ASHER D. HATHAWAY was born June 17, 1838, in Knox county, Ohio, but since his seventh year has been a resident of Whitley county. His ancestors lived in Pennsylvania, of which state his grandfather, Joseph Hathaway, and his father, Thomas, were natives. Joseph Hathaway migrated with his family to Ohio, settling near Mt. Vernon, Knox county, where he died many years ago and it was there that Thomas Hathaway met and married Malinda Mann, who became the mother of twelve children, nine growing to maturity, eight still living.

In 1846 Thomas Hathaway disposed of his interests in Ohio and moved to Whitley county, settling in Cleveland township, where he engaged in farming on leased land, subsequently purchasing a place of his own, on which he spent the remainder of his days, departing this life in 1858, his wife surviving until 1891.

Asher D. Hathaway accompanied his parents on their removal to Indiana and in the woods of Cleveland township experienced many of the vicissitudes of pioneer life. He assisted his father and brothers in cultivating the farm and when not thus engaged spent much of his time in quest of wild game, with which the forests were infested, being an unerring shot and by means of his skill as a huntsman contributing largely to the family's bill of fare. He remained with his father until the latter's death and on attaining his majority began life for himself as a tiller of the soil, which vocation he has continued ever since, meeting with gratifying financial results and becoming the possessor of an excellent farm in Cleveland township, where he now resides.

Mr. Hathaway's place, which contains one hundred and ninety acres of very productive land, eighty acres in Cleveland and the rest in Richland township, is situated about four miles northwest-of South Whitley and is admirably adapted to general agriculture and stock raising, one hundred and fifty-five acres being tillable. A comfortable modern residence is a conspicuous feature of the farm, in addition to which there is a large and commodious barn, one of the best structures of the kind in the locality, the other buildings being in excellent condition, the improvements including a system of tile drainage, by means of which the soil has been greatly benefited and its productiveness increased.

In 1865 Mr. Hathaway married Elmira, daughter of Philip and Maria (Firestone) Carper, natives of Stark county, Ohio, who came to Indiana in 1851 and settled on a farm in Cleveland township, where their respective deaths occurred a number of years later.

Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway have three children: Carrie, wife of Mr. George Kyler, a farmer of Kosciusko county; Alfred, on a farm near South Whitley; and Sylvia, wife of John H. Rider, of Cleveland township, died July 7, 1905. Mr. Hathaway and wife are people of high social standing and enjoy in a marked degree the respect of their many friends and associates. He is an esteemed member of the Odd Fellows, belonging to Springfield Lodge, No. 213. Mrs. Hathaway is identified with the Christian church, manifests an interest in all the activities of the congregation and endeavors to make her life correspond with her profession as an earnest and sincere follower of the Master.

August 12, 1862, Mr. Hathaway enlisted in Company K, Eighty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, First Division, Fourteenth Army Corps, and served until the close of the war. He participated in the battles of Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, took part in the Atlanta campaign and was with Sherman on his march to the sea. He was never wounded or taken prisoner and as the result of his honorable service is a welcome comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic post at South Whitley.

History of Whitley County, Indiana; Samuel P. Kaler, pub. 1907