George Ade: Hoosier, Author, Playwright and Humorist
Early Years
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home when it comes to wearing what you like.
George Ade, "The Modern Fable of the Good Fairy of the Eighth Ward and the Dollar Excursion of the Steam-Fitters," 1901
Author George Ade was born February 9, 1866 in Kentland, Indiana to John and Adaline [Bush] Ade![Portrait of John and Adaline [Bush] Ade standing on a dirt road with a house in the background](images/1.jpg)
. John Ade served as the first County Recorder of newly formed Newton County, which was organized in 1860. He was also a teller at the Discount and Deposit Bank of Kentland, where he became a partner in 1875. Adaline was a homemaker and cared for the couple's seven children: Anna, William, Alice, Joseph, Emma, George, and Ella. George Ade enjoyed a carefree childhood in the small rural community surrounded by family and friends. He was an average student; the high point came his senior year of high school when his essay, "A Basket of Potatoes
," was published in the local newspaper. In 1881, John Ade was faced with a problem when his son graduated from high school; he realized that George had neither the aptitude nor the inclination for farm work. In Newton County, there were few opportunities outside of farming for a young man; college was considered a waste of time and money. One of George's high school teachers urged John to apply for one of the county scholarships that were being offered by the state to boost attendance at the state colleges. Much to the amusement of John’s neighbors, George's application
[which was the only one submitted in Newton County that year] was accepted by Purdue University in West Lafayette. Adaline felt that her son was too young to be that far from home, so George spent an extra year in Kentland High School taking preparatory classes. In the fall of 1883, at the age of seventeen, George Ade boarded a train for West Lafayette and entered Purdue University.
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