Long - Luther
Source: History of Montgomery County, Indiana. Indianapolis: AW Bowen, 1913, pp 820-823.
It is, or at least should be, the pride of every American that there are no bounds set on the limits to which legitimate ambition, perseverance and right ideals may not aspire. Although one may be born and reared under the most discouraging environment, he is, notwithstanding, able to break such bonds and rise to any and every station of honor and usefulness in the land. The attributes do not necessarily have to be of a transcendent nature to enable him to accomplish this result. It is more the way the individual does it and his skill in seizing opportunities presented than to any extraordinary qualities innate in him. Accordingly it is very often found in the United States that the men in exalted positions in both the civic and business world possess no higher ability than thousands of other citizens. They have simply taken better advantage of their circumstances than their fellows. And this truth runs through every occupation. The tiller of the soil who makes a greater success than his neighbors does so because he has found the secret of rising above the surroundings which hold others down.
One of this type of men in Montgomery county is Luther R. Long, the present county commissioner, and for many years one of our leading farmers and stock men, now living in retirement in his pleasant home north of Crawfordsville.
Mr. Long was born on August 7, 1847 in Brown county, Ohio, where he spent his earlier life and received his education, and from there he came to Montgomery county, Indiana, in 1874 where he has since resided. He is a son of William and Anna (Davis) Long. The father was born on September 6, 1810 in Brown county, Ohio, and there the mother was also born on March 6, 1812. There they grew to maturity, were educated and married, and spent their lives engaged in general farming, and to them four children were born. They are now deceased, the father's death having occurred on August 14, 1889, and the mother passed away at a very advanced age in September, 1906.
Luther R. Long was married on October 28, 1874, to Caroline Purdum, who was born August 19, 1854, in Brown county, Ohio, and there she grew to womanhood and received a common school education. She was a daughter of Aaron and Margaret Ellen (Colgin) Purdum, the mother having been born in Delaware, and the father in Ohio.
Four children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Lawrence R., born September 17, 1875, married Helen Webster, and they live in Fort Worth. Texas; Pearl, born January 17, 1878, married in 1911 to Frank D. Noland, and they live in Montgomery county; Ann, born April 29, 1881, married Mahlon D. Manson, and they live in Terre Haute, Indiana; and Luther L., born July 17, 1885, married Zula Russell, and they live in Crawfordsville.
Mr. Long has always engaged in general farming and stock raising and has met with pronounced success all along the line. He owns a finely improved and productive farm of one hundred and seven acres, all tillable and well tiled. In connection with general farming he has raised fine live stock, handling a superior grade of trotting horses, which have been greatly admired by all who have seen them. He has a commodious and well furnished home and substantial outbuildings.
Politically, Mr. Long is a Democrat, and he has been county commissioner of Montgomery county since 1906, filling the office in a manner that has reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned. He belongs to the Horse Thief Detective Association. - typed by kbz