Those Places Thursday: Rockville Road Barber Shop

My maternal grandparents, Lawrence and Fern (Newby) Runyan moved around a lot. Before they were married they both lived in Henry Co., Indiana. After they were married they lived in Marion Co., then Delaware Co., then back to Henry Co., and finally back to Marion Co. again. And that's just what I see in the census. My mother told me of other moves that weren't recorded by the census!

The photo below is of my brothers and I in front of the Barber shop next to the house my grandparents lived in on Rockville road in Indianapolis. It was the last place they lived before moving to Florida to be with us.

Terry (Bob), Lisa, and Mike Wallen August 1953
In front of the Barber shop - corner Rockville Rd./Lynhurst Dr.
Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana

You can barely see in the upper left, the typical barber's pole on the side of the building. The candy striped cement post I am sitting on is one of many that went along the entire store front. There is an alley in front of us between the house and barber shop where my mother is standing to take this photo.

Here's a second photo of just my brothers from a little better angle to see the shop front and the line of cement posts. Brother Mikey would never let loose of that cigar box, he carried it everywhere!

Mike and Terry (Bob) Wallen August 1953
In front of the Barber shop - corner Rockville Rd./Lynhurst Dr.
Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana

This last picture shows my grandparents house and the barber shop as they look today. It was a big disappointment. Progress is ugly.

Their house is now an income tax company and the barber shop is a law office. The house was truly unrecognizable. The front porch has been enclosed and painted that ugly green, there's a large addition to the back of the house that wasn't there, siding has been added, and they've done something to the side where the windows were. The cute little back yard with the garden lined path back to Grandad's tool shed is now a parking lot. You can still see the old barber shop cement posts, now plain white, in this photo and the store front glass looks the same as in the photos above. This building hasn't changed all that much.

Old Rockville road Runyan residence and barber shop building today via Google Earth

That house was were my first, and maybe only, memories of what a basement smells like came from. I loved it and I'll never forget that smell. It was dark, damp, and cool down there, something you northerners take for granted, but a rare experience if you grew up in Florida. My grandmother caught a turquoise blue parakeet in the back yard here. She named him Sassy because he bit her fingers. Then she gave him to us and we had him for a long time.

After my grandparents moved to Florida, true to form, they changed residences at least three or four times, maybe more!

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Newby Farmhouse Restoration, Post-Tornado

In yesterday's blog post I told about the tornado that ransacked my great grandparent's farm in Spiceland, Indiana the night my mother, Janet Runyan, was born. Mom related the events to me many times, just as she had been told them by her mother and her grandparents, Charles and Ida (Trowbridge) Newby. The photos included in that post are the main witness to the extent of the damage inflicted on the house and it's surroundings.

Charles Lee Newby was a carpenter by trade so he took to making repairs right away. He also made a few improvements by enclosing the second story side balcony and enlarging the shed so he could park his car and buggy under roof.  He also had to build a brand new barn due to the complete destruction of the old one. Below are the photos of the finished work.

My great grandparents, grandparents, Aunt Lela, and great aunts and uncles on the front porch of the newly reconstructed farmhouse.

A more distant view including the enlarged shed/garage. My great grandfather Charles leaning on his car, and my grandfather Lawrence Runyan and his daughter, my aunt Lela standing in the doorway.

A front view of the shed/garage with the new barn behind it in the distance

In May of 1999 my mother and I made a week long trip to Kentucky and Indiana. Once in Indiana we went looking for her grandparent's home. We didn't have any trouble finding it and we both recognized it as soon as we saw it through the trees. I had seen the photos so often that I had no doubt, this was it. My mother insisted we drive up the lane to the house to meet the owners. I was mortified! I didn't like dropping in on strangers unannounced! But Mom insisted. As we drove up and got out of the car we were greeted by the owners of the home, and when they found out who my mother was they invited us on a tour of the house. They were as excited to meet us as we were to be there! This young couple, who had five children if I remember correctly, had not owned the house long and they were in the process of restoring it to it's original blueprint. They asked my mother question after question. She pointed here and there, remembering a closet, a table, a furnace. We went upstairs. Her grandparents bedroom was there, the room she was never allowed in as a child. Mom told me she remembered looking from the doorway and seeing the stand  where my great grandmother kept the big Bible where all the family names and events are recorded. The very same Bible which is now in my possession!

When we finally left the couple, we exchanged addresses and over the years they wrote to my mother with all the new details of family and house restoration. I sent them all the old photos of the house and in exchange they sent me a 2 inch stack of papers of all the legal transactions from the house and land, the earliest being a warranty deed dated January 2nd 1832, and noting that: "The west half of the northeast quarter of section 20, township 16, range 10 east, was entered April 14th, 1824 by Thomas Maudlin as noted on page 23 of the entry book of lands in Henry County, Indiana, and according to the original survey contains 80 acres".

The most obvious renovation to the house was the return of the second story balcony that my great grandfather closed in when he made the repairs after the tornado. The photos below are more recent photos and reflect how the house looks today.

About 2004, 80 years after the tornado

The second story balcony is back, and this time with a stairway all to itself!

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Mom was "Born in a Tornado" - Indiana 1924

"I was born in a tornado"...at least that's how my mother told it. My mother, Janet Runyan, was born in a hospital on the evening of June 8, 1924 in New Castle, Indiana. A tornado hit the area that night and her grandparent's farmhouse in nearby Spiceland was partially destroyed. Below is a series of photos of the home taken pre-tornado and after the damage.

Pre-tornado (note the balcony on the side)

Roof torn off, balcony railing gone, considerable damage

A view from where the barn stood, looking at the shed and side of house

Another view of the damaged shed

Surveying the damage

Tree damage. What tree?

My mother said she was told they later found a chicken feather embedded in a tree so deep it couldn't be pulled out. Imagine that! She said her mother told her there were chickens with their feathers blown backwards and the feathers remained like that until the chickens molted. Hmmmm...

The Spiceland farmhouse was rebuilt, with improvements, by my maternal great grandfather, Charles Lee Newby. I'll post those photos tomorrow.

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Amanuensis Monday: Will of Francis Toms 1633-1712

Francis Toms Sr. was my maternal 8th great grandfather and part of my Quaker heritage. In 1689 his daughter Mary Toms, married Gabriel Newby, son of William and Isabel (Turner) Newby. My Newby ancestors finally daughter out with my maternal grandmother, Mary Fern (Newby) Runyan. 

Detailed Toms genealogy is contained in The Batchelor-Williams Families and Related Lines by Lyle Keith Williams, Fort Worth, Texas, 1976. According to Williams, "Francis Toms 'who came into Virginia about 1649' and was 'age 77 in 1710,' lived about nine years in Martin's Brandon on the South Side of James River (Charles City County, now Prince George County). He then moved to the adjoining county of Surry about 1660, and in 1669 moved to North Carolina. He was among the earliest settlers of Albemarle County, North Carolina. He and his family were accepted in the Society of Friends in 1672".

Friends Meeting House New Garden, NC 1869

The Will of Francis Toms Sr.

Perquomons In No Carolina ye 6th Day of ye 10 Month 1709 I Francis Tomes Snr being of a Sound mind & memory considering ye Uncertainty of this life Doe make & ordain this my last will & testament In manner & forme as followeth Vizt My will is that my estate Shall not be brought to an apraisemt but shall be distributed according to my will att ye Discretion of my Executors hereafter named & after my Just Debts are paid. I bequeath my Estate as followeth. I Give to my loving wife Mary Tomes all her waring apparrel Her Sadle Horse Her White pasing mare & her coult To her & her heirs for Ever. I Give to my loving wife all my houshould Goods & both Iron Brass peuter & other necessaries belonging To us Keeping that Steds Cuboards Chears Chests. I Give unto my loving wife three feather beds with what furniture is belonging to them During her natural Life for her Service & for ye Service of Gods people Messengers & Ministers that he Send amongst us wch feather beds to be keept in ye porch Chamber for Gods Messengers & Ministers to Lodge In & my sd wife Shall not Imbasel nor Sell away of ye Said Goods out of ye house nor of ye plantation for they Doe belong to my Son Francis Tomes & his heirs for to keep up ye truth for ye Honour of God as I have done before him too End of Time. I Give unto my Loving wife Eight Cows & Calves by their Side, foure Stear & one bull & ten sows & six Hillable Barrows & Six yewes & one Ram all which my Executors shall leave In ye hands of my Loving wife for her Sustenance & maintanace During her Natural life. I Give unto my Loving wife this manner house & all ye houses orchards & all ye Clear Ground between Reehers & ye Bridge & So to Thigpens land & Timber for rales or to Repair House or to Build on ye plantation During her natural Life. I Give to my Loving wife my horse mill & my Still & ye two mill horses During her Natural Life. I Give to my loving wife three negroes James, Moll & Pattemore During her natural life. Also Will Plato & Vestaleve till they are free. I Give to my loving wife my Loome & all ye Gores belonging to itt & all my Shoemakers Tools During her natural life. I Give to my wife my Harro & harn hoes & axes weaden hoes hilling Hoes & all other Tools belonging to ye Cropp for her Life. I Give to my son Francis Tomes Six hundred & forty acres of land my negro Sam both to him & his heirs for Ever. I Give to my Son Joshuath Tomes my negroe Mingo to him & his heirs for Ever. I Give to my Son Francis Tomes Six hundred & forty acres of land lying between Reahors land & that as was called Vosses being James Morgins To him & to his lawfully begotten or Shall be ---- of his one body for ever. I Give to my Son Francis Tomes --- fifty acres of land lying on ye sd ---- of Vosse Creak & So running to ye ---- To him & his heirs for Ever. I Give to my Son Joshua Tomes four hundred acres of Land lying on ye -------- to him & his heirs for ever lawfully begotten ------ lawfully to be begotten of his one body for Ever. I --- Give to my three Children namely Francis Tomes Joshua Tomes & Presela Nicholson to each of them one feather bed with furniture that ------- for ye said beds. I Give to my loving Daughter Mary Newby five Shillings for she had her portion when she married Gabriell. I Give to my Grandson Francis Newby Three hundred acres of land lying on the South west of Vosse Creak att ye foot of ye Bridge to him & his heirs for Ever. I Give to my Son Francis & Joshua & Presela Nicholson all ye remaining part of my Estates that Horses & mare Cattle Hoggs & Sheep to be Equally devided between them three ---, my sadle horse Sorrester I Give to Preselo Nicholson & what Debts is Due to me Either att home or abroad to be Devided into four parts one for Francis Tomes one for Joshua Tomes one for my wife one for Presela Nicholson Equally to be Devided between them foure. I Give to my wife my Bible & Isack Penningtons Booke & Francis Kongols (?) Book & ye Bob Witlet (?) Book & a book Called Marage Lost (?). I Give to my loving wife one Third part of all my tand leather & ye rest to be devided as afsd. I Give unto my loving wife one --- & a halfe of barrels with ye H----- belonging to ye Still, but If my loving wife Shall marry or move of ye plantation she shall not any of ye houshould Goods or stock from of ye plantation for Itt belongs to my Son Francis Tomes for him to act & Doe as a afsd to the Honour of God, but my Son Shall not by his one Inheritance but if my wife will stay upon ye plantation She shall not be molested During her Life. I Give to my Son Francis Tomes all my Coopers Tools. I Give to my Son Joshua my Currier knife & Still, but if my Debts Shall be brought Justly against my Estate after it is Devided then my loving wife & all my Three Children Shall pay Equall Shares. I Doe appoint my two Loving Sons Francis Tomes & Joshua Tomes To be my Executors to this my Last will Performed as Witnessed my hand & Seal ye Day & year above Said memorandum that after ye Death of my wife negroe Jane to Francis & Moll to Joshua.

Wittness hereunto-----

WB Francis Tomes

William Boge Mathew N Alberson

John Stepny

Since Itt hath pleased almighty God to take out of this world my Father In law Jno. Nichols my will is that that pt of my Estate I have Given to my Daughter Presilla now wife of Jno Kinsely to be devided ye one half to her ye other half to ye children of her by Jno Kinsely Deceased & my will is that ye windmill now building on ye plantation I live on for ye free hold my wife & Children having ye use thereof She freely for grindeing their familyes Corne helping & paying their portion toward ye keeping & repair & This I Doe declare to be a Codicil to my will.

Witness: 

Fred Jones 

Francis Tomes

Joseph Carron

To this lengthy post I have decided to include an interesting snippit taken from the Greensboro, N.C. Daily News dated Sunday, 9 Aug 1936. It is a quote from Alpheus Briggs' manuscript on Quakerism. A cache of old Quaker Meeting records had recently been discovered in a home once owned by the Lambs and before that, the Newbys; most likely Gabriel and Mary (Toms) Newby, my ancestors, although the article doesn't specify. According to Briggs, the records indicate that the home of Francis Toms Sr. was the original meeting place of the first North Carolina Yearly Meeting.

Greensboro, N.C. Daily News
Sunday, August 9, 1936

In his manuscript, page 11, Briggs writes: "On the 4th day of 4th mo. 1698 at the home of Henry White the Quarterly Meeting by unanimous agreement decide to organize a yearly meeting to be held at this center at the home of Francis Toms the elder." This was no doubt the nearest approach to a beginning to North Carolina Yearly Meeting that any existing records show. "There is hardly any question," Briggs manuscript continues, "but that this quarterly meeting and yearly meeting was 'set up' by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and not by London Yearly Meeting as some have held."

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Military Monday: Pvt. James Alexander Grunden

Pvt. James A. Grunden 1841-1906

James A. Grunden was the son of Joseph and Martha (Dungan) Grunden. He was the brother of my maternal great, great grandmother, Mary Louisa (Grunden) Newby. This photo was in our collection as an "unknown" for many, many years, until I accidentally met my cousin Frances, James's great granddaughter. To my amazement, Frances had a duplicate of this same photo! This discovery was one of the most startling cases of serendipity in my early days of genealogy.

James was a private in Co. B. of the19th Indiana Infantry and a part of the famous "Iron Brigade". His outfit went through the worst: Gettysburg, Antietam, and many other big battles.The Iron Brigade suffered the highest number of battle deaths during the war. 115 men made up Co. B. when they left Richmond, Indiana in 1861 and only 10 of those men returned in 1865. James was one who returned.

James can probably attribute his survival to an accident that happened early in his service. One night while standing guard, his musket accidentally discharged, blowing off the forefinger of his right hand. This wound would prevent him from ever using a musket, so when he returned he was assigned to driving an ambulance. James drove the ambulance for nearly four years.

Some of James's story is told in On Many A Bloody Field: Four Years In The Iron Brigade by Alan D. Gaff. There is another photo of him in uniform on page 364 that was donated to the author by my cousin Frances. Frances had a large oil painting done from that photo which is now proudly displayed in her home.

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The Friday Funnies: Adrift in the Bay

Below is a letter my grandmother, Mary Fern (Newby) Runyan, wrote and stuck in a birthday card to her sister-in-law, Grace Anna (Runyan) Crim on her birthday. At first I didn't know who the letter was to, and I wouldn't have known if my grandmother hadn't put the year at the top and mentioned that the person's birthday coincided with Election Day of that year. All I had to do was Google "Election Day 1964" and up came the date "November 3", Grace's birthday! I suppose Grace's daughter Vera found this among her mother's things and gave it to my mother after Grace died. I am tickled pink that my mother kept it!                                                                  

As I have mentioned before, my grandfather, Lawrence E. Runyan, was an avid fisherman. It was his favorite thing to do as long as I can remember. 

Lawrence E. Runyan and his catch of the day - circa 1954
Trout was 31 & 1/2" long,  and weighed 16 lbs.  

1964

 

Hi: -

     Hope you have a nice Birthday! Every-body's celebrating it - Election Day, ha.

     How have you been? Just today Laurence is acting almost normal. He has done nothing but sleep since he got home - except one day!

     Mr. MacElhaney (our neighbor across the street) bought a new boat while Laurence was gone. a couple of weeks ago they took the boat out on to the Bay.

     The wind was blowing - and the motor conked out! Not another boat in the bay. they tied a white rag to a fishing pole and stuck it up in the boat - no-body paid any attention. they drifted about six hours clear across the bay about ten or twelve miles. They found an old house away off from no-where with two old drunk men in it, one of them drove L. & M. across the bay to the Marina to their car - it was about seven o'clock - (dark) when they got home. The next day they had to go back and get the boat, ha, and since then until today Laurence has been sleeping again, ha. He can get himself into more messes than any-body I ever saw, ha.

     Think he will be O.K. now if he don't go off on another tangent.

                                                           Happy Birthday.

                                                             Love

                                                            Fern & Laurence

Lawrence Everett and Mary Fern (Newby) Runyan - circa 1965

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Wordless Wednesday: Newby - Three Generations

Newby Family

Photo from about 1910 and probably taken on S. Hill St. in Knightstown, Indiana

L to R: Siblings Morris Henry and Mary Fern, their grandparents: John Alby and Julia Ann, and their parents: Ida May and Charles Lee. 
(Julia is second wife of John and not biologically related)

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Tombstone Tuesday: Phoebe Maud Trowbridge

Phoebe Maud Trowbridge

24 Nov 1876 - 6 Jul 1891

Raysville Cemetery, Wayne Twp., Henry Co., Indiana
Photo taken by me in May of 1999

Phoebe Maud was the daughter of John Calvin and Phoebe (Cook) Trowbridge, and sister of my maternal great grandmother, Ida May Newby. Her birth is written in the Memorandum section of  Ida May's Bible. Her death is not mentioned. She was only 14 years old.

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Those Places Thursday: L. P. Newby's Queen Anne

Ancestral home of Leonidas P. Newby, Knightstown, Indiana

This is the ancestral home of my maternal great, great granduncle, Leonidas Perry Newby. It is located on west Main Street in the wonderfully quaint town of Knightstown, Indiana. According to the book "Henry County Interim Report - Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory", this home is an "Italianate/Queen Anne" style and was built in 1882. 

Leonidas's children, Floyd and Florence "Floss", were both born in the late 1870s and they grew up in this home. They both married and had families, but by the 1930 census, nearly the entire family of Leonidas was again living in this home. His wife, his son Floyd and Floyd's wife and one of their two boys, and his daughter, Floss Cooper, now divorced, were all living under his roof. 

In the 1940 census there were only three family members living there, Leonidas - age 85, his wife Mary - age 82, and their daughter, Floss Cooper - age 65. (Floss had one daughter, Mary E., with husband Paul Marsh Cooper, before they divorced, and Mary was married in April of 1930 and living in LaPort, Indiana.)

The current owner of this home is doing research on the house itself, and on the family of Leonidas. She contacted me earlier this week, after finding my blog and the various articles on the Newby family. I think we have both enjoyed the ensuing correspondence.

My mother remembered this home of her great granduncle but didn't remember if she had ever actually been in it. She was much more familiar with L. P.'s son Floyd. Floyd was the family attorney and was employed at different times to take care of family legal matters such as wills and deeds.

There's a fairly recent photo of this home at this link:  http://www.oldluresrock.com/KHS57/KHSBlog/houses/#105WM, 

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Wordless Wednesday: Mary Fern Newby 1916

My maternal grandmother, Mary Fern Newby
1916 - age 23 - Knightstown, Indiana

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COG 116 - Women's History Month: Levina Newby

The Carnival of Genealogy (COG) traditionally honors women in March each year in conjunction with National Women's History Month. The submissions for this month's COG are to start with a photograph of a woman in our family tree and we are to tell either the story of the photo and/or a biography of the woman pictured. I have chosen to tell the story of the photo of my maternal 3rd great grandmother, Levina (Leonard) Newby along with a very short biography. My thanks to Jasia of CREATIVEGENE for hosting this Carnival!

Levina has been one of my brick walls for many, many years. I'd spent hundreds of hours chasing what I thought was the most likely lineage and I thought I had it. I really thought her father was Nathaniel Leonard. Then I got her death certificate and on the back the clerk had typed that her father was "David" and her mother "unknown". Baahh!

Levina (Leonard) Newby 1823-1889

Early in January this year I found a query about this same Leonard family on RootsWeb.com from 2002. I immediately wrote, hoping the woman still had the same e-mail address. I received a reply within 24 hours. My new found cousin Kathy was a descendant of Jacob and Levina through their youngest child Carrie. I was a descendant through their oldest child, John. To my delight, Kathy told me another cousin had given her photographs, not only of Kathy's ancestor Carrie, and her family, but another photo of Carrie's and John's mother Levina! Kathy would send it via e-mail. I was afraid to believe it; I felt like I was holding my breath! Then the e-mail arrived and there was my lovely 3rd great grandmother Levina, looking back at me! The photo was in amazing condition. I couldn't take my eyes off Levina's face, such an interesting, sweet face! Levina and Jacob were Quakers and I thought her dress style reflected that. I was in a euphoria over this photo for quite some time and I will be forever grateful to Kathy for passing it along.

It turned out that the work Kathy had done on Levina's lineage was exactly like mine. Kathy too had concluded that Levina was the daughter of Nathaniel Leonard. I am hoping to get to the courthouse in Newcastle, Indiana to view the original death certificate myself before I make any decisions about starting over completely. It wouldn't be the first time a clerk had made a mistake. However, if the clerk's entry is correct, it's back to a fairly bleak looking drawing board!

Jacob and Levina were married in 1841 in Hancock Co., Indiana and lived the rest of their lives in the neighboring county of Henry. They were the parents of 7 children: John Alby., Elizabeth A., Strother E., Loren Yancy, Leonidas Perry, Frank, and Carrie Elmonta. They are both buried in the old section of Glen Cove Cemetery in Knightstown, Indiana. Her name is spelled LEVINA on the stone, but other records spell it Lavina, Lavinia, etc. In an earlier blog post I wrote about the "miracle" of finding their tombstones when I visited that cemetery back in 1998: Sentimental Sunday: Beyond Serendipity. This unexpected gift of Levina's photograph adds a new dimension to that story!

Written for the 116th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.

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Wordless Wednesday: Cousins - The Summer of '42

Standing L to R: Harold Vanbuskirk (husband of cousin Pearl),
cousin Paul, Morris Newby (uncle of cousin Janet), cousin Vera ,
and cousin Thelma. Kneeling L to R: cousin Pearl,
cousin Janet (my mother),  and cousin Viola. The six cousins are 
grandchildren of Robert Noah and Mary Elizabeth (Darling) Runyan.

 Photo taken in 1942 at the home of my maternal grandparents, Lawrence and Fern (Newby) Runyan, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Sunday's Obituary: Allison Cook Trowbridge 1919

Knightstown Banner, August 8, 1919, pg. 1

Knightstown Banner Obituary
dated August 8, 1919

Al. Trowbridge, aged 51 years, died at the home of his sister, Mrs. Charles Newby, Wednesday morning at 5:30 o'clock, of tuberculosis. Mr. Trowbridge had been ailing for sometime but had been bedfast but two weeks. He was a widower. The funeral will be held from the Newby home Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock conducted by Rev. Addison. Burial at Glencove cemetery.

Allison Trowbridge was my maternal great granduncle, son of John Calvin and Phoebe (Cook) Trowbridge. He was married to Laura Coralinn Delashmit in Rush Co., Indiana on December 6, 1893. Allison and Laura were married almost exactly 11 years and 2 months when Laura died. There were no children from this union.

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Sunday's Obituary: Mary E. (Breckenridge) Newby

Obit: National Road Traveler - February 25, 1950

                          Mrs. L. P. Newby

Mrs. L. P. Newby obit
National Road Traveler
25 Feb 1950

     Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Newby, 92, widow of L. P. Newby of Knightstown, died early Friday in Anderson where she had made her home for the past four months. Mrs. Newby was a native of Henry County and had resided in Knightstown all her life.

     Her husband was a prominent attorney and a world traveler of note and was prominent in Masonic circles, having served as grand commander of the United States of the Knights Templar. Mr. Newby made several trips to the Holy Land.

     Surviving are a son, Floyd Newby, Knightstown attorney; two grandchildren, Lewis P. Newby of California, and Mrs. Elizabeth Williams of Anderson; four great grandchildren and two sisters, Mrs. Julius Thornton of the Masonic Home in Franklin and Mrs. Grace Albertson of Columbus. A daughter, Mrs. Floss Cooper, preceded her in death.

     Services were conducted Monday with burial in Glencove cemetery, Knightstown.

Mary Elizabeth Breckenridge was the daughter of Robert B. and Julia Ann (Swain) Breckenridge and the wife of my maternal great, great granduncle, Leonidas Perry Newby.


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Sunday's Obituary: Leonidas Perry Newby 1945

LEONIDAS PERRY NEWBY DIES: PROMINENT IN MANY FIELDS

     Leonidas Perry Newby, aged 90, prominent citizen of this city, for years identified with the legal profession of the county and throughout the Middle West and active in its commercial life until his retirement 25 years ago, passed away in Indianapolis Thursday, Oct. 25, after an illness of many months. He was known internationally in the fraternal world as former Grand Master of the Knights Templar of the United States.

     He was active in local banking circles, organizing the Citizens National bank of this city in 1888 and served as its president until he retired in recent years. In political faith he was a Republican, and served by appointment first, then election, as prosecutor, of the 18th judicial circuit, composed of Hancock and Henry counties. In 1892 he was elected to the Indiana Senate, and re-elected in 1896, serving with distinction.

     Known throughout his life time as Perry Newby to a host of friends, the deceased was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Newby whose family migrated from North Carolina to Henry county in 1837. Perry was born April 9, 1855, near Lewisville, Ind. In 1872, his family moved to Knightstown. In his youth and throughout his life time his first ambition seems to have been for knowledge. As a small boy he performed janitor's duties in the Greensboro schools, and assisted a neighboring blacksmith, in order that he might attend school, and also assist his father's family of six children, of which he was the youngest boy.

     At the age of 16 young Newby entered the Knightstown schools, and taught school during his high school years to earn expenses, attending school alternately. He was the first student to graduate from Knightstown high school, graduating with honors. He attended Asbury college for some months which is now DePauw university. He studied law in the firm of Butler and Swaim, later with J. Lee Furgason, in this city. He was admitted to the Henry bar in 1872, and after a brief partnership with Walter B. Swaim, in this city, he established his own legal offices. For a brief period he was part owner of a newspaper known as "The Knightstown Shield," but he sold his interest, continuing his active legal practice, and other commercial interests in this city and county. For 50 years he was local attorney for the Pennsylvania railroad.

     In September, 1877, he was united in marriage with Mary Elizabeth Breckenridge. Both Mr. and Mrs. Newby were active in the Methodist church throughout his lifetime. He is survived by his widow, and two children, Mrs. Florence N. Cooper, and Mr. Floyd Newby, of this city; also by two grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

     Funeral services were held at the Carlyle Butcher Funeral home in this city, Sunday afternoon, with the Grand Commandery, Knights Templar in charge, with commanderies of adjoining cities, assisting. Burial took place at Glen Cove cemetery.

     Leonidas Perry Newby was made a Master Mason in Golden Rule lodge No. 16, F. and A. M., of Knightstown, in 1882, starting a career of personal fraternal service and honors in Masonic bodies through the Chapter, Council and Commandery of the York Rite, in which he in turn held all presiding offices which culminated in his election as Grand Master of the Grand Commandery of the United States, Knights Templar, in 1922, and in which capacity he served through 1925. During these years he traveled extensively visiting all provinces within his jurisdiction, the United States, Alaska, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, the Philippines, Hawaii, and Canadian provinces. In addition he toured all the North African states, western Asia and South America. He toured Europe many times.

     Mr. Newby received the honorary 33rd degree of Italy, in 1926, and the Legion of Honor of France and commission as a life officer therein, on March 30, 1926, from the President of France. He was made a commssioner to visit Europe to select the uses to which a $500,000 fund contributed by Knights Templar for European relief during World War No. 1 were to be put. On this trip he traveled with French and Belgian military escort and was at Metz when the armistice was signed.

     For many years he helped support the International Monte Mario Methodist college at Rome, and served as chairman of its board of trustees.

A second, small death notice...

National Road Traveler - November 1, 1945

Obituary of L. P. Newby
National Road Traveler
November 1, 1945

               L. P. Newby

     Leonidas Perry Newby, age 90, widely known Knightstown citizen and internationally known in the Masonic world as a former grand master of the Knights Templar of the United States, died Thursday in a nursing home in Marion county following a long illness.

Leonidas was my maternal great, great granduncle, son of Jacob and Levina (Leonard) Newby. An equally lengthy biography written about him and published in 1906 may be seen here: Amanuensis Monday: Biography of L. P. Newby

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