William Perdue
From Biographical Memoirs of Huntington County, 1901, pages 283-288

William Perdue, whose span of life, covering sixty-eight years, has been passed in this state, and who stands to-day as one of the men whose lives meant something more than to exist and accumulate property and whose impress has helped shape the lives of others toward a fuller realization of the responsibilities of this world, with an earnest desire to insure the ultimate happiness of all in the world to come, was born at Rich Woods, Delaware county, Indiana, January 8, 1833. His parents were James and Polly (Price) Perdue, both of whom were born in North Carolina, where they were married when she was but sixteen. He was a son of John Perdue, who was doubtless a native of Scotland, and it is thought, coming when a boy to the New World in company with his parents.

In 1832 the family, consisting of James and wife and two children, accompanied by his father and his family by a second wife, made the long overland trip from North Carolina to the then wilds of Indiana, securing a location in what was then known the the (sic) “rich woods” in Delaware county. There the father resided for some years, finally removing to Madison county, where his latter years were passed, having attained the age of eighty. James secured a lease on part of the school section and started in to make a home; but all his bright plans for a future competence were soon blasted, as he was stricken with that most serious scourge ever known in the state, the milk sickness, and in a few days yielded up his young life, being then but twenty-seven. He had been filled with an ambition to attain a home of his own, coming to the wilderness only after being a teacher for a time in his native state, where the curse of slavery left a heavy hand on all who were dependent upon their personal exertions; and it was with a determination to remove his children from that incubus that he had selected Indiana for his future home. The widow was left in the woods with three small children,--John, Emily Jane and William, while the fourth, James, was born some weeks later. By the help of her father-in-law and other kind neighbors, she managed to keep her little ones together, remaining on the little clearing till her hand was sought by another North Carolinan—Francis McNarry, who tried to extend the improvement, and at the same time make a living on the land he had purchased. The panic of 1837 coming on, he he (sic) found it impossible to meet the demands, allowing the land to default. He then went to Fayette county, where he rented land, but being poor, found it a difficult task to make both ends meet. Other children making an appearance, it became necessary for the older ones to assist in the earning. When William was but nine years old, he set out to work for the farmers and from that time he know no place that he could really call home, though the winters were generally passed with his mother. He remained in that vicinity and continued to hold a relation to the mother’s family. When he was eighteen, giving his mother three hundred dollars, he took the choice offered to remain with his step-father on the tract of land he bought with the money and receive some little help at twenty-one, or to depend entirely upon himself from that time. He chose the latter, and soon became a member of the family of a man named Caldwell, but not till he had attempted another venture in the purchase of a shingle mill, for which he agreed to pay three hundred dollars. This he ran for some weeks till he had accumulated quite a stock of shingles and timber, when a fire destroyed the entire plant, his loss being not only all his stock, but, also, the amount he had contracted to pay. He began to work for this man, Caldwell by name, both at farm work and butchering, remaining with him for more than four years. Caldwell was one of Nature’s noblemen, his heart being filled with a warm sympathy for the distressed; and, seeing that the young man was desirous of earning more than he could probably pay as wages, proposed that he engage in the butchering business for himself, and when he protested that he had no means to use, volunteered to supply him with the necessary tools, wagon and slaughter house, even going so far as to say he would back him in buying stock, furnishing the money if it was needed. The inducement was so great that William embarked in that line, the season for sales being a few months from July till October, the remainder of the year assisting a company to drive stock into the Cincinnati markets. While his relations with his benefactor and his family were ever quite pleasant, a very warm attachment having formed between him and one of the sons, there were conditions growing and habits forming that he realized would materially interfere with any sucecss (sic) he had planned and hoped for unless they were discontinued. Like many big hearted men, who would go any length to assist another, and whose hospitality was unbounded, Mr. Caldwell was his own worst enemy. Indulgence in liquor was in those days as serious as now, and the sons had contracted the same habits, which had grown almost unconsciously upon William himself, even with a full realization of what the inevitable outcome would be. In order to take a stand against this habit which was drawing its tentacles tightly about him, he sought the support of religion and became a member of the Methodist church. For some time the habit was checked, and it seemed as if he would conquer; but those old associations were so strong, that the cords which bound him to the better life seemed to stretch, becoming finally too weak to hold him from the former indulgence. Feeling himself an unworthy member he asked that his name be stricken from the church records, and, when this was done, and having no deterrent influence, he was soon drifting on the broad highway to certain destruction. Times would come when the sense of his condition was before him in letters of living fire, many sleepless nights being spent in reflection upon the situation till it seemed as if the whole of life and reputation were of questioned value. He realized that to remain amid the associations of the time and with the demon drink becoming more powerful, meant certain damnation; but when the breaking of those friendly ties was seen to be a necessity, the will revolted from taking a step that meant the severing of the best friendship he had ever known. Finally, the struggle between good and evil, or rather between two lines of action, for what was evil in its consequences was the continuance of warm personal friendships with him who had been his greatest benefactor, became so severe that a decision must soon be reached. He came to the decision to break away for good and all, from those associations, no matter how hard it might be to sever the ardent ties of friendship, determining like the surgeon to cut to the quick in order to save and to heal. He left the home of his benefactor without acquainting him of his intention, being, however, followed by the son with whom he had been on terms of greatest intimacy, who urged him to return. But his course was marked out, and he would not retrace. In his turn he besought the young man to mend his ways, else he should come to moral oblivion. The two friends separated, not to meet again for upward of fifteen years, when the old friend confessed the failure of his own life, and that after wedding a young and handsome woman, he had brought her broken hearted to an early and sorrowful grave, consuming in the satisfaction of a depraved appetite two valuable farms, and that his two children would not recognize him as the author of their being. With the deepest emotion he said, “Would to God I had acted upon your advice that morning when we parted,” but it had gone on till it became an impossibility for the weakened will to resist; and now it was too late, another soul had perished upon the altar of indulgence to the habit of drink.

William came direct to Blackford county in 1856, a sister, Mrs. Zephaniah McConkey, residing there, and became associated with her husband in selling goods at Dundee. During this time he had met Miss Mary J. Alexander, the charming daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Stewart) Alexander, of Wells county, whose pleasing personality and address was such that he became her suitor, resulting in their union on the 31st of August of that year. This lady was born in Ohio, being brought when a child of one year to Indiana, her family being among the earliest settlers of Wells county. The next year he returned to Delaware county near where his people lived, taking a lease upon a tract of wild land with the hopes of making an extended improvement. But in this he was disappointed, the sickly condition of the country brought on the ague, and for months he suffered with a chill every other day. This depleted his supply of provisions, and before he was able to recuperate the larder had become very thin; indeed, so much so, that a crust and an onion would sometimes constitute the meal. While in this condition, his efforts at swelling the supply being futile, a stranger, an old man, rode up one day as he was at work in the garden, and after accosting him said he had learned that he was in need of foodstuffs. He answered, yes, they knew not where to replenish, but what was worse he had no money to buy with. The old gentleman, whose name was Sunderland, proffered as much wheat as might be needed to carry them till after harvest, an offer that came at a most opportune time. This was the beginning of a warm friendship that lasted so long as the old man lived. He recalls another instance of voluntary assistance and which enabled him to get from under the difficulties of those days and to make a start that placed him in comfortable and easy circumstances. Knowing that the leased land would not afford an opportunity for doing much and having the chance to rent a good farm, if only the cash rent of $300 could be assured, he stated his case to Edward Stewart, who kindly offered to stand security for him, though all the property William then had would not have reimbursed him had it come to that. In the next two years he made a comfortable start, which he invested in a neat little farm of eighty acres near his wife’s family in Wells county, going some one thousand, one hundred dollars in debt. Prices being high during the war, he was soon on the road to prosperity; the income from wheat at $2.10 and pork at $9.00 soon enabled him to clear off the indebtedness. Soon after selling this property, and during the construction of the Pan Handle road, he operated a butcher shop at Hartford City and then returned to Wells county, securing another farm of 160 acres. The next eleven years he devoted to its improvement, conducting the meat business during the fall seasons, the income from the farm and other business enabling him to secure the present home some twenty years since, and building the present residence in 1880. In addition to this farm he has secured a second one of 80 acres in the vicinity of Warren, though the improvements have been mainly on the old place, and has recently bought a third one of 160 acres in Wells county. He keeps large numbers of stock which he fattens for the markets; has been actively associated with Dr. Good and Lloyd Jones in buying and shipping stock of all kinds, devoting much of his own time to the buying, his long experience in the handling of stock making him a specially valuable judge of all kinds of animals. On his farms lying in the oil field, there are some thirteen wells in action, the royalty from them being an important factor in the general income, running now about $100 per month. Ever standing for public improvements, he was selected by the county commissioners as the gravel road superintendent for one-third of the county, a position he filled with acceptability to those officials as well as to the general public. Reared in the Democratic faith, he has ever espoused the grand principles of the party, acting for a time with the greenback movement, which later was incorporated into the Democratic platform, so that his views now closely accord to the recognized leader of the party, William Jennings Bryan. When at Dundee some forty-four years since, Mr. Perdue identified himself with the Christian church, in which he has endeavored to further the cause of humanity. Becoming thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the Master he decided to devote more of his own talents to the advancement of the cause of Him he served, and was accordingly placed in the relation of a licentiate to the church in 1872, being two years later regularly ordained an elder. He has served in this capacity upward of twenty-five years, most of the time having regular appointments at such places as Xenia, Antioch, Majenica, Noblesville and Warren. As a servant of God he preaches with a fervor that comes from thorough conviction, and an earnestness that redounds to the making of better citizens and the strengthening of the church. While his reading has been principally along the line of religious thought, he has not become versed in what some term the “new theology” and the “higher criticism,” but taking the Word of God as his guide and precept, he preaches Jesus Christ and him crucified, believing that therein lies the safe road to eternal salvation. His life but exemplifies the faith that rules it, every day his faith in humanity and his trust in the Master becoming more firmly established and emphatic. Believing that it is the duty of every citizen to take part in the shaping of the general good, he has persistently adhered to his convictions of public policy and in the advocacy of the fundamental principles of the Democratic party. He is a Mason in King Lodge at Warren, having served the body in some of its official positions.

Of four children born to them, but one survives, the others having died in childhood. Calvin, whose wife is Clara Woodard, daughter of Oliver Woodard, of Blackford county, is a farmer, but resides in the village near his father. They have one son—William Woodard Perdue. Besides this son he has made a home for other children, the feeling for suffering humanity, yielding a home to the outcast or the orphan. He has several times been asked to settle the estates of old friends, one of which was that of the late William McCoy, of Warren. Ever determined to retain his reputation and his credit, he made it his rule of action to meet all obligations on the day when due, and by so doing maintained a high standing among all his associates.

No man stands to-day among his fellows with a wider circle of the warmest and truest friends, in whose estimation he is accorded a most honorable position. Now that he has passed into the twentieth century, he takes a commendable pride in the fact that he has been an important factor in the growth and development of not only the material wealth, but also the moral side of the nineteenth century, the grandest century the old world has ever known.