506                 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

daughter of Absalom Cook, also of that state, and of----, and
Elizabeth (Petticourt) Enlows, of Irish parentage. Mr. Herron votes
with the Republican party and is a member of the Presbyterian church.

    OSCAR 0. VAN CLEVE.—Conspicuous among the more progressive
and intelligent agriculturists of Perry township, Clay county, is Oscar 0.
Van Cleve, the owner of a fine farming estate in section 11, where in
the pursuit of his chosen calling he is meeting with noteworthy success.
He is a native of this county, his birth having occurred on the home-
stead where he now resides, August 11, 1858. His father, Benjamin B.
Van Cleve, was a pioneer settler of Clay county, and did his full share
in leveling its forests and transforming its timbered lands into rich
farms.
    A native of Preble county, Ohio, Benjamin B. Van Cleve was bred
and educated in his native state. He there married Jane Hays, who
was born in Darke county, Ohio, a daughter of James Hays. Coming
with his young wife to Clay county in 1846, he purchased eighty acres
of land in section 1, and eighty acres in section 11, and immediately
began the improvement of a farm. In 1860 he erected a one-story
house, finishing it in black walnut. It was a very pretentious structure,
the finest in the county at that time, and it is still in good repair, and is
now occupied by Mr. Van Cleve, He was an excellent farmer, was
prosperously engaged in tilling the soil until his death, in 1868. His
wife survived him, passing away on the homestead in 1894.
    The youngest of a family of five children, Oscar 0. Van Cleve was
about ten years old when his father died. He received his early educa-
tion in the district schools, after which he attended the Northern Indiana
Normal School at Valparaiso, fitting himself for a professional career.
He subsequently taught school for twenty-four years, commencing in
1877 in Brazil, where he was for many years principal of the Lambert
Street school. For fifteen years previous to his mother’s death Mr. Van
Cleve rented the old home farm, and in addition to teaching had the
management of the home estate. Subsequently buying out the remaining
heirs, he has since devoted his whole time and attention to its care, and
as a general agriculturist is meeting with uniform success, his farm, in
its improvements and appointments, being one of the best in Perry
township.
    On January 15, 1882. Mr. Van Cleve married Belle Harris, who
was born in Perry township, a daughter of Dr. William M. and Maria
(Barber) Harris, who came to this locality from Darke county, Ohio,
in 1855.Dr. Harris was here engaged in the practice of his profession
for upwards of forty years, dying here in 1898. His wife, mother of
Mrs. Van Cleve, died in early womanhood, passing away in 1866. Into
the pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Van Cleve, four children have been
born, namely: Guy F., of Custer, Montana; Ray M., attending the
Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis; Clara; and Gretchen O. Po-
litically Mr. Van Cleve is a steadfast Republican, sustaining the prin-
ciples of that party by voice and vote. Fraternally he is a member of
Center Point Lodge, No. 597, A. F. & A. M.; and of Center Point
Lodge, No. 449, I. 0. 0. F. Religiously he is an esteemed member of
the Methodist Episcopal church.