Category Archives: Howard County

Harry Beecher Cottingham

Leave a reply

Harry Beecher Cottingham
b. 10 July 1863, Fort Ollie, Howard County, Indiana, to John Wesley and Margaret (Snider) Cottingham
d. 30 July 1934, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois

m. 2 January 1893, Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana
Etta Elizabeth Newby
b. 28 June 1863, Germantowne, Wayne County, Indiana, to James and Mary Sarah Ann (Sechrist) Newby
d. 14 October 1944, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois

Children with Etta Elizabeth Newby:

  • Florence Louise
  • Blanche Etta

The family lived in Kokomo, Indiana, before emigrating about 1890.

Submitted by:
Steve Hill
Rosselle IL
E-mail: hill55537@cs.com

Sarah F Conner

Leave a reply

Sarah F. Conner
b. 4 May 1835, to Jesse and Ester (Furnas) Conner
d. 1892, Iowa

m. 9 January 1864
William P. Stanley
b. 11 November 1828
d. 12 November 1865, Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana

Children with William P. Stanley:

  • Edward Alphens

Sarah came to Fairfield, Hendricks County, Indiana, on 23 October 1834. She also lived in Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana, before moving to Beech Grove, Marion County, Indiana. She emigrated from Marion County in 1890.

Submitted by:
Joyce E. Hodges
Bonner Springs KS
E-mail: jehodges@moose-mail.com

Lucretia Mable Skinner

Leave a reply

Lucretia Mable Skinner
b. 14 September 1881 at Howard Co., IN, daughter of Johnson Ballou and Sarah (McCoy) Skinner
d. 1 December 1963 at Augusta, GA
bur. Mt. Hope Cemetery, Logansport, Cass Co., IN

Lucretia Skinner

Lucretia Skinner

Lucretia Skinner gravestone

Lucretia Skinner gravestone

m. 20 August 1909 at Logansport, Cass Co., IN
Henry F. Whitmyer
b. 14 June 1874 at Roann, Miami Co., IN, son of Henry and Catharine (Flohr) Whitmyer
d. 29 August 1927 at Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN
bur. Mt. Hope Cemetery, Logansport, Cass Co., IN)

Children with Henry F. Whitmyer:

  • Helena Catherine Whitmyer (22 July 1910–12 August 1972; m. Ralph Sandige)
  • Mary Lucretia Whitmyer (4 May 1912–1 February 1994; m. Lewis W. Robinson Jr.)
  • Boy Whitmyer (23 November 1913–25 November 1913)
  • Elizabeth Evelyn Whitmyer (3 August 1915–4 April 1923)
  • Lois Caroline Whitmyer (30 September 1917–6 Feburary 2001; m. Warren J. Jones Jr.)
  • Alice Louise Whitmyer (22 September 1921–30 March 2003; m. Bernard Bobal)

Submitted by:
Kathy Jones Stickney
Ormond Beach, FL
Kstickney2@cfl.rr.com

Henry F Whitmyer

Leave a reply

Henry F. Whitmyer
b. 14 June 1874 at Roann, Miami Co., IN, son of Henry and Catherine (Flohr) Whitmyer
d. 29 August 1927 at Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN
bur. Mt. Hope Cemetery, Logansport, Cass Co., IN

Henry Whitmyer

Henry Whitmyer

Henry Whitmyer gravestone

Henry Whitmyer gravestone

m. 20 August 1909 at Logansport, Cass Co., IN
Lucretia Mable Skinner, daughter of Johnson Ballou and Sarah (McCoy) Skinner
b. 14 September 1881 at Howard Co., IN
d. 1 September 1963 at Augusta GA
bur. Mt. Hope Cemetery, Logansport, Cass Co., IN

Children with Lucretia Mable Skinner:

  • Helena Catherine Whitmyer (22 July 1910–12 August 1972; m. Ralph Sandige)
  • Mary Lucretia Whitmyer (4 May 1912–1 February 1994; m. Lewis W. Robinson Jr.)
  • Boy Whitmyer (23 November 1913–25 November 1913)
  • Elizabeth Evelyn Whitmyer (3 August 1915–4 April 1923)
  • Lois Caroline Whitmyer (30 September 1917–6 Feburary 2001; m. Warren J. Jones Jr.)
  • Alice Louise Whitmyer (22 September 1921–30 March 2003; m. Bernard Bobal)

Submitted by:
Kathy Jones Stickney
Ormond Beach, FL
Kstickney2@cfl.rr.com

Edward Walker Osburn

Leave a reply

Rev. Edward Walker Osburn
b. 24 June 1854, Rush County, Indiana, to Harmon and Elizabeth (Packard) Osburn
d. 4 November 1931, St. Joseph, Missouri
bur. Crownland Cemetery, Noblesville, Indiana

Edward Osburn

Edward Osburn

m/1. 13 May 1885, Noblesville, Indiana
Florence Hobson
b. 7 October 1866, Columbus, Indiana, to Absolom and Mary Jane (Foster) Hobson
d. 22 March 1899, Greentown, Indiana
bur. Crown Point Cemetery, Kokomo, Howard, Indiana

m/2. 1 January 1901
Elsie Hard
b. 4 August 1876, Wadsworth, Ohio
d. 1955, Jacksonville, Florida

Children with Florence Hobson:

  • Mabel Meredith (1886-1982) married Foss Smith
  • Orah (1888-1890)
  • Paul Taylor (1890-1892)
  • Ita Crystal (1892-1893)
  • Edward Foss (1894-1969) married Vivian Combacker
  • Esther Florence (1896-1983) married (1) Harry Homer Fowler, (2) Frederick Charles Boehm

Children with Elsie Hard:

  • Kenneth Forest (1902-1902)
  • Herbert Corwin (1905-1945) married Katherine Gabriel Brown
  • Ruth Miriam (1908-2000) married Walter George Norris

Edward Walker Osburn was the youngest of nine children born to Harmon and Elizabeth “Eliza” Jane (Packard) Osburn. He was educated at Indiana Asbury (now DePauw) University and Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Illinois. He was admitted to the North Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1881, ordained Deacon in 1883, and Elder 1885. He married Florence “Fannie” Hobson in 1885 and she died of tuberculosis in 1899. Three of their six children lived to adulthood.

Between 1884 and 1896, Edward served as pastor of churches in Noblesville, Greentown, Jolietville, and Bunker Hill, Indiana. From 1896 to 1899 he was pastor of the St. Charles Avenue M. E. Church in New Orleans, Louisiana. Following a period of grieving from the loss of his wife, he served in Wadsworth, Ohio. There he met his second wife, Elsie Hard, with whom he had three children. In the following years, he served congregations in Texas, Alabama, and Missouri.

He retired to Florida in 1913. Edward was taken ill in St. Joseph, Missouri while attending a conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was hospitalized and later died on 4 November 1931. His body was returned to Noblesville, Indiana and he was buried there at Crownland Cemetery.

Submitted by:
Alexander Blair Smith
Simsbury, CT
E-mail: alexsmith17131@gmail.com

Francis Patrick Carr

Leave a reply

Francis Patrick Carr
b. 12 January 1907, Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana, to Patrick J. and Blanche Eve (Record) Carr
d. 26 January 1980, Houston, Texas

m/1. 30 November 1930, Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana
Madge A. Oden
b. 24 May 1912 Miami County, Indiana, to Walter and Margaret Maude (David) Oden
d. 25 November 1986, Fulton County Indiana

m/2. 21 May 1954
Effie Lee Newton

Children with Madge A. Oden:

  • Patricia Armilda “Patsy” (b. 1931)
  • Mary Catherine (b. 1934)
  • Johannah Kay (b. 1939)

Francis Carr’s father, Patrick Joseph Carr, was born in Ireland and came to Kokomo, Indiana, from Trenton, New Jersey, in the late 1800’s to open the Great Western Pottery and later the Kokomo Sanitary Pottery. He came as the kiln man boss. He married Blanche E. Record in 1905, and they had two children Francis and Agnes.

Francis was educated in public and parochial schools of Kokomo, Indiana, and graduated from Jasper College/Academy in Jasper, Indiana, in 1925. After graduating, he worked at the Hoosier Iron Works. There he became associated with the International iron Moulders of North America. In 1929 he was employed by the Continental Steel Corporation. He was an active organizer of the Steel Workers of Kokomo and ran for City Councilman in 1938.

He moved his family to Houston Texas sometime around 1942 and was employed by the Sheffield Steel Company. He returned to Kokomo, Indiana, around 1947 because his wife was unhappy. He divorced in 1948 and moved in with his mother Blanche and sister Agnes, working as a waiter at Ko-San Luncheon which was owned by his mother. He returned to Houston Texas sometime after 1950 and worked as a guard for a security company. He married Effie Lee Newton on May 21, 1954. They had no children. Around 1955 he was out of work again so he moved to Lafayette, Louisiana to work as a plant manager for a small manufacturing company. In 1957 the plant was downsized and he returned to Houston to look for employment but then went back to Lafayette to open a car wash financed by his mother Blanche. The car wash was unsuccessful and after it closed, he and Effie moved to Arizona briefly. He eventually moved back to Houston where he took a job as a security field director until his death on January 26, 1980. He is buried in Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery.

Submitted by:
Kathy Anne Coppola
Kokomo IN
E-mail: kcoppola@iuk.edu

John W. Simmons

8 Replies

John W. Simmons
b. June 1873, Sharpsville, Tipton County, Indiana, to John T. and Edith (Crousore) Simmons
d. 15 September 1909, The Philippine Islands

m. about 30 June 1903, The Philippine Islands
Antonina Del Rosario
b. about 1874, The Philippine Islands
d. 1943, The Philippine Islands

Children with Antonina Del Rosario:

  • James W. (1902-1941 married Sergia Beltrano
  • Goldie (1904-bet. 1985-1993)
  • Idadel (b. 1906)
  • John W., Jr. (1908-1943)

The Simmons family arrived in Indiana during the mid-to-late 1840’s. James M. and Hester Jane (Moore) Simmons settled in Howard County, Indiana, where their eldest son John T. Simmons married Edith Crousore, the daughter of Jacob and Anny (Ice) Crousore, in 1849. The couple had eleven children, the youngest of whom was John W. Simmons. John and Edith moved to near Sharpsville, Tipton County, Indiana, in 1867. John was born there in 1873. His mother died in 1877 and his father in 1909. John headed west sometime prior to 1898.

John W. was a resident of Washington when the Spanish-American War erupted in 1898. He enlisted as a private in Company C of the 1st Washington Volunteer Infantry at Camp John R. Rogers near Tacoma on 1 May 1898. The regiment was sent to Manila, The Philippines, in late October. The unit saw action throughout the first half of 1899 before returning to the States in August and being mustered out on 32 October 1899.

John re-enlisted and was serving with the U.S. Army Hospital Corps at Fort Vancouver in June of 1900. By November of that year, he was back in Manila.

During his first tour, Pvt. Simmons met Antonina Del Rosario and the couple was reunited upon his return. The couple married and had five children. One son, a twin to eldest son James, died at birth.

John W. died in September 1909, a little more than a month after his father passed away back home in Sharpsville. Antonina remarried a friend of her late husband and spent a few years living in Nebraska. After the marriage failed, she returned to The Philippines. Her youngest son, John, Jr., died fighting for the Philippine Resistance against the Japanese during WWII.

Although John W. Simmons never returned to the States, several of his grandchildren and greatgrandchildren did. They immigrated in 1977 and have made John’s homeland their own.

Submitted by:
Terry D. Prall
Arcadia FL
E-mail: tprall@desoto.net

Hugh C. Byers

Leave a reply

HUGH C. BYERS
b. 12 August 1897, Tipton, Tipton County, Indiana, to Arthur Fay and Roxie May (Lee) Byers
d. 19 October 1968, San Diego, San Diego County, California

m. 21 December 1921, Ludington, Mason County, Michigan
Ruth Elizabeth Moran
b. 2 April 1901, Ludington, Mason County, Michigan
d. 28 March 1986, Romoland, San Diego County, California

Children with Ruth Elizabeth Moran:

  • Richard
  • Robert
  • John
  • Roxielee
  • Raymond

Hugh lived in Tipton, Tipton County, and Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana, before emigrating in 1920.

Submitted by:
Roxielee Ogilvie
Riverside CA

William Townsend

Leave a reply

William Townsend
b. 14 February 1832, Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana
d. 1907, Neosho Falls, Woodson County, Kansas

m. about 1869, Kentucky
Elizabeth (Murphy) Harness
b. 18 April 1846, Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky
d. 11 January 1911, Neosho Falls, Woodson County, Kansas

Children with Elizabeth (Murphy) Harness:

  • Charles E. (1870-1935)
  • Orah E. (b. ca. 1872)
  • Elvira Jane (1873-1947)
  • William Cooper, Jr. (b. ca. 1880)
  • Anna B. (1884-1942)
  • Ira (1887-1962)

William and Elizabeth had twin girls, born about 1889, who died soon after birth. William Cooper, a farmer, took his family by covered wagon from Indiana to Kansas, arriving in Neosho Falls on Christmas Day 1883. The wagon was drawn by two pair of oxen, of which Buck and Bright were his favorite pair. Horses were not used to pull such wagons because they required too much food, and mules were often too difficult to handle.

Submitted by:
Mary F. Peek McBride
Huntsville AL

Margaret E Saxon

Leave a reply

Margaret E “Maggie” Saxon
b. 28 November 1882, Howard County, Indiana, to Samuel and Caroline (Thomas) Saxon
d. after 1974

m. 23 December 1900, Howard County, Indiana
Pearl Burgan

Children with Pearl Burgan:

  • Ralph Burgan

Margaret resided in Howard County, and Noblesville, Hamilton County, Indiana. She moved before 1924 to Detroit, Michigan.

Submitted by:
Dawne Slater-Putt
Huntertown IN
E-mail: dslaterput@aol.com