery plant, and they have two children; Mrs. Davidson was married a third time, but no children were born to the last union. Henry Rice Davidson was reared in Ohio until the age of sixteen years, when he moved to White Pigeon, Michigan, with his parents, where he lived and farmed until the age of twenty-one years. He had attended the public schools in Ohio and also attended the high school at White Pigeon, thus receiving a good practical education. In 1877 Mr. Davidson went to Kansas, where he operated his father’s farm of one hundred and sixty acres, remaining there for about five years and then coming to DeKalb county, where he rented a farm in section 28, Keyser township. This farm comprised one hundred and twenty-seven acres, in the operation of which he was profitably engaged, and eventually he bought this farm of his father-in-law and is still actively engaged in its operation. He has remodeled the residence and barn and made other permanent and substantial improvements, which have greatly added to the value and attractive appearance of the place. He has about eight acres in valuable timber. The land is kept in good, fertile condition, well fenced, and while the general appearance of the place indicates him to be a man of good taste and sound discrimination. He is up-to-date in his ideas, hesitating not to adopt new methods when their superiority over old ways has been demonstrated, and in the business and civic life of the community he has taken a prominent part, and is now township representative for the DeKalb Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of DeKalb county, in which he has done much effective work. He is also guardian of the estate of Albert Hathaway, which comprises one hundred and fifty acres adjoining the farm of the subject. Politically, he is a progressive Republican, and his religious affiliations are with the Brethren in Christ, of which society he is a deacon. On January 20, 1877, Mr. Davidson married Elizabeth Brechbill, the daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Ober) Brechbill, and to this union have been born four children, Fannie, Walter, Elsie and Loyd, all of whom are at home. Jacob Brechbill was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, In 1854 he moved to Stark county, Ohio, where, on February 3, 1859, he married Sarah Ober, who also was a native of Bedford county, Pennsylvania. In 1864 they came to DeKalb county, Indiana, buying eighty acres of land in section 29, Keyser township, and later bought the eighty acres where the subject of this sketch resides, to which he later added another forty acres adjoining. Mr. Brechbill was a member of the Brethren in Christ, and much respected by those with whom he was acquainted. He learned the trade of shingle making, which he followed in connection with farming for many years. His death occurred on February 21, 1902, at the residence of the subject of this sketch, who had taken care of him during his later years. His widow also died here on November 1, 1908. They were the parents of eight children, as follows: Martin, deceased; John, a farmer of Richland township, who is the father of nine children; Mrs. Nancy Shirk, of Kansas, who is the mother of six children living and one deceased; Elizabeth, wife of the subject; Mrs. Sarah Wagner, of Garrett, Indiana, the mother of four children; Mrs. Mary Yarde, whose husband, David Yard, is represented elsewhere in this work; and Francis and Claude, twins, who died in infancy. In this brief review but little has been said in a commendatory way of Mr. Davidson’s life, but it is unnecessary, for in the community where he has spent his active years his life has been as an open book, and because of his upright character and consistent living he has enjoyed to a marked degree the respect of all who have known him. He is a man who has ever looked on the sunny side of life, ever hopeful that the good would rule instead of the bad, and as a result of such a fortunate disposition he has made it pleasant for those with whom he has came in contract either in a business or social way. He is a man of genial and kindly nature, which has made him popular with all who have associated with him and, being a man of high moral character, he has the confidence and good will of all. Submitted by: Arlene Goodwin Auburn, Indiana Agoodwin@ctlnet.com