Biography of Andrew Jackson Ralston, pages 370/371/372/373. History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914. The family of which the subject of this review is a creditable representative has been known in DeKalb county since the pioneer epoch and, without invidious comparison, it can with propriety be said that no other name is better known or more highly esteemed in the locality. Honored and respected by all, there is today no man in the county who occupies a more enviable position in the regard of his fellows than Andrew J. Ralston, not alone because of the splendid material success which he has achieved, but also by reason of the splendid life which he has loved in this community. He was born at Plymouth, Richland county, Ohio, on September 9, 1841, and is the son of Samuel W. and Eliza J. (Brink) Ralston. The subject’s paternal grandparents were Robert and Jane (Woodburn) Ralston, of whom and their ten children the remarkable fact is recorded that their average age was eighty-four years, the youngest having been over seventy-two years old at the time of his death. These children were named Robert, Jr., James, Mrs. Jane Hall, Mrs. Margaret Hall, Mrs. Mary Gribben, Alexander, Samuel W., Mrs. Maria Dixon, David and Mrs. Julia Bodley. In 1813 Robert and Jane Ralston, moved, with their family, from Washington county, Pennsylvania, to Richland county, Ohio, (now Ashland county). There Samuel W. Ralston, who had been born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on December 12, 1807, began to learn a trade of a carpenter, which he followed with considerable success for a quarter of a century. In December 1842, he brought his family to Auburn, Indiana, arriving here on the 12th of December and being the eighth family to locate in this city. He here followed his trade of carpenter, in which became quite prominent. In 1843 he took the contract for the completion of the first courthouse, a two-story frame building, thirty-five by fifty feet in size, and the frame work of which had been put by the first contractor, Joseph Heit, who then relinquished his contract. Mr. Ralston completed the contract in 1843. In 1846 he was elected sheriff of DeKalb county, serving two years, and was then elected county treasurer for a like period. In 1856 he was again elected to the office of sheriff and was re-elected in 1858. In 1861 he engaged in the mercantile business, in which he was successful and which commanded his attention until about five years prior to his death, when he retired from business and spent the remainder of this days quietly at his home, a large and substantial brick building, which he had erected at the corner of Tenth and Main streets and which is still standing in good condition. There his death occurred on March 6, 1891, and his widow died there in August, 1893. Mrs. Ralston, whose maiden name was Eliza J. Brink, and who he married in 1834, was a native of Plymouth, Ohio. She was a faithful member of the Presbyterian church, of which her husband was a regular attendant. They were the parents of four children, namely: Helen M. died in November, 1855, at the age of about twenty years; Emily A. who died on January 20, 1903, was the wife of W. H. Dills, of Auburn; Andrew J.; George C. is engaged in the hotel business at Sulphur Springs, Arkansas. Andrew J. Ralston was reared in Auburn, securing a fair education in the public schools, and in young manhood was variously employed, usually in drygoods stores and other mercantile houses. He served as deputy sheriff under his father and in a like capacity under Sheriff J. N. Miller. From 1869 to 1873 he served as deputy county treasurer under Treasurer F. D. Ryan, and then about seven years he was successfully engaged in buying and shipping grain. In 1882 Mr. Ralston went into the grocery business, to which he devoted his attention until 1896, when he disposed of that business and has since mainly occupied himself in looking after his farming interests. He owns one farm of one hundred and seven acres east of Auburn and an undivided half interest in one hundred and sixty acres nine miles south of Auburn. For many years Mr. Ralston took an active part in public affairs and was a prominent and influential figure in the councils and conventions of the Democratic party, but of late years he has somewhat retired from active participation in these things, though his interest in current affairs has not in the least abated. For six years Mr. Ralston has rendered appreciated service as historian for the Old Settlers’ Association, in the proceedings of which he has long been deeply interested. As a store house of facts and traditions regarding the early history of DeKalb county he is an authority, and his utterances on these things are entitled to credence, for to him belongs the distinction of being the oldest citizen of Auburn in point of years of continuous residence, and he has taken considerable pride in collating much interesting and valuable local history which otherwise might have been lost to future generation. On February 25, 1864, Mr. Ralston was married to Hadessa J. George, who was born in what is now Ashland county, Ohio, the daughter of James Currie George and Priscilla (Reynolds) George. Mr. George was born in Ashland county, and his parents, who were natives of Pennsylvania, were of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Priscilla Reynolds was born in Delaware and in her childhood she was brought to Ohio by her parents, James and Mary (McClellan) Reynolds. Mrs. Ralston was but a babe in arms when, in November, 1842, the family came to Auburn, her father having bought a half section of land a mile east of that city some time previously. When they moved here he brought the price of the land in silver in his wagon. He had a brother here, with whom he stayed, and the money was put and safely kept under a puncheon floor, there being no banks here at that time. On the tract of land referred to the George family made their permanent home, Mr. George carrying on farming operations there during the rest of his active life. He became prominent in the early life of that locality and served in several township offices, always to the entire satisfaction of his fellow citizens. His death occurred in 1849, at the age of thirty-six years, leaving a wife and two daughters, Mary Ann and Hadessa. The widow lived to be eighty-seven years. To Mr. and Mrs. Ralston have been born three children, as follows: George M., born in October, 1865, is connected with the Commercial Bank of Ft. Wayne and is secretary for the well known real estate and banking firm of Strauss Brothers, which does an annual business of more than two million dollars. At Ft. Wayne, he married Nettie Ernest, a resident of Auburn, and they have two children, Roger Jackson and Huber Russell; Alzein Aileen, whose death occurred on March 30, 1903, was the wife of Harry K. Scott, of Angola, Indiana; Helen S. is the wife of Monte L. Green, a banker at Garrett, this county, and they have a daughter, Alzien Louise. Mrs. Ralston is a member of the Presbyterian church and is also known in club land literary circles of Auburn. She is one of the three active members of the Ladies’ Literary Club of this city who were charter members when the club was organized in April, 1882, it being the oldest woman’s club in northern Indiana and next to the oldest in the state. She was a woman of kindly manner and is deservedly popular in the circles in which she moved. Mr. Ralston has through they years performed his full duty as a citizen, standing as a man among men, and today he enjoys to an eminent degree the confidence and good will of all who know him. Submitted by: Arlene Goodwin Auburn, Indiana Agoodwin@ctlnet.com