Biography of Benjamin F. Hawver, pages 974/975/976.  History of DeKalb 
County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914.



Benjamin F. Hawver

Among those persons who have, by virtue of their strong individual 
qualities, earned their way to a high standing in the estimation of 
their fellow citizens, having by sheer force of character and 
persistency won their way from an humble beginning to a  place of 
influence and prominence in the community where they are active in 
industrial affairs, the subject of this sketch is entitled to special 
mention in a volume of this character. Benjamin F. Hawver is a native 
of DeKalb county, having been born in Butler township, on October 17, 
1867, the son of Samuel and Eliza (Studebaker) Hawver, the former a 
native of Maryland and the latter of Ohio.  Samuel Hawver came for 
Maryland to Ohio in August, 1849, and after his marriage, which 
occurred in the later state, he came to DeKalb county, Indiana, in the 
fall of 1853, settling in Butler township, where he remained during the 
balance of his life.  He was a cooper by trade in Ohio, but after 
coming to Indiana he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. To him 
and his wife were born fourteen children, all dying in infancy except 
five who grew to manhood and womanhood, namely: Mrs. Laura Singrey, of 
Fort Wayne; Merritt, deceased; Samuel, Benjamin and Wilbur Hawver, of 
La Otto postoffice, residing in Butler township, DeKalb county.  Mr. 
and Mrs. Hawver are both now deceased. Benjamin F. Hawver was reared 
under the parental roof and during his youth was given the opportunity 
of attendance at the common schools. After completing the grades he 
attended the Fort Wayne Business College, where he gained a practical 
knowledge of business methods and then engaged in farming, which he has 
made his life pursuit and in which he has met with well deserved 
success. He is the owner of one hundred and nineteen acres of well 
improved land in Butler township, to which he has given thoughtful and 
intelligent attention, so that his labors have been rewarded with a 
high measure of success.  The attractive and well furnished residence, 
large and well arranged barns with silo, good fences, well tilled 
fields and other important items of an up-to-date farm, convince the 
passerby that the owner is a man of good judgment and sound 
discrimination in his methods, the reputation which Mr. Hawver has 
borne for many years in the community which has been honored by his 
citizenship.  Among the up-to-date features of Mr. Hawver’s farm 
establishment are rural mail delivery at his door, telephone service, 
and a large touring car, all of which go to make farm life a joy and 
blessing, rather than a life of toil and hardships. On January 2, 1890, 
Mr. Hawver married Audree E. Fair, the daughter of William and Adeline 
(Moody) Fair.  She was one of the first graduates from the Butler 
township schools and afterwards was a successful teacher.  She is a 
representative of old pioneer stock in this county, the Fair family 
having been one of the first to locate in the wilderness in DeKalb 
county. An Indian trail led past their cabin door, and not infrequently 
the dusky red men would stop for milk to drink, showing their strings 
of scalps.  However, they never harmed the white settlers, who had been 
kind to them.  Barbara Fair was the first white child born in DeKalb 
county, her birth occurring on October, 1836. To Mr. and Mrs. Hawver 
have been born two children, Don, who has completed the grade work in 
the common schools, was a graduate with the class of ’13 of the Garrett 
high school. He and his sister Thelma, are at present at home with 
their parents. Religiously, Mr. Hawver gives his support to the 
Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been a member for a number 
of years, and in which he takes an active and effectual interest.  
Politically, he gives a stanch support to the Republican party, though 
he has never been an aspirant or seeker after public office.  A man of 
strong mentality and steady habits, he has won a warm place in the 
esteem of the entire community, in which he lives, and is properly 
numbered among the representative citizens of Butler township.



Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com