Randolph County, Indiana
Emory L. Ashcraft
Among the enterprising, wide-awake and public-spirited newspaper men of Randolph county, who is a potent factor in molding local public opinion is Emory L. Ashcraft, editor and publisher of The Review, of Parker. He has worked hard to advance himself in his chosen calling for which he evidently has considerable natural talent, else he would not have succeeded at all, for anyone who knows anything about the publishing business knows that it takes something else besides hard and persistent work to win in this uncertain, precarious field.
Mr. Ashcraft was born at Fort Recovery, Ohio, October 18, 1872. He is a son of Emanuel and Susan (Campbell) Ashcraft, whose family consisted of five children, namely Emory L., of this sketch; Jesse, who is farming near Tippecanoe City, Ohio, married Lulu Sutton and they have one child, Myrtle; Belle who lives at Fort Recovery, married Burl Graves, and they have one child, Madge; William F., who is employed at the Marion Glass Works, married Effie McKibben and they have three children; Harvey is a barber at Fort Recovery. The father of the above named children was born in Jay county, Indiana, and is still living. His father was a farmer and was a native of Muskingum county, Ohio. The paternal great grand- father of our subject was a native of Virginia. Both he and the paternal grandfather of our subject entered their farms from the government and were typical pioneers. The great-grandfather was a soldier in the Mexican war. The mother of Emory L. Ashcraft was of Scotch-Irish descent. Her father came from Vermont, and his family consisted of six children. He lived on a farm near Fort Recovery.
Emory L. Ashcraft received his education in the common schools of Fort Recovery, and was graduated from the high school there. When a boy he learned the printer's trade in the office of The Fort Recovery Journal, where he worked three years, after which, in 1896, he came to Redkey, Indiana, where he was foreman of The Times, three and one-half years, then, in 1899, he came to Parker and established The Review, which was successful from the first, and it now ranks with leading country newspapers of this part of the state, being all that could be desired from a mechanical standpoint, and its columns teem with the latest and best news and much advertising matter. Its circulation is rapidly increasing.
Mr. Ashcraft was married October 27, 1893, to Bertha Hall, of Redkey, a daughter of Amos and Elizabeth Hall, a highly respected family, now living retired. She is one of five children. Mrs. Ashcraft grew to womanhood and was educated and graduated from the schools of that city.
To our subject and wife two children have been born, namely: Myron, born April 6, 1895, was graduated from the Selma high school, class of 1913, and specialized in the manual training department of the University of Chicago, and Martah, born September 10, 1902. This family are members of the Christian church.
Past and Present of Randolph County, Indiana, 1914.
Contributed by Gina Richardson