ADAM VINCENT MINICH, farmer and stock raiser of Sullivan county, residing in Sullivan, was born May 9, 1857, in Haddon township. He is a son of Pleasant Alexander and Sarah (Corbin) Minich, both parents being natives of this county. The father was born June 6, 1822, and still lives on the old Minich homestead in Haddon township, south of Carlisle. The mother, born January 25, 1832, also survives. The grandfather, Adam Minich, was born in Virginia and his father and mother came from Germany. The grandfather settled in Tennessee and moved from that state to Sullivan county, Indiana, where he died November 16, 1826. He, with a brother, came to Sullivan county, and entered tracts of government land. Adam Minich was a saddlemaker by trade and employed a small wooden mallet with which to pound the impressions in the leather he used for making the saddle skirts with. This implement is now possessed by Adam V., of this notice, and highly prized as a family relic.
Pleasant Alexander, the father, has always followed farming for his livelihood and has made a success of tilling the soil. He now owns two hundred and fifty acres of valuable land. The first house, which he erected in 1856, is still standing on his farm, in the rear of the substantial brick structure erected in 1878. In his political views, Pleasant A. Minich is a Democrat, and in church faith a Methodist. He and his wife were the parents of three children, as follows: Adam V., of this sketch: William Franklin, born August 22, 1859, married and resides at home with his father; Charles Theodore, died in infancy.
Adam V. Minich obtained his early education at the public schools and was reared to farm labor, and taught habits of frugality and industry. He lingered beneath the parental roof until twenty-four years of age, at which time he began to farm independently in Haddon township, remaining there until the autumn of 1903, when he moved to Sullivan. He still owns his farm, which is a part of the old homestead. In Sullivan, he has erected a commodious and modern styled residence, at the corner of Section and Johnson streets. While residing in the town, he still operates his farm, in which he takes much interest. Politically, he is a firm believer in Democratic policies and platforms. He was elected on this ticket in the fall of 1902 as treasurer of Sullivan county, taking his seat January 1, 1904, and serving four years. He has never been a candidate for any other public office. He is numbered with the Masonic fraternity, being connected with Carlisle Blue Lodge, No. 3, F. and A. M.; Jerusalem Chapter, No. 81, of Sullivan, and the Council of the same place. He is also counted among the brotherhood of the Modern Woodmen of America, at Carlisle, Lodge No. 3332.
November 17, 1881, he was united in marriage to Ollie M. Collins, a native of Haddon township, born July 8, 1857, daughter of J. O. and Sarah Watson Collins, the former born in Kentucky and coming to Indiana in his youth, with his father. He died in Haddon township in the latter part of the nineties and Mrs. Collins still lives in that township. Mr. and Mrs. Minich have no children of their own, but adopted a girl named Mabel and raised her to womanhood. She is still with her foster parents and unmarried. She taught school several terms in Haddon township as well as in the graded schools at Farmersburg and Carlisle. Mrs. Minich is one of a family of nine children, six of whom still live. They are as follows: Finley O., residing in Haddon township; Mrs. Minich; Robert, residing on a farm in Tennessee; Dudley Odell, of Haddon township; Eugene L., of Winchester, Tennessee, a hardware merchant; Ora L., unmarried and at home with her mother.