ROBERT W. TRADER, prominent in the early days in the Wesleyan Back Creek neighborhood, was born in Clinton County, Ohio, June 30, 1828. His grandfather was Arthur Trader, of Virginia. His father was William Trader born in Virginia in 1801, and died in October, 1867, and the mother born in Clinton County, Ohio in 1801 and died in 1855. Robert Trader came to Grant County in 1842, and with the exception of sixteen years spent in Alexandria, Indiana, he has lived in Fairmount Township all his adult life, engaging continuously in farming with the exception of one year he sold merchandise in Fairmount. He cast his first vote for the Free Soil candidates, and when the Republican party was organized in 1856 he supported Gen. John C. Fremont, remaining loyal to this organization until 1884, when he affiliated with the Prohibition party. He was converted in 1848, and became one of the organizers of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Fairmount Township, being a charter member. The denomination held its first meeting, led by Rev. Tharp, in Harvey Davis's home, southwest of Fairmount. The organizers were Harvey Davis and wife, James Lytle and wife, Lindsay Buller and wife, John Buller and wife and Robert Trader and wife. Jane (Davis) Trader, the wife, was born in Madison County, Indiana in 1829, and died May 9, 1862. They were married in February, 1849. Four children were born of this marriage, namely, Harvey, Mariah, Mary and Eunice. The second wife was Phebe Ann Wright, daughter of jesse Wright, and of this union three children were born, namely, Etta, Oscar and Luther. There were no children by the third marriage to Nettie Sater, of Alexandria, Indiana.

The Making of a Township, Being an Account of the Early Settlement and Subsequent Development of Fairmont Township, Grant County, Indiana, 1829-1917, Edgar Baldwin Printing Company, 1917