Andrew Jackson Lugar
Said Colton: "It is not known where he who invented the plow was born, or where he died; yet he has effected more for the happiness of the world than the whole race of heroes and conquerors that drenched it with tears and saturated it with blood, and whose birth, parentage, and education have been handed down to us with a precision exactly proportionate tot he mischief they have done." Farming is a noble profession and also a very profitable one as conducted by the enterprising men of Grant County, among whom is Andrew Jackson Lugar who has spent all his career in this county, and belongs to one of the oldest of the pioneer families.
The fine estate of Mr. Lugar is located on Section Six of Monroe Township, where he is the owner of two hundred and seventy-eight acres of land. All of this is in cultivation, except twenty acres in timber. near the roadside is his large ten-room house, painted born and erected in 1893. He has a large red barn, forty by sixty feet, erected in 1901, also another barn, erected in 1906, besides a sheep barn, thirty-six by forty feet, and other farm buildings. In 1912 Mr. Lugar produced from his land two thousand bushels of corn, eight hundred bushels of oats, cut forty tons of hay, and sold fifty head of hogs. In 1913 he has on his pasture fifty head of sheep, and specializes in this branch of the livestock industry. He has eleven horses, twenty-eight cattle and sixty hogs. He has been identified with farming and stock raising for many years, and is one of the men who have made a record of exceptional success.
Andrew J. Lugar was born July 8, 1852, in Washington Township of Grant County, a son of Joseph and Mary (Wilson) Lugar, both of whom were natives of Virginia. Joseph Lugar was the son of George Lugar, who in the late twenties settled on Lugar Creek in grant County, and by his own efforts and also with the aid of his family took a very important part in making Grant County, the home of industry and of a high class of people. Joseph Lugar, the father, died in 1854, and reared a family of eleven children. The family record is given in more detail in a sketch of Joseph Lugar, printed elsewhere in this work.
Andrew J. Lugar as a boy attended the district schools of Washington Township. He is one of the few men still living who spent a portion of their youth in an old log school house. He recalls that the old structure he attended when a boy was of the primitive type, had a rough floor, a poorly lighted interior and crude furnishings, while the instruction was of the type usually called the Three R's. His father was one of the largest land holders and most prosperous farmers in the county, and acquired about twelve hundred acres of land. The son Andrew lived at home until he was about twenty-six years of age, and then began for himself by farming his mother's land on shares for three years. In 1881 he made his first purchase of one hundred and seventy acres of partially cleared land, and without any buildings on it. This original purchase is a portion of the estate above described, and has been improved in a remarkable manner since he first became owner of it. He paid twenty-five dollars an acre for land that is now worth one hundred and fifty dollars, and a large part of its value has been conferred by his own management and hard labor. He has added four additional tract to his first purchase, making his present estate one of two hundred and seventy acres.
Mr. Lugar was united in marriage in 1877 to Mary Emery, daughter of John Emery, one of the old settlers of Grant County. Mrs. Lugar died in 1891, leaving three children, namely:
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James, a farmer in Michigan.
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Andrew, a telegraph operator in Chicago.
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Mrs. Isabelle Speaights, living on the home farm.
In 1893, Mr. Lugar married for his second wife, Norah Morrison, a daughter of Joseph Morrison, of Van Buren Township. The children of this marriage number five, namely:
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Joseph O., who is a bookkeeper in Van Buren.
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Dolly, at home.
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William Hobart, a student in the high school.
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Lelah, at home.
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Ruth, at home.
Mr. Lugar is a Republican in politics, and is affiliated with the Landessville Lodge of Odd Fellows. In November, 1912, Mr. Lugar suffered the loss of his right hand, which was caught in a corn shredder.
Source: Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914, page 1013-14.