William C. Belcher, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of William C. Belcher
REV. WILLIAM C. BELCHER was born near Acton, Marion County, Indiana, on May 3, 1865, the son of Christian L. and Harriet A. (Tolen) Belcher, the former of whom was a native of West Virginia and the latter of Lexington, Kentucky. The father was a building contractor by occupation and was engaged in farming also. To the parents of our subject were born nine children, of whom Rev. William Belcher is the sixth in order of birth. The others are: John, Eliza, Lucinda, Kitura, Louisa, Mary, Ann, Harriet A. When seven years of age our subject moved to Indianapolis with his parents, and there attended the public schools until he had attained the age of eighteen. In 1899 they located in Jasper County, Indiana, where he engaged in farming, and was eventually appointed postmaster at Tefft, Indiana, by President Cleveland. He then prepared for the ministry, and was given his first charge at Winamac. He organized the First Baptist Church in Pulaski County, Indiana, and remained there for seven years. He then accepted a pastorate at Dunkirk, where he served one year. His next service was at Kingsbury, Laporte County, where he remained for four years, after which he served in Noble County, Rome City and Kendallville. Other charges were at Marshtown, Fulton County, for five years; Durham, Pulaski County, where he became state missionary for two years; and in 1920 he located in Valparaiso. He is now retired after many years of service dedicated to his sacred calling. During these years he attained wide notice as a forceful preacher, especially in evangelical work.
He was united in marriage with Emma, daughter of Joseph and Clarissa (Hill) Turner, the former a native of Mercer County, Kentucky, and the latter of Cicero, Indiana. Mrs. Belcher is also an ordained minister of the Baptist Church and held charges at Mt. Olivet Church at Winamac, Marshtown, Roan, Wolcott and Rome City for a period of twenty years. She also served as president of the B. Y. P. U. and the W. C. T. U. To their marriage were born three children : Joseph, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Columbia City, Indiana; Christian, a minister at Selby, South Dakota; Charity, the wife of Bruce E. Tow, of Columbia, Missouri.
Reverend Belcher has been a life-long Democrat and was nominated on that ticket in 1926 for the office of county assessor of Porter County. He had also previously received the nomination for township trustee of Wayne Township during the war period, but with the rest of his ticket went down to defeat. He is a member of the Masonic Order, and has always taken a good citizen's part in the shaping of the destiny of this community.
Source: Cannon, Thomas H., H. H. Loring, and Charles J. Robb. 1927. History of the Lake and Calumet Region of Indiana Embracing the Counties of Lake, Porter and Laporte. Volume II. Indianapolis, Indiana: Historians' Association. 827 p.
Page(s) in Source: 222-223
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