Douglas Dobbins
Douglas Dobbins,
Ex-County
superintendent of Schools was
born in Shelby County, July 27, i860, the son of Hugh and Clarissa
(Miner) Dobbins. The father was born in Virginia in 181 3, and
at an early age accompanied his parents to Indiana, the family settling in
Shelby County about the year 1822, having been among
the first pioneers. Mrs. Dobbins was born in Delaware County,
New York and came to this county in 1856 or '57. Mr. Dobbins
was raised on a farm and obtained a rudimentary education in the
common school's of the county. He made rapid progress in his
various studies and at the early age of thirteen was sufficiently advanced to obtain a teacher's license, although he did not engage in
school work until several years later. His first experience as an
instructor was in 1878, from which date until 1883, he was regularly employed in the schools of the county, earning the reputation
of an able and painstaking teacher in the meantime. In the latter
year he was chosen Superintendent of the Shelby County Public
Schools, the duties of which he discharged until 1887, having
been re-elected in 1885. As a teacher Mr. Dobbins has been very
successful and possesses in a marked degree the traits of character
which insure his success and popularity. He is prominently identified with the I. O. O. F. fraternity, and politically supports the
principles of the Democratic party. December 24, 1885, he married Miss Lena
Smith, daughter of H. H. Smith, of Indianapolis a
union blessed with one child, Jessie.
History of Shelby County, Indiana, Brant & Fuller, 1887,
"Shelbyville Sketches," pages 479.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
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