Biography of Benjamin S. Grogg, page 84. 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.  

   Benjamin Smith Grogg. The traveler through Richland Township whose 
attention is caught by the name “Progressive Farm” on substantial, well kept 
buildings, is not surprised to find in the owner of this property an 
unusually intelligent, well educated, thoughtful man whose farming 
enterprises are successful and profitable.  Benjamin Smith Grogg, owner and 
proprietor of 
Progressive Farm, was born November 1, 1848, in Stark County, Ohio, and was 
brought to DeKalb County a babe in his mother’s arms in 1849.  His parents 
were Peter and Eliza (Smith) Grogg, whose other children were as follows: 
Amy Ann, who died in early womanhood; Lucinda, who is the wife of David 
Feagler; Jacob W., who married Mary Fair; James H., who married Ida 
Showers; Mary, who is the wife of J. A. Whittington; Daniel S., who is 
deceased, married Elizabeth Imler; Ellen, who is the wife of George 
Rakestraw; and Elmer E., who is deceased, married Ida Smith.  The family 
of the last named live where Peter Grogg located when he first came to 
Indiana.
   While there is a combination of French, Scotch, Irish and German blood 
in the Grogg ancestry, the history of the family in the United States 
centers in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.  Peter Grogg, father of 
Benjamin S., was born March 2, 1821, in Stark County, Ohio, and was the 
seventh son born to Solomon and Mary (Snyder) Grogg, and his brothers 
were: John, Abraham, Solomon, George, Jacob and Daniel, and he had a 
sister Catherine. On September 2, 1846, he was married to Eliza Smith, who 
was the fifth in a family of nine children born to Benjamin and Rachel 
(Bender) Smith, whose other children were as follows: Aaron B., Lucinda, 
Harriet, Susan, Caroline, Ephraim, Hiram and Catherine. Two children were 
born to Peter and Eliza Grogg before they took up their residence in 
DeKalb County.  When Mr. Grogg located on his first quarter section of 
land there were only two acres cleared, and it was through his industrial 
efforts that the wild land was changed into one of the most productive 
farms of this county.   
   The parents of Benjamin S. Grogg belonged to the English Reformed 
Church of Tamarack, near their home, but they contributed to the building 
of churches at Waterloo and Fairfield Center, but later, under changed 
conditions, they united with the Lutheran, known to all as Sixteen Church, 
in Richland Township, a present day old landmark of the county.  The old 
family burying place was in Union Cemetery, the younger members of the 
family owning crypts in the mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery.
   As indicated above, Benjamin Smith Grogg is a man of progressive ideas, 
many of which he has introduced in the management of his farm.  He merely 
superintends, however, having a capable tenant, for Mr. Grogg has not been 
an agriculturist all his life, in fact has been something of a traveler 
and perhaps has seen more of the western part of the United States than 
the majority of his neighbors.  He has been in every state west of the 
Mississippi River and has traveled the whole length of Canada from Detroit 
to Vancouver, spending time in both mining and logging camps.  He made the 
round trip from DeKalb County to the Pacific Coast four times while his 
parents were living.  In these years of travel he has met with accident 
and adventure.  At one time he was confined in a hospital at Santa Fe, New 
Mexico, for eighty-four days. Like most men who have really done brave 
things, he is modest in telling of them.  On one occasion he undertook the 
dangerous task of crossing the Columbia River on thin ice in order to carry 
a telegram to a family announcing the death of a soldier son in the 
barracks of Vancouver, being the only man to volunteer for this hazardous 
mission.  He succeeded in crossing the cracking ice on Norwegian snow 
shoes, but had to remain at his destination for a week on account of the 
breaking ice, and then returned by means of a row boat.
   Mr. Grogg owns a well tilled farm with exceptional improvements.  His 
residence is of cement blocks, with sanitary plumbing and a heat, light 
and water system and with separate, apartments for himself and for his 
tenant and family, the latter being Guy Myers, who married Gladys Grogg, a 
relative. They make Mr. Grogg exceeding comfortable and he passes the most 
of this time at Progressive Farm. By careful plan he has the barn basement 
adapted to the care of livestock, having ample room and crib capacity, 
with a storage tank for water in the bank driveway, gravity forcing the 
water in a constant stream by the opening of a value.  When the wind pump 
fails, there is a gasoline engine to use in emergency, hence water is 
plentiful at all times, which is one of the greatest desideratums in 
successful agricultural industries.
   Mr. Grogg’s interest in public affairs is that of a well informed, 
public-spirited citizen.  In national matters he is a zealous republican 
in his political views, but in local campaigns, when some specific issue 
is at stake, he allows himself to follow his own good judgment and 
consider the man rather than the party.

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