Category Archives: Decatur County

Rachel Kenyon Turner

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Rachel Kenyon Turner
b. 14 April 1897, Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, to Rev. James Wesley and Elizabeth (Woodfill) Turner
d. 10 February 1982, Akron, Ohio

m. 17 September 1924, Greensburg, Decatur County, Indiana
Donnell Riggs Shoffner
b. 22 May 1897, Franklin, Johnson County, Indiana
d. 27 January 1966, Port Huron, St. Clair County, Michigan

Children with Donnell Riggs Shoffner:
• Donnell Riggs (b. 1925)
• James Harry (b. 1928)

Rachel lived in Evansville, Indiana, the first few years of her life, then lived in Greensburg until 1924, when she married and moved to Port Huron, Michigan. In 1978, she left Michigan to live with her sons. She was a member of DAR.

Submitted by:
Janet Smith
Bay City MI
E-mail: marinedad2@yahoo.com

Jasper Newton Short

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Jasper Newton Short
b. 29 June 1832, Switzerland County, Indiana, to Joseph and Frances (Cotton) Short
d. 16 July 1918, Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas

m. 23 October 1856 in Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana
Mary Jane Christie
b. 17 September 1837, Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana
d. 16 November 1923, Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas

Children with Mary Jane Christie:
• Charles Preston (1858-1921) married Emma Brady
• Joseph Warren (1859-1938) married Martha Colliver
• James Taylor (1862-1940) married Flora A. Epperson
• Ira Newton (1866-1942) married Mary Popplewell
• Frances Elizabeth “Fannie” (1870-1930) married Justus A. Davis
• Edgar Leroy (1873-1950) married Louie Brothers
• Jeanette “Nettie” (1873-1959) married Edward Spencer Shriver
• Jennie (b. 1880) married William Franklin Smith

Jasper first moved to Ripley County, Indiana, with his parents. After his marriage, he lived near Canaan in Jefferson County and then in Decatur County before moving to Kansas in 1868, where first he moved to Davis County, then to Haskell County, and finally to Sumner County in 1897.

Submitted by:
Richard Shriver
Ft. Wayne IN

Taylor Webster Niccum

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Taylor Webster Niccum
b. 12 February 1837, Decatur County, Indiana, to Jesse Batchelor and Elizabeth (Shaw) Niccum
d. 5 December 1913, Berwick, Nemaha County, Kansas

m. 5 July 1860, Preble County, Ohio
Phoebe Gordon
b. 1834, Preble County, Ohio
d. 6 May 1908, Oneida, Nemaha County, Kansas

Children with Phoebe Gordon:
• John G. (1864-1928)
• Evelyn Narcusus (1871-1936)
• Minta
• Anna Elizabeth (1878-1936) married P.D. Clear

Taylor left Decatur County, Indiana, for Preble County, Ohio, in 1857 with his father after his mother’s death. Before moving to Kansas, he and his wife lived in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, and Fairhaven, Preble County, Ohio.

Submitted by:
Phyllis Clear Feeley
Naperville IL

David Munns

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David Munns
b. 17 January 1831, Decatur County, Indiana, to William and Jane (David) Munns
d. 13 January 1878, Knox County, Missouri

m. 16 January 1856, Knox County, Missouri
Catherine Eleanore Jolliffe
b. 18 September 1835, Indiana, to Raphael and Priscilla (Herrick) Jolliffe
d. 22 October 1914, Cushing, Payne County, Oklahoma

Children with Catherine Eleanore Jolliffe:
• Luella Jane (1857-1881)
• John Milton (1859-1860)
• James Samuel (1861-1910) married (1) Sarah E. Coulson, (2) Anna Emma Gritli “Margaret/Maggie” Forter
• Nancy Priscilla (1863-1882)
• David Silvester (1866-1869)
• Robert Bruce (1869-1950) married Mary Elizabeth McCauley
• Dora May (1871-1960’s) married Mark Branstetter
• William Franklin (1872-1876)
• Sarah Catherine (1874-1875)
• Georgie (1877-1878)

David’s family had lived in Decatur County, Indiana, for nine years before David was born. They left the state about 1838 for Knox County, Missouri. David’s widow and children moved to Payne County, Oklahoma, in the early 1890’s. David and his four brothers were farmers in Knox County, Missouri.

On 29 February 1864, David enlisted in Company E, 21st Missouri Infantry, as a Union soldier. On 25 February 1866, it was said that he deserted at Mobile, Alabama. An act of Congress on 5 July 1884 removed the charge of desertion and gave him an official discharge. David contacted tuberculosis while in the service, but did not die from it until 1878. Six of his ten children also died of tuberculosis.

The marriage between David’s son James and Maggie was a second marriage for both of them; her first husband was Hubert Edward Jurney.

Submitted by:
Cecile N. Beal
Northglenn CO
E-mail: cnbeal@prodigy.net

Mason Robinson Magee

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Mason Robinson Magee
b. 12 April 1814, Madison County, Kentucky, to Henry and Keziah (Newby) Magee
d. 29 April 1884, Harrison County, Missouri

m. 6 October 1836, Decatur County, Indiana
Rebecca Jane Power
b. 4 December 1820
d. 15 July 1883, Harrison County, Missouri

Children with Rebecca Jane Power:
• Evaline
• Evalee
• Martha
• Madison Perry
• Harriett
• Giles
• Mary A.
• James
• Mason
• Albert

Mason came to Indiana about 1832 and lived in Washington Township in Decatur County until leaving the state about 1852.

Submitted by:
Kathleen M. Kinstler
Tigard OR

Thomas Lister

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Thomas Lister
b. 10 January 1810
d. 1 November 1896, Jefferson City, Cole County, Missouri

m. 4 April 1835, Decatur County, Indiana
Martha Patsy Hooten
b. 16 July 1815, Kentucky
d. 7 March 1876, Jefferson City, Cole County, Missouri

Children with Martha Patsy Hooten:
• John Henry (b. 1835) married Sarah Ellen Miller
• William T. (1837-1860) married Mary Jane Kersey
• Nancy Jane (b. 1838) married William S. Perkins
• Elizabeth A. (1839-1845)
• Margaret E. (b. 1843) married James F. Thornberry
• Emily (b. 1843) married James King
• James Henry (1845-1916) married Martha Jane Hopkins
• Louisa (b. 1849) married Daniel Surface
• Squire Irvin (1853-1922) married Sally Hughes
• Frances A. (b. 1855) married Martin P. Bush

Thomas and his brother, John A., moved to the Decatur area in 1832 from somewhere in Kentucky. They purchased land together but a year after Thomas married, he purchased land in Lebanon, Boone County, Indiana. John followed and married in 1840.

Dr. James McWorkman, also a resident of Indiana, asked Thomas to move to Missouri and around 1869, Thomas did so. His brother remained in Indiana. He was a farmer in Jefferson City, Cole County, Missouri, and both he and Martha died there.

Submitted by:
Sharon Gilbert
South Bend IN

Carl Raymond Lemasters

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Carl Raymond Lemasters
b. 23 October 1899, Greensburg, Decatur County, Indiana, to Carl Henry and Rusa Ann (Roberts) Lemasters
d. 28 February 1961, Hackettstown, Warren County, New Jersey

m. 23 October 1923, East Chicago, Lake County, Indiana
Cora Magdeline Eckel
b. 18 April 1903, Oldenburg, Franklin County, Indiana

Children with Cora Magdeline Eckel:
• Carl Edmond (b. 1927)
• Ronald Leon (b. 1929)
• Norbert Gene (1932-1932)
• Norman Daniel (b. 1935)
• Raymond Albert (b. 1942)

The first three children were born in Indiana. Carl then lived in Greensburg, Decatur County; Gary, Lake County; East Chicago, Lake County; and Rushville, Rush County, before emigrating in 1934.

Submitted by:
Raymond Lemasters
Hackettstown NJ

Benjamin Franklin Hord

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Benjamin Franklin Hord
b. 6 January 1820, Kentucky, to William Hord
d. 1855-56, Van Buren County, Iowa

m. 19 April 1846, Decatur County, Indiana
Lydia Minerva Williams
b. 23 May 1827, Decatur County, Indiana, to James Boyd and Hepzibah (Stanton) Williams
d. 22 September 1892, Mt. Pleasant, Henry County, Iowa

Children with Lydia Minerva Williams:
• Trevanian Parker (1847-1852)
• Amanda Virginia (1850-1895) married Asa Guy Lewelling
• Milton Boyd (1855-1935) married Minnie Anna Blythe

Benjamin Franklin was a wagon maker by trade. He immigrated to Indiana by 1846 when he married there. He left Indiana by 1847 for Van Buren County, Iowa. In 1852 he was one of the California gold hunters.

Submitted by:
Jacqueline Frank Strickland
Rockwall TX

Russell Hart

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Russell Hart
b. 26 January 1899, Saltcreek Township, Decatur County, Indiana, to Edward and Ida Belle (Snedeker) Hart
d. 18 August 1982, La Crosse, Wisconsin

m/1.
Cecelia Ryan

m/2. 21 January 1948, La Crosse, Wisconsin
Nina Rippe
b. 20 September 1902, Wisconsin
d. June 1992, La Crosse, Wisconsin

Russell attended New Pennington School for eight years. In his early twenties, he took a job somewhere in the South. It didn’t work out, so he started home on a train, where he met a man from Wisconsin. The man offered him a job repairing cash registers. So, he continued to Wisconsin, eventually having his own business, “Hart’s Cash Registers and Repair Service.” He was an avid hunter and fisherman, with a cabin on the Mississippi River in Minnesota. After retirement, he spent his winters in Florida.

Submitted by:
Patricia L. Lawrence
Greensburg IN

Charles Mullen Gallagher

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Charles Mullen Gallagher
b. 9 July 1869, Greensburg, Decatur County, Indiana, to Hugh D. & Mary Ellen (Keene) Gallagher
d. 20 August 1950, Interior, Jackson County, South Dakota

m. 1890, Interior, Jackson County, South Dakota
Nellie Farnum
b. Jackson County, South Dakota
d. before 1950, Interior, Jackson County, South Dakota

Children with Nellie Farnum:
• Paul (b. ca. 1891-1967)

Charles’ father moved to Indiana from Pennsylvania after 1840 but later moved the family to South Dakota. When the family returned to Indiana in 1891, Charles remained in South Dakota, married, and lived there for the rest of his life.

He served as Treasurer of Jackson County, South Dakota, and Postmaster of Kyle and Interior, South Dakota. At the time of his death in 1950, he was City Treasurer of Interior.

Submitted by:
Jocelyn J. Wickens
Powells Point NC