DAVID E. EVERHART.-Prominent among the most prosperous, energetic and sagacious agriculturists of Sullivan county is David E. Everhart, who owns and occupies a large and well improved farm in Cass township. He ranks high among the progressive farmers and substantial business men of his community, and is everywhere respected as a man of honor and worth. A son of John Everhart, he was born March 5, 1855, in Lancaster, Owen county, Indiana, coming from German ancestry, his great-grandfather on the paternal side having emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania when young, and there married a Scotch-Irish lassie. (The original spelling of the name was Eberhardt.) David Everhart, grandfather of David E., was born and bred in Pennsylvania. Emigrating to Ohio in early manhood, he became a pioneer settler of Tuscarawas county. Purchasing a tract of wild land, he began its improvement, and was there employed in tilling the soil until his death, when but thirty-five years of age. He married a Miss Hicks, who survived him many years.
A native of Ohio, John Everhart was born in Tuscarawas county in 1820. Learning the carpenter's trade when young, he followed it as a journeyman for a few years. In 1850, in company with a few neighboring families, he came across the country with teams to Indiana, and for a year lived in Wabash county. Returning then to Tuscarawas county, he located with his family on land given them by his father and was there a tiller of the soil for three years. Selling out in 1854, he again came with his family to Indiana, settling in Owen county. He purchased a tract of timber land, and in the log cabin which then stood upon the place, his son David E. was born. This section of Indiana was then almost a wilderness. Settlers were few and far between, and the forests were filled with an abundance of game of all kinds. He began the improvement of a homestead, clearing a large tract of the land, and erected a frame house and a double log stable. In 1867 he sold that property, came to Sullivan county, purchased a quarter of a section of land in Jackson township, and was there successfully employed in farming and stockraising until his death, in 1885. He married Martha Hoffer, who was born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, in 1825, and died in Jackson township in 1887. Her father, Alexander Hoffer, emigrated from Switzerland to America in 1835, being accompanied by his wife and their two daughters. Locating in Coshocton county, Ohio, he bought forty acres of land, and there carried on general farming the remainder of his life. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John Everhart, namely: Lavina, Adaline, Louisa, Sarah, Alexander, David E., Lucy A., Dan, John W., Ella and Ezra A.
Trudging three long, weary miles over the hills, David E. Everhart obtained his rudimentary knowledge in the district schools of Owen county. He subsequently attended the rural schools of Jackson township, afterwards completing his early studies in the graded schools of Sullivan. Beginning then a professional career, Mr. Everhart taught school for twenty-six years, all but three years of the time being so located that he was enabled to board at home. As a teacher he was successful and popular, gaining an excellent reputation as an educator and as a disciplinarian. Always interested in agriculture, he has of late years turned his attention almost entirely to agricultural pursuits. Residing in Cass township, he has in his home farm five hundred and thirty- five acres of rich and fertile land, the greater part of which is under fine cultivation, and is well equipped with substantial buildings, and all of the appliances for doing the necessary farm labor after the most approved modern methods.
On June 7, 1883, Mr. Everhart married Laura E. Patton, who was born in Jackson township April 16, 1860, a daughter of William Nelson Patton, Esq. Mr. Patton was born in Carlisle, Sullivan county, Indiana, but was reared in Jackson township. As a young man he was extensively engaged in farming, owning upwards of five hundred acres of land. Subsequently removing to Sullivan he, in company with his son, embarked in mercantile pursuits, and is now one of the leading merchants of that place. Mr. Patton married Harriet Rebecca Magill, who was born in Cass township, Sullivan county, in 1837, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Hall) Magill, and they reared five children, namely: Laura E., wife of Mr. Everhart; Clara, Cora E., Oscar M., in business with his father, and Bertha L. Mr. Patton is quite active in public affairs, and for twelve years served as justice of the peace. A history of the Magill family, to which Mrs. Everhart belongs, has been written by Robert Magill, of Maryville, Tennessee. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Everhart are members of the Presbyterian church. The pretty country seat of Mr. and Mrs. David Everhart in Cass township is known as "Forest Home."