USA > Indiana > Grant County > Centennial history of Grant County, Indiana, 1812 to 1912 : compiled from records of the Grant county historical society, archives of the county, data of personal interviews, and other authentic sources of local information > Part 55
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When 1912 went into history the names of Mrs. Sylvia Eversole and Lewis Landess of Van Buren; Mrs. Sarah B. Riley of Washington ; Mrs. Mary E. Simons of Pleasant ; Jeremiah Stricler of Richland: John Pearson of Sims; G. H. Heironomus of Franklin ; Mrs. Lucy Moores, .A. B. Dillon, Jehu P. Andrew, Mrs. Mary A. Gardner, and Mrs. Elvira Patterson of Center: David Odum of Jefferson; Asa Bond and Hugh A. Dickey of Liberty; Mrs. Mary bynas of Green and Thomas B. Rush of Mill, had been stricken off the list, death having intervened and yet ten years earlier well informed citizens said there were not lifty octogenarians in the county. The intervening mortuary records contain many names of well known pioneers, and in the decade there must have been live hundred octogenarians enrolled in the county. Twenty-one octogenarians
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of 1912 belonged to that inner circle of nonogenarians, and a member of others dated back to 1823, only lacking one year of ninety.
There have been a mimber of persons who passed the century mile- stone in the county, and the writer remembers frequently seeing Grand mother Chopson, of Liberty, who died at H10 years. One year before the octogenarian list was published William Cook, of Franklin, died December 31, 1902, when JJune 20 of the following year would have been his centenary birthday. The writer visited Mr. Cook just a short
AN OCTOGENARIAN
time before he died, and wrote of him at the time: "He is as white haired as the driven snow, bis locks are long and silken, and as one looks into his faded face it surely may be said of him that he is in the sere and yellow leaf of his existence. He remembers some of the older business houses about the public square. Looking into the face of the old patriarch, one is reminded : 'Once a man and twice a child,' although he still waits upon himself shaves and dresses himself all of the time, and aside from having the food placed on his plate he helps himself at table. His hands are withered and thin, and contrasting them with a full, round pahn, one sees what one hundred years will do for a man," and he was the oldest man with whom the writer ever engaged
OCTOGENARIANS WHO CAME TO THE FIRST MEETING, SEPTEMBER 1, 1903
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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY
in conversation. He was the man who planted an orchard when he was fifty, saying that if he did not get the benefit others would, and he lived longer than the orchard.
In January, 1903, this item was written: "On December 31 the county's oldest citizen died in the person of the venerable William Cook, of the Maple Ron neighborhood, in Franklin . ul arlier in the year occurred the death of David Wall, one of the pioneer m Monroe, who always had a fund of reminiscences of the days when the wolves were howling through the wilderness, and of the life in the cabin homes. One by one they are disappearing -- " and there were many others who had crossed the century mark-had entered the Twentieth century, who died before the octogenarian list was published. The fifth ammal meet- ing of the Octogenarian (lub was held in 1907 at the Soldiers' Home, upon invitation of Governor G. W. Steele, all others being held in Matter Park, where at the sixth annual meeting the old people demonstrated to the largest crowd ever assembled at a raisin' in the county, that they had not forgotten their cunning and built the cabin, Angust 18, 1908, although it was two weeks later that it was "under lock and key, " a number of persons coming again and working on the job. It was con- eeded by all to be the largest crowd ever assembled in Matter Park, the park cars that day carrying 10,393 passengers beside all who walked, came in carriages, automobiles, ete., and horses were hitched along the road a mile from the center of attraction.
While it is impossible to enumerale all who donated willing service "Silver and gold have I none, Init such as I have give I unto thee," there was a cabin fund nucleus carried over from a collection for incidental expenses at the fourth annual meeting when " Rolinda, " who promoted the meetings, first suggested the building of the cabin, and two years later it was a reality. Money was collected at the Soldiers' Home meet- ing, and from that day on the writer would solicit from octogenarians and those descended from pioneer families, George Strange of Monroe, who with his wife were the oldest bridal pair, being the first man asked for a definite subscription, and younger persons were asked to subscribe in the names of pioneers. Thus many are commemorated who had passed from earth many years ago. The cabin fund contributors are: George and Lydia Strange, John and Arminta Shields, William Morehead (Mrs. Sarah Morehead), Sammel Campbell ( Mrs. Sarah Campbell, Eli Thomas. Jolm and Sarah Ratliff, Peter Eshelman. Mrs. C. F. Mather (George and Nancy M. White), Jason Willson, George Webster, Jr. (George W. and Maria J. Webster). Robert Seeley (Mrs. Angeline Sedley). Sammel and Mary Ann Elliott, Mrs. H. N. Parks (David and Sarah Shockey ), Mrs. Mary. Wade ( Henry Wade), Daughters of John Seerist ) , J. P. Campbell ( Charles Campbell), Mrs. Martha Wilson James M. Wilson), R. L. W. (Mrs. Sallie Whitson and Mrs. Sallie Jay ). R. J. Spencer (Jacob and Eleanor Spencer), E. P. MeClure (Samuel and Susannah Metlure), Mrs. Hannah Marks, Sons of David and Sarah Wall), Children (Joseph and Melinda Kirk), L. M. Whisler (Jacob and Welthy Ann Whisler), Hezekiah Miller and Mrs. Melinda Goodykoontz (Mrs. Elizabeth Chopson), Mrs. Philip Matter ( Mrs. Catherine Harter), Mrs. I. M. Cox ( Robert HI. and Priscilla B. Lenfesty ). G. A. II. Shideler (Aaron and Hannah Shideler and Elias and Jeannette Eviston), Mrs. Martha E. Goldthait (Cimon Goldthait), Mrs. Teresa Neal William Neal), G. B. and Nora M. Goodykoontz ( Abram and Margaret Goody- koontz and Joseph J. and Mary Marty, Mrs. W. C. Smith (Simon and Lucy Cary), Mrs. B. C. Dale (James and Amn Vermilyen Sweetser). Mrs. W. E. Willouts (Theodrick and Elizabeth Johnson). Dr. M. T. Shively (Dr. James S. and Harriet M Shively., A. J. Feighner ( Adam
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.
and Sarah Feighner), Daughters of ( Dr. Stephen D and Matilda Ayres), David S. Hogin (Mrs. Mary E. Hogin, Beroni C. and Nancy R. login), J. b. Barley ( Henry and Mary Barley ), Joseph Atkinson, William P. and Anna M. Roush (Isaac and Mary Roush and Thomas and Mary Lucasi, Children (Sammuel R. and Martha M. Thompson ), Judge Hirant Brownlee (Judge John and Mary 1. Brownlee), L. C. and Lizzie Beshore (Peter and Mary Beshore and A. F. and Margaret St. Johns, S. G. Bald- win ( Thomas and Lydia Baldwin), Rev. Stephen D. and Catherine Fite, J. M. Buchanan ( Alexander and Julia Buchanan and Frederick aud Catherine Eltaroth). James W. and Mary J. Anthony ( William and Clarinda Anthony and Jefferson and Emmaranda Pugh), Woodson S. Marshall (Riley and Elizabeth Marshall), A. Y. Stout (John and ('atherin Stout), Mrs. Mary R. Relfe and Mrs. Anna Payne cJohn and
ROLINDA AT THE QUARTER AND HALF CENTURY MARK
Jane Buller, Mrs. Margaret Van Vactor (Joseph Van Vactor), William M. and Frances A. Ward (Jeremiah and Bethena Ward and Jeremiah B. and Catherine Stebbins), William Woolen, Nixon and Cynthia Winslow (Thomas and Martha Winslow and Denny and Polly Jay), John and Harriet M. Selby (Otho and Jane Selby and Joseph B. and Mary E. Allen), Walker and Martha Winslow, F. M. Wagoner & William Wagoner and Nancy Eobosley), Isaac and Anna Parks (Silas and Sarah Parks and Thomas and Elizabeth Hamilton). Mrs. Ursula Lemon ( Jan's and Sarah Clark), E. W. Crevision ( Daniel and Sarah A. Crevision). Mrs. W. W. Reed (Samuel and Hannah Malcom), Mrs. Il D. Thomas (James and Minerva Thomas), Family ( William and Sarah Niceum lays), Smiley M. Farr, Mrs. Rae MeMillan Morris (Alexander D. and Narcissa MeMillan ), Edgar M. Baldwin ( Daniel and Christian Baldwin, Wilbur S. Yates ( Mrs. Sarah Peebles). Eli Coggeshall : Nathan and Gulie C'oggeshall ,, Joseph and Sarah Middlesworth. Mebael Futred ( Michael and Mary Futrell). James Crow, Col. J. F. Stretch James A. and Jane A. Stretch), M. L. Lewis, A. M. Cravens ( Mrs. Leah Cravens), Philip
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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY
Matter, Mrs. Susannah Priest and Mrs. Mary Lenfesty (James and Pris- cilla Dunn), Mrs. Catharine Clunk (I. F. Chunk), Mrs. Mary Ann Weiner, Rev. and Mrs. T. C. Neal (Theo. J. and Elizabeth B. Neal and Joseph L. and Magdalena Pireley), Christian lafe (Mrs. Ruth An Life), Eli A. Arnett (Mrs. Hanmah Andrew Arnett), William Stevens, Mrs. Nancy Wiser (S. 12. Wiser), Mrs. Frame Love for William and Emily Wardwell and Mrs. Mary McCormick. Thomas Dan and Daisy Brushwiller Barr ( Daniel and Sarah Jane C'offield. Dean and John and Martha Brushwiller and George and Loviea Donglass), Mrs. Martha Putrell (James M. and Mary E. Pierce), Dr. M. F. Baldwin (Lindsey and Mary A. Baldwin, Mrs. M. E. Swope ( David E. and Sarah Horton), Mrs. N. J. Heh ( Robert and Anna Ellis), Mrs. Lydia An Jones and Mrs. Carrie Jones Dunn (Dr. E. P. Jones. Obadiah and Am Jones ), Jacob II. Fishell. W. R. Collins, Mrs. Lydia. Seegar ( Nathan and Martha Frazier and Martin and Mary Boots), R. L. Lander (Mrs. Elizabeth Lander), Jehu Andrew ( Mrs. Selina Andrew ), James and Bhaira Griffin, 1 .. P. Cubberly ( David and Jane Cubberly ), Children ( William and Jane Roush ). E. L. Goldthait. (Oliver and Ellen Goldthait ), Mrs. Harriet !. Hays ( William Hays), Mrs. Rachel Farr ( Washington Farr and John K. and Ley Hobaugh), O. L. Goldtbait ( Mrs. Doreas Eward ), I. M. Abbott (John M. and Viletta Abbott ), William and Lucy Brandenburg, Rasty and Grace Wilson (JJames and Jane Coulter), Robert MeGibbon ( Hans and Sarah MeGee), Il. D. Carter (George and Mary Carter), Clinton LeFavour, W. E. Mason (Mrs. Anna Mason), Mark Hifisamer, R. B. Boxell, Mrs. Clarkson Willents (Jacob and Sarah Druckmiller), Mrs. Harriet Russell, Mrs. Martha A. Evans, Mrs. Eliza Clayton (JJona- than Clayton), Elilm J. Oren (Jesse and Elizabeth Oren), F. C. Fite (A. J. Fite), Mrs. Jennie Van Vactor (Hezekiah and Rebekah Nelson), Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Marshall (Joshua and Tamar Marshall and Isaiah and Mary Vickery), Lewis and Susannah Hockett (Josiah and Mary Ilockett and William and Phebe Peacock) John and Asenath Seal, Harrison C. McRae ( Calvin and Sarah McRae), Rev. Alinon Greenman, John C. and Catherine Mason, Mrs. Martin Hanmore ( David and Dianah Adamson), Mrs. J. M. Ballard ( Alfred Lomax), Rev. G. P. and Sarah B. Riley.
When this fund was started people were glad to give to it, some sending money in letters and others voluntarily making subscriptions. Thus the Octogenarian Museum in Matter Park is a monument to the civilization of the past. The promotor heard many stories of how all that was necessary was to "go into the woods and fell the trees, " and then sudden recollection --- conditions were different. The project was the subject of frequent street corner conversations among elderly men, Eleazor John, of Green, having made the public statement that there was not a man in the county who could build an old fashioned cabin, and Stephen D. Fite, then an octogenarian, although in his younger days a carpenter and circuit rider, volunteered and became "master cabin builder." It seemed that no one was cutting young timber that year, but finally a deal was made with James Griffin and logs were found along Ingar creek for the walls, and other smaller poles being donated by J. L. Barley, although the hauling from the Jones and Eakins woods in Green was paid for out of the cabin fond. Mr. Barley was cutting timber there, and many poles were hauled a distance of lifteen miles.
When the Griffin timber was selected James Griffin led the way and Mr. Fite selected the trees straight enough for cabin logs, trying always to find trees long enough for two lengths, and the "pencil pusher" from The Leader carried an ax and blazed them for the entiers furnished by Mr. Barley, who also handed the logs to Matter Park. In this connection
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IHISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY
ye seribe wishes to acknowledge the courtesy of W. B. Westlake, who then published The Leader, and who gave him full latitude, or the cabin in Matter Park would have been an impossibility. It afforded exclusive news for the paper, and the public was interested in the proposition. When the day came the people were on the ground carly. Preliminary work had been done the previous day, the venerable John Ratliff locat- ing the corners, and J. L. Barley noiching the first logs, and the day of the "raisin' " all was in readiness. J. W. Hill, a Jonesboro octo genarian, was wielding an ax when the "boss" arrived, and there were a hundred people watching him-and it was early morning. Rolinda was there ahead of Mr. Fite, and when he began giving orders there were old men at all of the corners, although Levi Cravens --- not yet four score --- was the only man who finished his corner. Mr. Hill was relieved after the fourth log was in place, and there were willing hands that day. The spectators thronged so near, however, that the "master cabin builder" had more trouble protecting his men from the crowd than in getting service out of them. When this copy was in readiness five years later, none of the octogenarians who worked on the corners that day were living to tell the story.
It was an easier matter to lind cabin logs than clapboard timber, and the white oak was out on the Frank Van Vactor farm. There were so few frows brought along that the boards were not all rived, and one week later there was a second Trodie when the roof was finished and another week was required in daubing the cracks and hanging the door of the cabin. Every summer the Octogenarian Museum is filled with visitors whenever the door is open, the Goldthait store being host every Sunday during the 1912 park season, and Mrs. Philip Matter had pro- viously caused the door to be open Frequently. A custodian must roumain in charge as there are curios there from many old homesteads, and children visit the cabin in mumubers. Camp meetings were a feature of past history, and the annual gatherings of the octogenarians and their friends afford an opportunity of renewing old acquaintances. They are educational in a way, young people who listen to stories of life among the pioneers gaining a knowledge not found in books. Time was when the octogenarians lived in cabins, and they enjoy returning to the old hearthstone, visitors Frequently saying their cabin life was their happy memory. In some communities sixty years is counted old, but in Grant county almost three hundred persons are "eighty years young."
Until seven ammal meetings had passed George and Lydia Strange, married in 1840, were introduced as the oldest couple in the county, and when they were nonogenarians both died in the same winter. For three years then the honor fell to the Rileys, who were always present, and one year Mother Riley, who always came dressed in white, and who was designated as the "Hower girl" because she always furnished a bouquet, uttered the following sentiment : "I am glad to be here and to meet with those who, like myself, have passed up and ahost down the hill of life into the valley that leads into the 'Great Beyond.' At my age we are apt to feel lonely, to think that our friends have gone and left us here alone. But at these meetings we meet so many of the Dear Old Folks, and it is a great pleasure to us. And with this feeling of pleasure in every heart should come a feeling of gratitude towards the man who made it possible to bring us together. Very few men of the younger generation will do what Mr. Whitson has done for ns. And his untiring and unselfish efforts in this direction deserve our gratitude and our love. I hope to meet you all again in this world, and some time, all of you in the better world beyond," and when she had finished the paper it Doated across to the one she had mentioned in it. No wonder
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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY
Father Riley "stole his bride away" when Ulysses S. Grant, who was a young man in Clermont county, Ohio, at the same time, sought her company.
Mrs. Riley was of poctie mind, writing many stanzas of verse, and a poem of five verses written after she was an octogenarian ends as follows:
"I mourn not for the years that have vanished. And the Future is to me unknown; I'm drawing near to the end of my journey, And a happy welcome home. They tell me I am oldl, and I wonder If they really mean what they say- Lite to me doesn't seem a burden, As I'm plodding along each day."
Mrs. Riley was past ninety when she died, and she always retained her interest in things about her. There are always pleasant associations connected with Old Folks' Day, and Rev. T. C. Neal has frequently added to the pleasure with songs written purposely, his 1912 contribution being entitled : "Be Gay," and the tune: " Marching through Georgia."
1 Let us sing a good old tune, With words just made, to match ; Let us every oue wake up, The jolly spirit catch ; Make it ring and seare away The gloomy old "Sam Patch"; Join in the soul-stirring chorus.
Chorus
Be gay, be gay ! for this is Old Folks' Day ; Be gay, be gay ! and chase dull care away ; Some folks growl, and whine, and fume ; Let's be the other way ; Hlail to the soul-stirring chorus!
2 Why should you go Frowning, With a face a full yard long?
Why be sour and selfish ? Why not sing a cheery song? Why torment your fellows When you might help them along? All join the soul-stirring chorus .-- Cho.
3 Greet Rolinda with a smile, It will not make him mad : Much we owe to him, for he Is this great gath'ring's "dad"; If you don't play happy You will surely wish you had! All join the soul-stirring chorus .- Cho.
In 1909 an effort was made to enroll all the couples in the county who had lived fifty years together and invite them to the Old Folks' Day meeting, and while the list is not so long as the octogenarian list, it is
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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY
a remarkable one. Two lives must be considered and mortality is greater among people at the age of seventy than eighty. When they once cross the dead line- three score and ten years-they take a new lease and live on many years. The 1912 list is sadly changed at the beginning of 1913, and several well known couples were enrolled in 1910 and 1911. At every meeting are well known men and women who enjoyed more than fifty years of sacred companionship with husband or wife, and who are saddened when they see the "Golden" badges, and there are well known octogenarians enrolled in both lists, the 1912 Golden Circle enroll ment being: Gerald P. Riley and Sarah Blair; Samuel T. Pulley and Olivia Pulley; Noah Harris and Nancy Osborn; Hiram Thurman and Sarah Jane Robinson, the foregoing having been married prior to 1850- another decade follows.
From 1850 to 1860 the following were married: James Borock and Ilester Ann Shannon; John Bannister and Mary Treadwell ; Samuel Elliott and Mary Ann Carmichael; Amos Thomas and Emily Presuall; Hugh A. Diekey and Harriet Powell; William Stevens and Mary Cain ; William Wardwell and Emily Darter; Judiah Smithson and Lydia Neal; John Butler and Harriet Wigmore; Thomas E. Rush and Mary Harvey; Mansfield Felton and Matilda Thalls ; Michael Coon and Margaret Love; Ivy Luther and Sarah Stuart ; Bausel Nicholson and Naney Jane Slover; George W. Beall and Amy R. Pearson ; R. M. Hunter and Margaret L. Gill; John Martin and Sarah An Haines; Nelson Thompson and Martha Miller; Sammel Burrier and Mary Tharp; Elias Hiatt and Hannah Hunt ; William B. Pulley and Mary Baker; Thomas J. Parry and Sarah J. Swango; Samuel Martin Grandy and Dianah Purvis; Aaron Lobdell and Catharine MeDaniels; Jolm Pearson and Melissa Moore; John Adams and Clarisa Heaston; Sammel Small and Ruth Marshall; Andrew J. Hays and Mary Ann Roek ; Isaiah M. Cox and Elizabeth Lenfesty ; James S. Renbarger and Amelia An Baird; John A. Cochran and Marena Overman ; John M. Perry and Sarah King; Wilson Carter and Mary L. Baird; Nathan Hill and Emaline Phillips; J. C. Lake and Martha Jane Skinner; Thomas Benbow and Hannah E. Jenkins; Jacob Pouless and Jane Matheny ; W. J. Furnish and Alizina Brady ; Jacob B. Leapley and Almeda Moore; Terah Baldwin and Belle Lucas: William Sniff and Eunice Chidester; George Phillips and Ann Allen; William Fansler and Sarah Jane Michaels; John Furnish and Martha J. Garrison.
Those married in 1860 and later are: Henry J. Davis and Margaret Burson ; Jonathan W. Fowler and Jessie L. Norton , Lewis O. Lloyd and Mary M. Davis; William Bluffton Miller and Jeannette Karns; Sidney Harvey and Jane Thomas; Miles Morris and Maria Druley; August Bollhoefer and Lonisa Wolfe; Jesse Goodwin and Alice A. Shields: Jason Willson and Sabrina Wolfe; Armstrong Scott and Julia A. Sheets; Sylvester R. Fankboner and Jane Small ; James S. Seiberling and Eliza- beth Baughman; Thomas B. Doyle and Margaret Kessinger; Harrison Beck and Eliza A. Wellman; Frank C. Clecland and Martha Hussey ; James II. Shraek and Nancy R. Wilson; James A. Whiteman and Eliza- beth Ammons; JJoseph Harreld and Susannah Bish; Gerard Muchmore and Phoebe Smith ; Seth Thomas and Elizabeth Weesner ; Joseph Fergu- son and Elizabeth Holloway; S. J. Hecklider and Lavina Creager; B. G. Ackerman and Julia Landrey ; David H. Horner and Juha Arn; Edward McNair and Rebekah Ann Weaver; Roland Smith and Mary Hasting; Armstrong Willoughby and Sarah E. Gillespie; Joseph Clouse and Marie Smith; Riley W. Crawford and Mary A. Bingham; James Boswell and Miranda Jones (colored ) ; Andrew J. Baker and Mary Ann Tinkle ; David Shuff and Catharine Bradford; J. C. Planet and Ellen Rhodes ; Rudolph Pulaski and Celia Crockett.
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Like the octogenarian waiting list-there are many suspicious char- arters, and could publication be suspended many names would soon be enrolled, the number that have lived sixty odd years together being much fewer than those who are around the half century mark, Among those at first enrolled were: George Strange and Lydia Dnekwall; W. Il. Nieewanger and Eleanor Douglass; Christian Life and Ann Elliott; Charles Reubarger and Zenith Raypholtz; Peter Gottschall and Polly Druckemiller; Clarkson Willents and Hannah Druckemiller ; James Long and Naney Criswell ; Thomas Myers and Mary E. Thompson ; Matthew S. Friend and Eliza Shull ; John M. Annons and Maria E. Secrist ; John Lytle and Anna E. Stair; John A. Stuckey and Harriet Baker; John Ratliff and Sarah Pearson: Walker Winslow and Martha Newsom, and mayhap others whose names do not reenr at present.
The Octogenarian Club and Golden Wedding Circle are certainly honor rolls in the community, and the question arises -- What shall be the record of the next century of local history? When octogenarians and men and women who have lived half a century together meet, it is retrospeet with them -- they talk of the past. One of the pleasant associa- tions of the cabin in Matter Park so dear to the hearts of all old persons is the Memory Rows in the door yard there. Back of the cabin are three rows of shrubbery -- roses in profusion-more roses than any one woman ean care for -- and all of them are from old homesteads and planted there in memory of pioneers. Mother's rose is there. At the head of Memory Row No. 1 is the Marshall rose, being in direct descent from a rose Mrs. Riley Marshall brought from Virginia with her in 1829 unmistakably the oldest cultivated rose in the county, and planted there by Mrs. W. S. Marshall, wife of the youngest and only remaining son in this pioneer family. When she brought that old fashioned, hundred leaved pink rose into the community, Mrs. Riley Marshall did not know she would ever have a descendant who would be president of the United States senate by virtue of his office as vice president of the United States -- the presidential office a possibility to him-Thomas R. Marshall, who was governor of Indiana when the rose was planted.
The Marshall rose was planted in duplicate -- if one died the other might survive, and both are thrifty as the story is told about them, Next comes the Riley Harmosa, a pink rose From the Clermont county, Ohio, door yard where the couple at the head of the golden wedding list resided before living in Indiana. A soldier friend brought it from the south and Mrs. Riley planted it there in 1863. When the Memory Row was started she sent for a start from it, saying she would rather have it planted in the cabin door yard where some one would vare for it than to plant it at her own home, and every summer Rolinda eut roses from it and carried them to her-a mutual admiration society existing between them. Next to the Riley Harmosa is the Horton rose, planted there by Mrs. "Lib" Horton Swope, whose mother, Mrs. Sarah Horton, who came at first to the octogenarian meetings, had planted it in her door yard near the river on Spencer avenue sixty-five years earlier. The Bandsley rose is next, and at the lower end of the row is a bunch of rhubarb from the "Old Billy Howell," Jay, Whitson, Sutton, Stier family homestead on Deer creek in Liberty, planted there before her death in 1869 by the writer's mother, Mrs. Verlinda Jay Whitson.
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