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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