In Putnam County, near Putnamville, is situated the Indiana State Farm of Indiana, and  Ralph Howard  has been actively identified with the executive and practical management of this farm since 1914, his administration as its superintendent having been marked by constructive efficiency and by loyalty that entitles him to classification among the valued officials of his native state. Mr. Howard was born at Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana, June 21, 1881, and is a son of  John and Louisa C. (Smeltzer) Howard, the former of whom was born in England and the latter in Ohio.  John Howard was a youth when he came from his native land to the United States, in 1868, and in Indiana he became a successful school teacher, though his major success was gained through his active association with farm industry, of which he became a substantial representative in Randolph County, where also he served a term of years as superintendent of the orphans' home of the county. He was influential in community affairs and was a sterling citizen who ever commanded unqualified popular esteem. The death of John Howard occurred December 27. 1929, his wife having passed away October 25, 1925, and the three surviving children being  Frederick,  Grace and  Ralph, Frederick being a resident of Bastrop, Louisiana, and Grace being now a resident of Knightstown, Henry County, Indiana.  The public-school discipline of Ralph Howard culminated in his course in the high school at Winchester, and about the time of his attaining to legal majority he initiated his service in Indiana institutional work, his earlier experience of practical order having been mainly in connection with the activities of the home farm. In 1914 he assumed the position of assistant superintendent of the Indiana State Farm, near Putnamville, and his ability and efficiency later led to his advancement to the office of superintendent, of which he has since continued the incumbent. Mr. Howard is a staunch supporter of the cause of the Republican Party, he is affiliated with both York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. March 24, 1906, recorded the marriage of Mr. Howard to  Miss Carrie E. McDowell, daughter of a physician and surgeon who is now deceased, but was for fifty years engaged in the practice of his profession at Sumner, Illinois.  Mr. and Mrs. Howard have two sons,  John M. and  Charles E., both of whom are, in 1930, students in engineering in Rose Polytechnic Institute.
Unidentified book.
Typed by Lora Radiches