ERNEST M. DEPUTY, M. D.-A man of high mental attainments, cultured and talented, Ernest M. Deputy, M. D., of Dugger, Cass township, is successfully engaged in the practice of his profession as a physician and surgeon of skill, being widely known and having a fine patronage. A native of Indiana, he was born August 5, 1877, in Paris, Jennings county. His father, Sylvester Deputy, was born January 3, 1834, in Woods county, Virginia, which was likewise the birthplace of his father, Andrew Deputy. A well-established tradition says that the first known ancestor of the Deputy family was a babe left at the door of a deputy sheriff in France. The deputy sheriff and his wife being childless, gladlv welcomed the foundling, took it in, and as it was found 011 the door sill christened it Sylvester, and gave it the surname of Deputy.
The Doctor's great-grandfather and two of his brothers came from Virginia to Indiana via the Ohio river, landing at the present site of Madison. One of the brothers subsequently settled in Illinois, but the Doctor's progenitor bought a tract of government land in Jefferson countv, and was there engaged in tilling the soil the remainder of his life.
Andrew Deputy, the Doctor's grandfather, came with his parents to Sullivan county, and subsequently entered government land on the bank of the Muscatucket river, where he cleared and improved a farm. He afterwards sold that property and removed to Jennings county, settling in Montgomery township, where he resided until his death.
But a child when he was brought by his parents to Jefferson county, Sylvester Deputy was here reared to agricultural pursuits. He was very energetic, enterprising and ambitious, and soon after attaining his majority bought a tract of timbered land in Montgomery township, Jennings county, where he built up an extensive business. In addition to clearing the land and carrying on farming, he operated a shingle mill and manufactured molasses from sorghum which he raised, making a large quantity each fall. Improving a valuable farm, he erected a substantial set of buildings and was there prosperously engaged in his chosen labors until his death in 1895. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Hudson, was born in Jennings county, Indiana, in August, 1836, and is now living near the old homestead. Her father, Boyd Hudson, was born, it is thought, in New York state, and was a pioneer of Jennings county. He was a tanner by trade, and established a tannery in Jennings county, it being one of the first in the state, and in it carried on an extensive, business. He bought large tracts of timber land, taking especial pains to get that containing mostly oak trees, as he needed oak bark for use in his tannery. He employed a large force of men in his work, and the locality in which he lived was known as Boydtown. He cleared large tracts of land, and in addition to operating his tannery was prosperously engaged in general farming until his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Frances Shepherd, survived him and married for her second husband William Johnson.
Sylvester and Sarah (Hudson) Deputy reared five children, as follows:' Velmore, Alban S., Emerson J., Frank (deceased), Ernest M. Educated in the public schools of Montgomery township, and at Lancaster, Velmore Deputy began his career as a teacher at the age of eighteen years, being first employed in the public schools of Kansas. Returning to Indiana he was principal of the high school at Vernon until his death, at the age of twenty-two years. Alban S. Deputy took a normal course at the Blinn Academy, and in addition to teaching and farming, was superintendent of a canning factory. He died August 20, 1909, and was interred in the Jennings county family cemetery. Emerson J. Deputy is a contractor for the building of public highways.
After his graduation from the high school Ernest M. Deputy studied for a year at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, after which he taught school for four years, in the meantime reading medicine. Entering then the medical department of Kentucky University he took a course of four years, and was graduated from that institution in July, 1903, receiving the degree of M. D. Locating in Dugger, Sullivan county, in the following month, Dr. Deputy has since built up an extensive and lucrative practice, obtaining an assured position among the leading physicians of this part of the county. Deeply interested in his professional work, he makes a close study of all newer methods employed in detecting and treating diseases, keeping abreast of the times in regard to medicine and surgery. He is a member of the Sullivan County Medical Society and is president for 1909, and is also a member of the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Fraternally he is a member of the Elks Lodge, No. 866, at Linton, Indiana, and examining physician for the Modern Woodmen of America.
On December 11, 1904, Dr. Deputy married Fletie Staples. She was born in Jennings county, Indiana, in Marion township, a daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Belle (Rogers) Staples. The Doctor and Mrs. Deputy have two children. Sherrill S. and Mary C.