Roscoe D. Wheat, former prosecuting attorney for this judicial circuit, former county attorney, present attorney for the city of Portland, vice-president of the Jay County Savings and Trust Company and a member of the bar of the Jay Circuit Court for nearly twenty-five years, is a native son of Jay county, a member of one of the real pioneer families here, and has lived here all his life, ever actively interested in the development- of the best interests of the community. Mr. Wheat was born on a farm in Jackson township on February 22, 1876, and is a son of William R. and Naomi V. (Tucker) Wheat, both of whom also were born in this county. William R. Wheat, a substantial landowner of Jackson township, now living retired at Portland, is a son of William R. Wheat, Sr. who came to Indiana from Virginia and became one of the first landowners in Jackson township, this county, and an influential figure in the development of that community in pioneer days.
Reared on the home farm in Jackson township, R. D. Wheat received his early schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and when little more than a boy began teaching school, a vocation which he followed for six winters, meanwhile continuing his studies in the old normal school at Portland and at the Tri-State College at Angola, from which latter institution he was graduated in 1897. During this period he also was for a time engaged as a traveling salesman, but his inclinations ever were toward the law and he was pursuing his studies along that line in the law office of George Bergman at Portland, under which preceptorship he was admitted to the bar of the Jay Circuit Court in 1897, following his graduation from college. Not long after his admission to the bar Mr. Wheat became associated with Judge J. W. Headington in the practice of law at Portland and this mutually agreeable arrangement continued until the death of Judge Headington, since which time Mr. Wheat has been practicing alone. He has served two terms as prosecuting attorney for this judicial circuit, has also served as county attorney and is the present attorney for the city of Portland. Mr. Wheat also has ever given proper attention to the general business affairs of the community and is vice-president of the Jay County Savings and Trust Company, one of the most influential fiduciary institutions in this part of the state. Mr. Wheat is a Republican and has long been regarded as one of the leaders of that party in this congressional district. He is a Freemason, is the exalted ruler of the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is also affiliated with the Portland Rotary Club and the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Wheat married Nina G. Bishop,
daughter of Peter L. and Maria J. Bishop, and he and his wife have one
child, Alwyn Cree Wheat. The Wheat's have a pleasant home in Portland and
have even taken an interested part in the city's general social activities.
During the time of America's participation in the World war, Mr. Wheat
became associated withthe Y. M. C. A. work overseas and was also attached to
the motor transport corps, rendering eight months of service overseas.
SOURCE: Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana,
Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II, pp. 45-46. Transcribed by
Eloine Chesnut