A. JACKSON DERN, M. D., was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, August 24, 1853, and is the fifth of the nine children born to Ethan R. and Zelda (Shafer) Dern, both natives of Fairfield County, both descendants of Revolutionary ancestors of Dutch extraction, and respectively born February 10,. 1821, and December 19, 1828. Ethan R. Dern, at the age of thirteen, lost his father, when the support of his widowed mother and several younger brothers and sisters devolved mainly on him. He worked as a laborer on farms and on a canal for several years, and after his marriage, June 26, 1846, farmed on shares for a time; he then bought 160 acres in Fairfield County, but in 1855 sold out and came to Carroll County, Ind., bought 160 acres, on which he resided just twenty one years, and in 1876 came to Unio4 Township, this county, and bought the farm of 200 acres on which he now lives. A. J. Dern received an excellent education at the common schools, the Frankfort Academy and Asbury University. At the age of nineteen, he began teaching during the winter and attended school the remainder of the year for several seasons. In 1875, he commenced the study of medicine, and in 1876 took an extensive tour through the East and South, including the Centennial Exposition. In April, 1877, he entered the office of Dr. S. R. Cowger, of Monticello, and read medicine until March, 1879, in the meantime attending lectures at the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati. In March, 1880, he located in this township, where he has now a good practice, and in February, 1881, was appointed Postmaster at Dern, where he also started a grocery in the spring of the same year. September 23, 1879, he married Amanda Young, a native of Pulaski, Ind., born January 18, 1857, and the youngest of the thirteen children born to Daniel and Amelia (Payne) Young, both natives of Pennsylvania. The Doctor had born to him, May 13, 1881, a son, christened Guy. In politics, Dr. Dern is a Republican, and both he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as are his parents.

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