Biography of James M. Furnish, pages 27 / 28.  History of Northeast Indiana; 
LaGrange, Steuben, Noble, and DeKalb Counties, Vol. II, under the editorial 
supervision of Ira Ford, Orville Stevens, William H. McEwen, and William H. 
McIntosh.  The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago and New York, 1920. 

   James M. Furnish.  One of the farms in Jackson Township of DeKalb County 
longest in the possession of one family is that owned by James M. Furnish on 
the county line between Allen and DeKalb counties.  Mr. Furnish himself has 
gathered crops from that land for over forty years, and his father before 
him developed and farmed it.
   James M. Furnish was born in Ashland County, Ohio, January 26, 1849, a 
son of David and Mary C. (Davis) Furnish.  His father was born in Suffolk, 
England, in 1805, and came to the United States when about twenty-eight 
years or thirty years of age.  He lived in Boston for several years, 
married in that city, and then moved to Ashland County, Ohio.  His home 
was in Ashland County for seventeen years. He supported his family by a 
common labor and also by farming. After selling his twenty-five acres of 
land in Ashland County he moved to DeKalb County and bought eighty acres 
where his son James now lives.  He remained there the rest of his life and 
owing to an injury spent several years almost helpless. James M. Furnish 
carefully looked after his parents in their declining years and was their 
mainstay and support during their last years. Both were active in the 
Lutheran Church and his father was a republican. Of their family of eleven 
children only four are now living: Abraham, of Fort Wayne, Indiana; 
Margaret J., wife of David Hollabough; James M.; and Martha.
   James M. Furnish grew up on the home farm and was educated in the 
common schools.  He worked for his father and took charge of the farm for 
a number of years and after his father’s death he bought the old homestead.  
He does general farming.  Mr. Furnish is a republican in politics and a 
member of the Lutheran Church.
   May 13, 1880, he married Ida Steward. She was a native of DeKalb County 
and was educated in 
the common schools. They have three children: Ralph, a farmer living with 
his father; Sudia, wife of Melvin Howey of DeKalb County; David, who is 
married and lives in Detroit, Michigan, where he is working with the Ford 
Automobile Works.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com