John Brodie, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of John Brodie
JOHN BRODIE.
Among the sons of Scotland who have brought with them to this country the sturdy habits of industry and integrity which have ever marked those of that nationality, we are gratified to be able to name John Brodie, who is Director of State Prison North, and a prominent resident of Valparaiso. Age has not laid its dignifying hand upon our subject, but the weight and responsibility of the above mentioned position have been assigned him, because of his peculiar fitness as a man of ability and rare judgment. He was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, November 28, 1854, and when two years of age was brought by his parents to America. They settled near Montreal, Canada, and there the father received his final summons. He was a farmer by occupation. The mother also passed her last days there. They were the parents of six children, two of whom are living: our subject and Eliza who resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba. John Brodie was but ten years of age when his father died, and he was reared on a farm and educated in a log school-house. His scholastic training was rather limited as he did not attend school after reaching the age of ten years. In 1877 he went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and thence to Chicago, where he remained a short time. In 1879 he came to Valparaiso, Indiana, and engaged in railroad contracting, building a part of the Chicago & Grand Trunk R. R. Later he bought a farm near Valparaiso, Indiana, and for the past ten years has been engaged as an agriculturist. He owns 320 acres of land and is one of the county's most substantial and worthy citizens. He was elected a director of the State prison in 1891, and is a man who thoroughly understands his business. For one term he was a member of the City Council. Mr. Brodie has been the carver of his own destiny and has made it an honorable one. Affable in his manners, courteous in his address, firm in his convictions and faithful in his attachments, he is well liked in the community where he makes his home. While it can not positively be said that he is a relative of John Brodie of Dickens' "Nicholas Nickleby," he is a native of Scotland and possesses the honest, rugged, warmhearted traits given that character. Mr. Brodie was married to Mrs. Schenck, and to them were born two children. In politics, he is a Democrat, although liberal in his views.
Source: Goodspeed Brothers. 1894. Pictorial and Biographical Record of La Porte, Porter, Lake and Starke Counties, Indiana. Chicago, Illinois: Goodspeed Brothers. 569 p.
Page(s) in Source: 465-466
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook