Biography of Henry M. Showalter, pages 864 /865.  History 
of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., 
Indianapolis, 1914.



Among the substantial men whose labor and influence have 
long given impetus to the agricultural interest and general 
material improvements of DeKalb county in years gone by and 
who today occupy high places in the esteem of the community 
in which they live is the worthy gentleman whose name 
introduces this article. While he has been busy tilling the 
soil and raising a good grade of live stock, he has not 
neglected his duties as a citizen and neighbor, but has 
been a forceful factor in all the concerns of the public 
good. It is to such men as he that our modern advanced 
civilization is due and such men are worthy of the esteem 
that is accorded them by all and their records are worthy 
of perpetuation. Henry M. Showalter was born near 
Strasburg, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, on June 1, 1844, the 
son of Noah and Elizabeth (Moore) Showalter, who were 
native of Ohio. They  were reared and married in that 
state, coming to DeKalb county in 1848 and settling on a 
tract of land in Franklin township, where the father 
successfully followed agriculture for a number of years. 
Later, about 1876, he moved to Wilmington township, where 
he settled on a farm and spent the remainder of his life. 
To him and his wife were born three children, Nancy Ellen 
(deceased), Henry M. and James W.  The subject of sketch 
received his education in the common schools of Franklin 
township, and also in the public schools of Butler and 
Waterloo. He then engaged in teaching school four terms, in 
which he gained a high reputation as a successful 
instructor. During the following two years he was connected 
with saw mills, at the end of which time he returned to the 
home farm, to the cultivation of which he has devoted 
himself continuously since and in which he has met with 
pronounced success. He not only successfully conducted the 
affairs connected with farming, and made many permanent and 
substantial improvements on the place, but a number of 
years ago he began the importation of heavy draft horses 
and Shetland ponies. He was one of the pioneers in this 
business and at one time was the heaviest importer in the 
United States of Shetland ponies, of which he has sold many 
thousands. He has handled these ponies for twenty-six years 
and is still actively engaged in the enterprise. He has 
improved the breed so far as is possible by selection, and 
his patronage has extended over nearly all the states of 
the middle West and in many distant parts.  On October 16, 
1873, Mr. Showalter married Wilhelmenia, the daughter of 
Belthaser and Rufina Marguarett (Wittman) Dingledine. Both 
of these parents were born in Wittenburg, Germany, and upon 
emigrating to the United States settled in Holmes county, 
Ohio. They were the parents of one child, Mrs. Showalter. 
By a former marriage Mr. Dingledine was the father of 
eleven children. To Mr. and Mrs. Showalter have been born 
four children: Maud, who is the wife of Clark Brown, of 
Butler, and they have three children, Wanda Margarette, 
Ralph S. and Lulu Virginia. Lulu is the wife of Winfred 
Powers Keep and they have one child, Edwin H. Myrtle is 
deceased. Frederick W. is at home with his parents. In 
local affairs Mr. Showalter has long taken a prominent 
part, having a deep interest in every thing that pertains 
to public welfare, and he served one term efficiently as a 
member of the advisory board. Politically, he is a 
Republican and has long been active in his party. 
Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Mason, 
belonging to the blue lodge, the council of Royal and 
Select Masters, the chapter of Royal Arch Mason, the 
commandery of Knight Templar, and to the Scottish Rite, in 
which he has attained to the thirty-second degree. He is 
also a member of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and of 
the subordinate lodge and encampment of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Showalter has been very 
successful in everything to which he has given his 
attention, and has acquired interest aside from those with 
his farm, being a stockholder and vice-president of the 
First National Bank of Butler. Mr. Showalter's life has 
been an unusually active and useful one, and though the 
limited space at the disposal of the writer permits no more 
than a casual mention of the leading events in his career, 
sufficient has been said to show that earnest endeavor and 
honesty of purpose,  rightly applied and persistently 
followed, will lead to unqualified success. Mr. Showalter 
is influential in local affairs and is looked upon as 
thoroughly in sympathy with any movement looking toward the 
betterment and advancement in any way of his community, 
where he has always been regarded as a man of sterling 
honesty and worthy of the utmost confidence and respect, 
which his fellow citizens have been free to accord.

Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com