James A. Fendley.—The Fendleys are of Irish descent, but Silas A. and Malinda (Ragsdale) Fendley, the father and mother of James A., were natives of Kentucky, emigrating in 1820 to this state, and locating in Parke County, where, February 1, 1836, James A. first saw the light. His grandfather, Thomas Fendley, was a native of Ireland, and emigrated to Virginia, and thence to Kentucky, where he married Miss Seelie Pollard, by whom he had nine children, as follows: Nancy, Rachel, George, Silas, Thomas, Jackson, Rebecca, Seelie and William. Being a poor man he was force to rent land, and in this kind of farming James A. grew to manhood, helping on the farm summers, and attending the common schools winters, gaining what education he could in this way. October 25, 1860, he married, in Illinois, Mary E., daughter of Evans and Susan Bristow. Her father was a native of Ohio, and her mother of Virginia, being an extraction of Welsh and Dutch. They were both attendants of the United Brethren Church. Politically, Mr. Bristow, as well as Mr. Fendley’s father, was a Democrat. Mr. Bristow died in Marion County, Ind., 1864; his wife died in Boone County in 1876. To Mr. and Mrs. Fendley have been born children as follows: Laura A., Harriet E., Sarah J., Susan E., William A., Minnie I., James A. Jr., and Victoria M. In the fall of 1869, Mr. Fendley purchased the farm on which he now lives. The original purchase was 160 acres, but one acre had been sold by Mr. Hughes, the former owner, for a church, in the extreme southeast corner of the farm, and since then Mr. Fendley has sold fifty acres to one Mullinix, leaving him 109 acres. In a few years he erected his present commodious house, which is situated on the “ Three-Notch Line ” pike. A short time later his home was built, he put up a good barn, and today they stand as monuments to his industry. The Fendleys stand among the substantial farmers of Johnson County. Mr. and Mrs. Fendley, and some of their children, belong to the Methodist church. Politically, Mr. Fendley is a democrat.