William Edgar McCaslin.

Agriculture has been an honored vocation from the earliest ages and as a usual thing men of honorable and humane impulses, as well as those of energy and thrift, have been patrons of husbandry. The free out-door life of the farm has a decided tendency to foster and develop that independence of mind and self-reliance which characterizes true manhood and no truer blessing can befall a boy than to be reared in close touch with nature in the healthful, life-inspiring labor of the fields. It has always been the fruitful soil from which have sprung the moral bone and sinew of the country, and the majority of our nation’s great warriors, renowned statesmen and distinguished men of letters were born on the farm and were indebted largely to its early influence for the distinction which they have attained.

The subject of this sketch is descended from one of the old established families of Indiana, his paternal grandfather, Alexander McCaslin, having come to this state from Mercer county, Kentucky, in 1816. He settled first in Scott county, where the family remained until 1829, when they came to Johnson county, locating about two miles south of Franklin, where Alexander remained during the remainder of his life. His son, John McCaslin, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Scott county and accompanied the family on its removal to Johnson county. He married Martha Jane Alexander, and among their children was the subject of this sketch.

William Edgar McCaslin secured a good practical education in the common schools of Johnson county, and, being raised to the life of a farmer, he early recognized the fact that no other career offered to him so many opportunities for advancement and independence as agriculture, therefore he has never forsaken this vocation, but has given it his undivided attention with eminent success. He is the owner of a good farm of ninety-one acres in Franklin township, and his systematic methods and persistent energy have resulted in a commensurate degree of success.

In 1899, Mr. McCaslin married Hattie May Halstead, a daughter of Albert and Louisa (Hoagland) Halstead, the father a native of Blue River township, this county. To Mr. and Mrs. McCaslin have been born two chlidren, Martha Elizabeth and Eleanora [sic] Louise. Politically, Mr. McCaslin gives his support to the Republican party, and he takes a deep and commendable interest in public affairs, though never has been a seeker after office of any kind. In every avenue of life’s activities he has performed his full part as a man, standing “four square to every wind that blows,” and because of his genuine worth and high character he has enjoyed to a large degree the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens. He and his wife move in the best social circles of the community and are extremely popular among their acquaintances.