John E. Comer

            JOHN E. COMER, farmer and stock-raiser, was born in Carroll County, Ind., October 5, 1839, and is the eldest son of William and Phoebe Comer, natives of Ohio, and of German extraction. William Comer was married in Carroll County, made a home, and in 1840, sold the same, came to this (Jasper) county and settled on forty acres in Barclay Township; he afterward lived in this township (Gillam Twp.), and then on the Iroquois River, where he died. He had been a Whig, but became a Republican, and was a licensed minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. John E. Comer, was reared a farmer, and worked on a farm for $10 a month, which he continued until he was twenty-three years old; and he soon, by diligence and care, paid for forty acres and one horse; this was his beginning. June 21, 1863, he married Harriet J. Dunn, born September 26, 1841, a daughter of J.D. Dunn. Six children were the fruition of this marriage, five of whom are living –Presto, Oliver P., Charles, Jacob I. And Nettie. After improving and augmenting his land in Union Township, he sold the same, and in 1874 came to this township (Gillam Twp), locating on his present place, which comprises 280 acres, 150 of which are under cultivation, all made by his thrift and economy; he was for many years a noted and successful hunter, having earned $300 in one winter thereby. Mr. Conner is a solid Republican, and was Justice of the Peace of Union Township; he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Source: Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton, Indiana by F.A. Battey & Co., 1883. Page 571.