History of Delaware County Indiana 1881 T.B. Helm Surnames in this biography are: Clancy, Dalrumple, Putnam,Brady, Mellette, Gregory, Todd,                                 ALBERT WORTHINGTON CLANCY          Superintendent of Schools of Delaware County was born in the little village of La Grange, Jefferson Co., Ohio, on the 27th day of January 1848.William Clancy, his father, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and was the youngestof eleven children while his mother, whose maiden name was Permelia Dalrumple, was German antecedents.    Events which had a controlling influence over his later life began to come to our subject at an early age. When he was but three and a half years old, his left hand was accidentally caught in a corn-Sheller, and so badly crushed that amputation above the wrist was rendered necessary; and when he had reached, the age of five years, a shadow crossed the threshold of his home, deeper in its reality and effects than the children, in the simplicity of their childhood,could comprehend. Disease, in. the form of typhoid fever, invaded the household, and within three weeks, father, mother and a brother slept among the dreamless multitude. An older sister, two younger brothers, and Albert, were separated, to occupy homes apart from each other. Albert was taken to the home of a kind old uncle, who lived among the hills and beside the flowing waters ofthe Muskingum River, in Morgan County, Ohio. The subsequent death of his aunt left him again homeless. In the meantime, his grandmother had conceived the plan of re-uniting the children,and had them all in her house excepting Albert; and while he was on his way to join his brothers and sisters, she died. We next find him beside his grandfather’s desolated hearth, under the care of his father’s unmarried sister, whose marriage, at a later day, again broke up the home life. Albert; then became an inmate in the family of an uncle, a Methodist minister, living at Mount Vernon, Ohio. At a later date, his uncle removed from his farm to Mechanicsburg, Ohio, where Albert entered upon a course of study in the graded schools. In a short time,we again find him on the farm, engaged in the work incident to rural life. He possessed a great fondness for horses, and, but for his maimed arm, he might have followed the inclinations of his boyhood and to day have filled the jockey’s role, instead of the honorable position he now occupies. Misfortunes are sometimes misnamed. After a summer spent at Cardington, working in a carding and gristmill, he returned to his country home. During his last summer on the farmin Champaign Co., Ohio he saved from his earnings $100 and, with the money thus accumulated, prepared himself more fully for the profession of teaching. He received his first certificate at London, Madison Co., Ohio, in 1865. While visiting friends near Daleville, Ind, he was induced to remain and teach his first school in Delaware County, receiving his teacher’s license from Frederick E. Putnam, then County Examiner, and was afterward examined by Thomas J. Brady,A. C. Mellette, Ralph S. Gregory and O.M. Todd, respectively. In 1867, while on a journey to the West, he met with another painful accident. In attempting to prevent an insane passenger from escaping,he was thrown from the coach, and, before the train could be stopped, the arm wounded in his childhood was crushed beneath the wheels of the cars. The physician gave him little hope, and his life hung by a thread for several weeks; but a strong constitution and a determined will, aided by skillful medical attendance, finally triumphed, although his arm was amputated at the shoulder. After one summer spent at the National Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, he returned to teach at Daleville, and organized the first graded school in Salem Township. He next became Principal of the Lewis Academy,in Western Iowa, and afterward Principal of the Washington school building at Muncie, which position he occupied with credit and ability for four years. InFebruary 1879, he was elected County Superintendent of Schools, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of O. M. Todd, and in June of the same year was almost unanimously elected to the same office, which he still occupies. His ability and eminent fitness for the position are well expressed by a friend,who says:  He is a born disciplinarian and organizer, and, since his election to this office, the schools have become thoroughly systematized. He has always been a firm friend and advocate of the temperance cause, and the sworn enemy of intemperance in all its forms, practicing his principles in his daily life. He is President of the Temperance Union of Muncie, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for many years a teacher in the Sunday school For fifteen years, he has been connected with the order of Good Templars. For twelve years, he has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias for three years. In politics, he is an ardent Republican, enthuiastic and indefatigable in his efforts for the success of his party; and this enthusiasm extends to any enterprise or under taking in which he engages.  Those who know him best find in him a stanch friend, a man of intelligence and honor, and a true philanthropist.  He loves books, and has a well-selected library at his room on south Walnut Street. His room is his home,and his books are his companions.  He is respected and honored by the community in which he resides, and for whose schools he has accomplished so much.