GEORGE DAVIS COBLE.—An excellent representative of the agri-
cultural interests of Clay county, George D. Coble is also identified with
the horticultural interests of this part of the state, a part of his fine farm,
lying in Perry township, being devoted to the growing of fruits. A man
of fine business ability and integrity, he stands high among the practical
and progressive farmers of his community, and is one of its valued citi-
zens. A son of Thomas Coble, he was born December 23, 1849, in Carroll
county, Ohio, and there spent his boyhood days.
    Thomas Coble was born October 17, 1816, near York, Pennsylvania,
a son of Philip and Margaret (Thorley) Coble, natives of Germany. At
the age of twelve years he moved with his parents to Ohio, and there
lived for many years, .as a farmer earning his living by the sweat of his
brow. Coming to Clay county in 1864, he invested his savings in land
in Perry township, in sections twenty-six and twenty-seven, buying two
hundred and forty acres of land. Industrious and energetic, he labored
with characteristic German thrift to improve a homestead, and was here
prosperously employed in tilling the soil until his death in 1890; He
married Catherine Davis, a daughter of Evan and Mary (McGuire)
Davis, natives of Virginia. She survived him, dying November 27, 1902.
at a ripe old age. Of the nine children born of their union but four are
living, two boys and two girls.
    The fifth child in order of birth of the parental household, George D.
Coble was educated in the public schools of Center Point under the in-
struction of William Travis, being there fitted for a teacher during his
two years of study after coming to this county, in 1864, from Ohio. At
the age of nineteen years he began his professional career in his home
district in Perry township, and taught there seven years, after which he
taught four terms in other parts of the county. Establishing himself as
the head of a household in 1873, Mr. Coble purchased one hundred and
sixty acres of the parental homestead, eighty acres of it being in section
twenty-six, and eighty acres in section twenty-seven. Here he followed
general farming almost exclusively until 1908, when he turned his atten-
tion almost entirely to the culture of fruits of all kinds. In this line of
industry he had previously had encouraging success, for in the fall of
1906 he gathered from his orchard, the largest in this section of Clay
county, his first crop of peaches, which amounted to twelve hundred bush-
els, and also about one thousand bushels of apples. Embarking, therefore,
more extensively in horticultural pursuits, Mr. Coble now has thirty acres
of his land set out to fruit trees, principally peaches and apples, and finds
no trouble in marketing his harvests at a good price.
    On September 4, 1873, Mr. Coble married Hattie A. Brill, who was
born in Vigo county, Indiana March 17, 1855, a daughter of William
Brill. William Brill was born in Lowden county, Virginia, a son of Sam-
uel Brill, who was a native of Virginia. He married Mary H. Johnson,
who was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, where her father, David John-
son, a native of Ireland, lived until after his marriage with Mary Mur-
doch. William Brill came with his wife and family to Indiana in 1853,
and after living for awhile in Perry township, Clay county, bought land
in Riley township, Vigo county, where. for five years he carried on farm-
ing. Selling out then, he returned to Perry township, where he followed
his trade of a carpenter for a number of years, residing here until his
death, February 16, 1899. His wife died several years before he did,
passing away March 9, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Coble are the parents of
three children, namely: Estella May, born June 4, 1875, is the wife of
Howard Huff, of Perry township; Rue L., born May 6, 1881, married
Zoe Bennett, and is a resident of Perry township; and Edsil D., born
June 8, 1888, is a telegraph operator, and lives at home. Politically Mr.
Coble is a steadfast Republican, and religiously he and wife are active
and valued members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was
steward from 1870 until 1897, and of which he has been a trustee since
the erection of the church at Gory. They have two of the old parchment
deeds, one dated October 1, 1835, under the hand and seal of President
Andrew Jackson, and the other dated September 5, 1838, under the hand
of President Martin Van Buren. They are valuable relics and are the
eighth of their kind found in Clay county so far. The estate or homestead
of Mr, and Mrs. Coble is known as “Sunny Side Fruit Farm” and shows
extra care in detail.