JESSE C. SHUMAN, Judge of the City Court of Anderson, was one of the oldest active members of the bar of that city, where he practiced for over forty years. Mr. Shuman was a native of Madison Co., IN, having been born on the old Shuman homestead in Fall Creek Tp. His grandfather, Joseph Shuman, came from WV to IN in 1830. At that time only a beginning had been made on the construction of the first one or two pioneer lines of railroad in the United States, and all travel was either overland or by water. The Shuman family drove through with wagons and ox teams, bringing some of their household goods and camping at night and cooking their meals by the roadside. In IN they located in Henry Co., where Joseph secured a tract of land, including the familiar local landmark known as Shuman's Knob, and his body now rests in the Lebanon Cemetery, not far from that eminence. He improved his land and lived on his farm until his death. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Beaty),were parents of 8 children. Their son, Jehu Shuman, was six when the trip was made from WV to IN. He was born Aug. 24, 1824, and grew up in the woods and the frontier conditions of Henry Co. In 1848 he moved to Madison Co. locating in Fall Creek Tp. This was a country where the land had been taken up only in recent years and where the cultivated fields were isolated breaks in the woods. For a few dollars an acre he bought 105 acres of wild land, and put up a two-room house as the first home of the family in the county. One of these rooms was built of logs. Jehu Shuman never served an apprenticeship, but was practically a master of all the mechanical trades in practice at the time. He could shoe a horse or ox, build a wagon, including the iron work as well as the wood, and was thoroughly proficient in all kinds of carpentry. His little home was in the timber, and it was no unusual thing for deer to come into the area of his cultivated fields, and wild turkeys could be found at almost any time. Thus the family had its meat provided at the expense of a brief hunt with a gun. With the assistance of his children, Jehu Shuman improved his farm, put up a good set of farm buildings, doing this work himself, and lived there until his death in Mar. 1896. He married Mary E. Samuels, who was born in NC. Her father, Henry Samuels, brought his family to IN in the early days, likewise moving with wagons and ox teams. He first settled near Pendleton and later moved to Frankton, where he acquired a farm. Mary E. Shuman died Sept. 6, 1892. Her children were Nimrod E., Josina, Henry H., Joseph, Sarah Jane, James A., Jesse C., William D., Harriett E., Jehu, Andrew J., Mary Emeline and Melisse Rosalie. Jesse C. had memories of a boyhood when the conditions of the frontier had not yet disappeared. He recalled seeing his mother cook at the open fireplace, and much of the clothing for the family was homespun and homemade. His father raised a field of flax, which was spun into linen thread, and the wool from the sheep was spun into yarn and made into the clothing for all members of the family. He was taught to work from childhood, and his early lessons were studied by the light of a tallow candle, or in the absence of a candle by the light obtained from a rag burning in a pan of grease. It was a great luxury when the first kerosene lamps were introduced into his community. By the time he was eighteen he had finished his local education and was qualified to teach. He began teaching in Fall Creek Township, and when he was twenty, went to Marion Co. KS, and taught school there 2 years. Teaching gave him the means to enter college and in 1887 he enrolled as a law student in Kansas State University. He was graduated with the LL. B. Degree in 1889 and then returned to Anderson, where he was engaged in the general practice of law for more than 40 years. In 1910 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Madison Co., and by reelection served 4 years. He was elected to the office of judge of the Anderson City Court in Nov., 1929. Judge Shuman cast his first presidential vote for General Hancock in 1880. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias and Improved Order of Red Men. Judge Shuman was married Dec. 12, 1891 to Mary (Wright) Kegerries, a native of IN and daug. of Walter and Hester J. Wright. They have 2 sons, Harry Edward and Roy Dexter. Harry married Lucille Woods and has a daug: Patricia Woods while Ray married Antoinette Doerfein and has a son: Robert.