Biography of Hugh Mervin Widney, pages 987/988/989.   
History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, 
Inc., Indianapolis, 1914.



Today the farmer is coming into his own. Once he seemed to 
be at the mercy of every other occupation and profession, 
all of whom were exploiting him, while he drew from his 
acres a bare living and little more. But in those days 
there was a surplusage of farm population as compared with 
the city. Now the city had drawn so many within its portals 
that there is a practical scarcity of farmers to supply the 
demands made upon them, improved implements and inventions 
have lessened the farmer's toil. And those who live in the 
rural districts today are reaping a rich reward for their 
labors and winning the envy instead of the contempt of the 
city dwellers. Among the residents of DeKalb county who 
have reaped abundantly and in satisfactory measures from 
Mother Earth is the gentleman whose name appears at the 
head of this sketch, who as farmer and fruit raiser is 
meeting with splendid success from his fine farm in Concord 
township. He is well educated and has gained a wide 
reputation, especially as a lecturer on agricultural, 
horticultural and kindred topics, and today is numbered 
among the leading and progressive citizens of his township.  
Hugh Mervin Widney was born in DeKalb county, Indiana, on 
March 24, 1866, and is the son of O. H. and Emily F. 
(Maxwell) Widney. Oliver H. Widney was born on November 2, 
1841, near Newville, DeKalb county, and was the son of John 
G. and Jane (Lynn) Widney. He was reared on a farm and 
received his education in the district schools at 
Orangeville, afterwards studying in the schools of Auburn 
and at Newville Academy. He engaged in teaching school for 
a while, but in young manhood gave his attention to the 
clearing of a farm of seventy acres, which he developed 
from swamps to one of the best farms in his community. In 
1877 he traded this farm to his father for the old 
homestead on the St. Joe river near the town of St. Joe. 
There he successfully carried on his agricultural pursuits, 
possessing a fine farm of one hundred and thirty-four 
acres. On August 7, 1862, Oliver H. Widney enlisted as a 
private in Company H, Eighty-eighth Regiment Indiana 
Volunteer Infantry, with which he took part is some arduous 
service during that fall, participating in the battle of 
Perrysville. On December 15th of that same year, he was 
discharged because of physical disability and remained at 
home until he had regained his health, when, on July 18, 
1863, he again enlisted as first sergeant of Company B, One 
Hundred and Eighteenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, 
with which he did valiant and courageous service until 
March 14, 1864, when he received his discharge. He later 
became a member of John C. Kern Post No. 144, Grand Army of 
the Republic. In politics he was a Republican up to the 
year 1870, after which he affiliated with the Democratic 
party. On November 2, 1864, O. H. Widney married Emily 
Maxwell, of Concord township, this county, and they became 
the parents of two children, Hugh Mervin, the subject of 
this sketch and Lenore, who was born on May 18, 1881. Mr. 
Widney was a man of prominence and influence in his 
community and rendered good service to his county as a 
member of the board of county commissioners for two terms.  
Hugh M. Widney secured his elementary education in the 
common schools and was reared to the life of a farmer, 
which vocation he followed for a while after attaining 
mature years,  but turned his attention to the lumber 
business, in which he was successfully engaged for a time, 
first in the retail business and later as a wholesaler and 
manufacturer. He then again returned to the farm for a 
time, but later engaged in the lumber and hardware business 
at St. Joe, which, however, he later disposed of and again 
turned his attention to farming, which now occupies his 
attention. He owns a splendid tract of land in Concord 
township, and here he makes the raising of fruit a 
specialty. For twenty years he has given thoughtful and 
intelligent direction to this line of effort, having one of 
the best orchards in DeKalb county, and he has earned a 
wide reputation through this section of the state as one of 
the most successful fruit raisers, for he has followed 
advanced methods and applied up-to-date business ideas to 
his affairs.  That Mr. Widney is a man of more than 
ordinary ability in his special line is evidenced by the 
fact that during the last three years he has been a 
lecturer at Purdue University and on the subject of soils 
and all matter pertaining  to horticulture he is generally 
considered an authority, having given much thoughtful study 
to the special subject as well as done much practical 
experimental work on his own account.  His orchard contains 
some of the every best varieties of fruit, which he handles 
with the greatest care, spraying his trees as their special 
need requires and giving due attention to all phases of his 
special line so that in the market the products of his 
orchard command the best price.  On December  30, 1885, the 
subject of this sketch was united in marriage to Harriette 
A. Davis, the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Jones) 
Davis, natives of Ohio and early settlers of DeKalb county. 
Mr. Widney's grandfather Joel Davis, was one of the 
pioneers of this locality and a man highly respected by all 
who knew him. To Mr. and Mrs. Widney have been born two 
children, Blanchard V. and Doris D.  Blanchard married 
Flossie Copp, of St. Joe, on August 19, 1913.  Politically, 
Mr. Widney assumes an independent attitude, preferring to 
vote for the man whom he considers best fitted for office 
rather than to be guided by party alliance. Fraternally, he 
is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights 
of Pythias, while his religious membership is with the 
Methodist Protestant church. Mr. Widney has honestly earned 
the high repute which he enjoys in his community and Spring 
Brook Fruit Farm is one of the best known pieces of rural 
property in DeKalb  county. The one hundred and thirty-five 
acres which Mr. Widney owns are all under cultivation or in 
orchard, and the fruit, melons and berries which he raises 
find a ready market owing to the well known conditions 
under which they are raised. In 1913 he bought sixty-six 
acres known as the David Pope farm. Mr. Widney has found 
out and proved to others that it pays to raise the very 
best produce and he has set a valuable example to the 
community along this line. Personally, he is a genial and 
companionable gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet, and 
he is not only well known throughout the section of the 
state in which he lives, but is equally well liked by all 
who know him.

Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com