Biography of Joseph E. Showalter, M. D., pages 434/435/436.  
History of DeKalb County, Indiana;  B. F. Bowen & Company, 
Inc., Indianapolis, 1914.



To be anything but mediocre in any profession requires not 
only a happy combination of natural faculties, but also a 
strong personality, a blending of courtesy and affability, 
and certain business qualifications that no 
discouragement's can overcome. The well known physician 
whose name forms the caption to this article and whose name 
has long been a household word in this county seems to 
possess these traits,  for he has climbed, step by step, 
from a modest beginning to a position of prominence in his 
community, being now numbered among the leading 
representatives of the medical profession of DeKalb county. 
Joseph E. Showalter, of Waterloo, was born near Huntington, 
Indiana, on the 18th day of January, 1863, and is a son of 
Levi and Clarinda A. (Shilling) Showalter. The Showalters 
in America are descended from good old German stock, the 
emigrant ancestor having come to America about two hundred 
years ago, settling in New Jersey, and from his eight sons 
have come the many representatives of this family now 
scattered over the United States. The subject's paternal 
grandfather was Joseph Showalter who was a prosperous 
citizen of Wayne county, Ohio, where he owned two hundred 
acres of land, besides which he gave eighty acres in 
Indiana to each of his children. His son, Levi, was born in 
Wayne county in 1838, living there until he was twenty-two 
years of age. The eighty acres which he received from his 
father was located in Huntington county, Indiana, and 
thither he proceeded in 1860. On the way he stopped in 
Concord township, DeKalb county, Indiana, where he formed 
the acquaintance of Clarinda Shilling. Their acquaintance 
ripened into love and some time after he had established 
himself in his new home, he returned to Concord township 
and married her. She was born in Stark county, Ohio, in 
1841, and was the daughter of Joseph E. and Catherine 
(Hornberger) Shilling. They came to Indiana in 1846, 
driving through and locating in the woods in Concord 
township, where the parents lived until late in life, when 
they moved to Auburn.  In 1876 Levi Showalter bought the 
old Shilling farm, in Concord township, and  there made his 
home for about twenty years, when he moved to Waterloo, 
where his remaining years were spent, his death occurring 
in 1908; his widow still lives in Waterloo. They were the 
parents of twelve children, of whom four died in infancy. 
Those living are as follows: Joseph E., the immediate 
subject of this sketch; Mary, the wife of Frank Parker, of 
Angola, Indiana; Cora, the wife of John A. Friedenberger, 
of Pontiac, Michigan; Jennie, who lives in Waterloo, is the 
widow of the late Daniel Rorabaugh; Hortense is the wife of 
William E. Ingalls, of Salem, Oregon; Myrtle,  who is 
unmarried, lives in Waterloo, William A., of Salem, Oregon; 
Bessie, of Waterloo, unmarried.  Joseph E. Showalter was 
reared on the paternal farm in Concord township, receiving 
his elementary education in the common schools, and 
afterwards attending the Tri-State Normal School at Angola. 
He then engaged in teaching school for three years, when, 
having decided to take up the practice of medicine, he 
matriculated in the medical department of Wooster 
University, at Cleveland, where he was graduated in 1893, 
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. A few months later 
he came to Waterloo, and entered upon the active practice 
of his profession, in which he has been engaged practically 
ever since. Natural aptitude, thorough professional 
training and ardent love for his work have combined to 
render him signally successful and among his professional 
brethren in this county he is held in high regard. He has 
been successful financially and is the owner of a fine farm 
of one hundred and forty-three acres, two miles south of 
Waterloo, which is well improved and on which the Doctor 
has recently erected a fine large barn, up-to-date in every 
particular.  In 1893 Doctor Showalter was married to Olive 
Moor, of Concord township, DeKalb county, the daughter of 
Noah and Josephine (Nelson) Moor. Her paternal grandfather, 
William Moor, came from Ashland county, Ohio, in a very 
early day, the Nelsons also coming from the same locality. 
To Doctor and Mrs. Showalter have been born four sons, 
three of whom are living, namely: Edward Bruce, John Paul 
and Eugene D.  Politically, Doctor Showalter believes in 
the principles of the Socialist party, but in local 
elections he supports the men and measures which seem to 
him best for the public welfare. Fraternally, he is an 
active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and 
other fraternal orders. Quiet and unassuming in 
disposition, Doctor Showalter is, nevertheless, a man of 
forceful personality and positive character and among his 
fellow citizens he is held in the highest regard.

Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com