"HISTORY OF GREENE AND SULLIVAN COUNTIES, STATE OF INDIANA, FROM THE EARLIEST TIME TO
THE PRESENT; TOGETHER WITH INTERESTING BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, REMINISCENCES, NOTES,
ETC." CHICAGO: GOODSPEED BROS. & CO.,  PUBLISHERS. 1884.

SULLIVAN CO., INDIANA CURRY TWP.

PAGE 765

C. B. BOLINGER, farmer, P. O. Shelburn, was born in Mason County, Ky., September 9,
1849, son of W. H. and Victory (Close) Bolinger;  he was born in Mason County, Ky., in
1821; she is France, coming to this county when quite young.  In 1864, the father came
to Hamilton Township, Sullivan County, Ind., where he has since resided, a farmer by
occupation.  Our subject was early educated in his native county, but completed his
studies at Farmersburg, and in 1872 turned his attention to farming.  In 1873, he made
a trip West, passing through the States of Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas;
returning, he located at Shelburn and clerked for two years, after which time he
rented a farm in Curry Township for six years.  He then purchased and settled upon his
present place, 240 acres, and has become identified as one of the most worthy and
industrious farmers of Sullivan County, and being largely interested in live stock,
shipping his first carload in 1879, since which time he has been doing a business of
about $40,000 per year.  He was married in Vigo County, Ind., February 11, 1874, to
Miss Barbara E. Sparks, daughter of George W. and Sarah (Hodges) Sparks.  Mrs.
Bolinger died in 1879, leaving two children-- Daisie G.  and Mattie C.  He is an I. O.
O. F. and a stanch Republican.

			Bolinger, Herschel V.
	       A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans
written and compiled by William E. Connelley, published in 1918.

Herschel V. Bolinger. The assistant cashier of the Home National Bank,
Herschel V. Bolinger, of Caney, is by inheritance and training well
equipped for his responsible position. He comes of a family given to
valuable and practical accomplishment, particularly in the line of
agricultural effort, which has resided in this country for many
generations. Since leaving the schoolroom Mr. Bolinger has been
connected with financial institutions, and at Caney has also been
identified with railroad affairs and with civic duties.

Herschel V. Bolinger was born at Shelburn, Sullivan County, Indiana,
March 19, 1884, and is a son of W. T. and Arpy (Curry) Bolinger. The
Bolinger family originated in Germany, from whence the founder came to
the United States at an early date in this country's history and took
up his residence in Pennsylvania, from which state members of the
family made their way south and west. The branch to which Herschel
V. Bolinger belongs drifted to Kentucky, where, near Maysville, Mason
County, W. T. Bolinger was born in 1851. He was given his early
education in his native place until he was fourteen years of age, at
which time he accompanied his parents to Shelburn, Indiana, in the
vicinity of which town his father had purchased a farm. On starting
his independent career, W. T. Bolinger adopted the vocation of
farming, which he followed throughout his career, accumulating a good
property in Sullivan County, Indiana, before coming west in 1912 to
locate at Caney. Mr. Bolinger has been an industrious man who has made
his efforts count and whose good management has resulted in his
becoming the owner of a satisfying competence. In his political views
he is a republican, but has never been a politician. His religious
faith makes him a Baptist, and fraternally he is an Odd Fellow,
belonging to the Encampment at Shelburn, Indiana, and the Caney Camp
No. 323. Mr. Bolinger married Miss Arpy Curry, who was born near
Shelburn, Indiana, in 1861, and they are the parents of three
children, namely: Herschel V., of this notice; Flossie, who is the
wife of A. D. Hunt, connected with the Cudahy Refining Company, at
Coffeyville, Kansas; and Gladys, who is a freshman at Caney High
School.

After securing his early training in the public schools of Shelburn,
Indiana, Herschel V. Bolinger furthered his training by attending the
Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute. Later, he took a special
course at the State Normal School, at Danville, Indiana, which
institution he left in 1904 to accept the position of bookkeeper with
the First National Bank of Shelburn. Later he was advanced to
assistant cashier, a position which he held for three years, or until
going to Copan, Oklahoma, as cashier of the Bank of Copan, a post
which he occupied for over a year. Mr. Bolinger came to Caney, Kansas,
in 1908, to become secretary of the Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, an
office which he still retains. In 1915 be entered the employ of the
Home National Bank of Caney, in the capacity of assistant cashier,
which position he still retains. He also has various other interests,
among which may be enumerated the Panama Crude Oil Company, of which
he is secretary. Mr. Bolinger may be said to be somewhat of a
departure from the long accepted type of banker, having a degree of
adaptability and public spirit seldom associated with his prototype of
some years ago. He relieves the arid and unchangeable routine of his
labor with participation in business, politics and society, in all of
which he wields a sane and progressive influence. Politically a
stalwart republican, he has taken an active part in civic affairs, and
has served as a member of the city council of Caney and in other
offices. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Caney Lodge No. 324,
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Caney Lodge No. 1215, Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, in both of which he is very popular. In
1910 he was united in marriage with Miss Lutic Porter, daughter of
S. M. Porter, a sketch of whose career will be found elsewhere in this
volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Bolinger there has been born one son: Billie
Porter, born June 6, 1914.

William H. Bolinger, the grandfather of Herschel V. Bolinger, was born
in Pennsylvania, in 1821, and as a young man went to Maysville,
Kentucky, where he became a pioneer farmer. There he made his home and
followed his vocation until 1865, when he took his family to Shelburn,
Indiana, and that vicinity continued to be his home until his death in
1904. In politics he was at first a whig and later a republican, and
wielded some influence in his home community. Mr. Bolinger married
Miss Victoria Close, who was born in France, and died at Shelburn,
Indiana, and they became the parents of six children, as follows:
John, who is engaged in farming in Sullivan County, Indiana; J. Sam,
who also carries on agricultural pursuits near Shelburn; Charles, who
is president of the First National Bank of Shelburn and has large
farming and stockraising interests; Nettie, who is the widow of G. All
and resides at Terre Haute, Indiana; W. T., the father of Herschel
V. Bolinger; and Fred, who resides at Shelburn, Indiana, and is a
farmer.