Biography of Reed F. Place, pages 973/974.  History of 
DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., 
Indianapolis, 1914.



The subject of this sketch is one of the substantial and 
well known agriculturists of Spencer township, DeKalb 
county, Indiana, being regarded as one of the leading 
farmers of this locality, his fine farm representing much 
hard labor,  but the subject is a man of well known energy 
and determination in business affairs, Indolence and 
idleness are entirely foreign to his nature, and his 
continued activity in the management and development of his 
property has made his one of the valuable farms in this 
county. Reed F. Place was born in Bradford county, 
Pennsylvania, on September 30, 1862, and is the son of 
James M. and Lucretia (Miller) Place, who also were natives 
of the old Keystone state,  eventually they left their 
homes there and moved to Ohio, where they spent the 
remainder of their lives. The father was a tailor by trade, 
which vocation he followed for many years, but eventually 
took up farming in Ohio. They were the parents of seven 
children, Orris, Della, Reed S., George, Mary, James and 
Louie.  Reed F. Place was reared under the parental roof in 
his Pennsylvania home and received his education in the 
common schools of that state. He has followed agricultural 
pursuits throughout his active life and has met with well 
deserved success. He accompanied his parents on their 
removal to Ohio, where he remained until 1902, when he came 
to DeKalb and bought the fine farm of one hundred and four 
acres in Spencer township, which he now owns and to the 
operation of which he is devoting his entire attention. He 
has been deservedly successful, for this has faithfully 
given the most intelligent direction to his efforts and is 
today considered one of the up-to-date and progressive 
farmers of the community. He does not confine himself to 
any special line, but carries on a general farming and 
stock raising, finding that the combination of these two 
lines affords the best chances of successful results. He 
has made many permanent and substantial improvements on his 
farm, which have increased its value and made it one of the 
good farms of Spencer township.  In 1886 Mr. Place married 
Della Berrington, the daughter of Samuel and Martha Ann 
(Johnson) Berrington, who were natives of Ohio, from which 
state they came to DeKalb county, where they reside. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Place have been born six children, Bertha , Alva, 
Mervin, Gladys, Glenn and Roscoe.  Politically, Mr. Place 
gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, believing the 
policies embodied in the platform of that party to be the 
best adapted to the needs of the American people.  
Religiously, he is a member and regular attendant of the 
Christian church, to the support of which he contributes of 
his means. Mr. Place has always been a farmer and is 
regarded by his neighbors as one of the best in the 
township, keeping his place well improved and under a high 
state of cultivation. What he has accomplished shows that 
he has been a man of unusual business ability and has 
exercised rate soundness of judgement in all his 
transactions. Though not by any means a life-long resident 
of the locality, he has already attained to a marked degree 
of popularity and is numbered among the prominent men of 
his community, for he has so ordered his life as to merit 
the high regard and confidence of all who have come in 
contact with him.

Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com