Biography of Hugh M. Widney, page 350. 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. 
McInosh.  The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago and New York, 1920.

   Hugh M. Widney.  The name of Widney was spoken in the wilderness of 
Southern DeKalb County more than eighty years ago, and the family has always 
been one of the most substantial and influential in Concord Township and 
neighboring townships. One of the younger generation is Hugh M. Widney, a 
widely known authority on fruit growing and horticulture, who is proprietor 
of the Spring Brook Fruit Farm and the Rivera Farm, comprising 200 acres in 
Concord and Spencer Townships.
   He was born in Concord Township March 24, 1866, a son of Oliver H. and 
Emily F. (Maxwell) Widney. His father was also a native of Concord Township, 
while the mother was born in Ohio.   Oliver Widney and wife were married in 
1864, and he died at Auburn, while his wife passed away at St. Joe.  They 
had two children, Hugh M. and Lenore.
   Hugh M. Widney grew up on the old farm in Concord Township and had a 
common school education.  On December 31, 1885, he married Hattie A. 
Davis, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Davis, of Newville Township, 
DeKalb County.  Mrs. Widney in former years was a teacher of music. Two 
children were born to them, Blanchard V., who is a graduate of the 
Tri-State College at Angola with the Bachelor of Science degree, has spent 
three years in Purdue University and is now county agricultural agent for 
Noble County, Indiana.  He married, August 19, 1913, Flossie Copp, daughter 
of Abner and Alice Copp, of St. Joe.  The younger child, Dorris Davis 
Widney, was born August 16, 1903, in St. Joe, and died in the Johns 
Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore, Maryland, January 29, 1919 in her sixteenth 
year.
   The family are members of the Methodist Protestant Church. Mr. Widney 
is affiliated with Concord Lodge No. 556, Free and Accepted Masons, and 
with St. Joe Lodge No. 400 of the Knights of Pythias, being a past 
chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. Politically he is a republican.
  Mr. Widney has been busily engaged with his horticultural specialty for 
thirty years, and has a highly developed and valuable fruit farm of thirty 
acres in Concord Township. His wide experience and expert knowledge has 
made his service valuable to the state at large.  He has been on the staff 
of lecturers under the auspices of Purdue University for county and 
township institutes, and has traveled all over the state.

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