Millikan

The Oldest Man in the County

/ M. J. McKinley / Leave a comment

When Clark Millikan died in February, 1926, at age 101, he was the oldest man in Hamilton County, IN. He was a little over 2 months shy of his 102nd birthday.

He was the patriarch of the Millikan family in Indiana. He was born in Randolph County, NC on April 12, 1824. His parents were Samuel Millikan (1789-1871) and Sally Clark (1800-1869).

He was married to Nancy Adams in 1851 and they had a daughter, Nancy Angeline (1852-1926). Nancy died soon after Angeline was born. Angeline never married & lived with her father all of her life.

Then in 1855, he married Lydia Hinshaw (1833-1917), who was the daughter of Trustum (1801-1869) and Martha (1799-1871) Hinshaw. Lydia’s parents were from two branches of the proliferative Hinshaw family originally from Ireland.

Clark came to Indiana in 1864 (there’s a story there, to be told later) and his wife and family came up from North Carolina in 1865.

Clark and Lydia had 7 children:

  • Lewis Elwood (1855-1949) my Great-Great Grandfather
  • Unnamed infant born in Nov and died in Dec 1857
  • Florence Ellen (1860-1923)
  • Lunda Martitia (1862-1947)
  • Alice Martha (1864-1926)
  • Anna Florence (1869-1945)
  • Lucetta J. (1875-1878), was 2 years old when she died.

He worked as a farmer, with a thriving dairy farm in Hamilton County, southeast of Sheridan. He started with 80 acres and added 17 more.

So what factors in his life helped to get him to such a ripe old age? I assume he worked hard on the farm and that itself would seem to run a person down. But maybe that just kept him going.

Here’s a picture of him chopping wood at the age of 95!

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Then there are news clippings from his 99th year that say that he “set out 500 sweet potato plants alone and harvested the fall crop without assistance.” (Wabash Plain Dealer, Dec 13, 1923)

His obituary from the Sheridan News (Feb 5, 1926) also states that Clark “had a wholesome philosophy of life and did great good during his long life.”

So maybe it was a combination of hard work and “good living” that got Clark to the milestone of being “the Oldest Man in the County.”

© MJM 2016

80 Years Ago Today…

/ M. J. McKinley / Leave a comment

September 20, 1936, 80 years ago, my grandparents got married!

margloranLoran R McKinley was almost 20 and his bride, Margaret P Millikan had just turned 19 a few days before. Loran was the son of Oscar McKinley and Gertrude Portis. Margaret was the daughter of Arza Millikan and Mary Boone.

They got married in West Elkton, Ohio at the Friends Church at 5 p.m. Loran’s Uncle, Elbert Portis, performed the ceremony. I have no pictures of the wedding or from the wedding day that I know of. There are some snapshots from a trip they made to West Elkton in August 1936. Such a cute young couple!

There is a news clipping announcing the wedding. It mentions that Mr. & Mrs. Myron McKinley (Loran’s brother) were attendants. Listed guests included Margaret’s parents and brother, Clark; Loran’s mother, Gertrude; Uncle Elbert’s wife, Esther & some of her family who lived in West Elkton.

Grandma recorded in her diary from that “big day” that they had a big dinner with 4 cakes!

Also in her diary was a loose piece of paper that looks like the gift list. Some of the gifts they received were: a matching 7 piece water set, cookie jar & jelly dish; a 6 serving glass ware set with plates, pie plates, goblets; salt & pepper shakers, creamer & sugar bowl, 4 cake plates; a wool Indian blanket; a pie plate and medium baking dish; serving tray; pink & white candlewick bedspread; pale blue glass candle holders; mixing bowl; measuring cup; 2 piece juicer; additional cake plates; kitchen utensils; noodle cutter; double boiler; toaster; linens; towels; table lamp; magazine table; tea kettle. They actually got several salt & pepper shakers, a few potato mashers and a couple of egg beaters.

They started their life together in rented rooms in Middletown, OH. Grandpa was working at the American Rolling Mills Company (ARMCO Steel works). He was also training to become an overhead crane operator there.

They had 3 children together, 2 boys and a girl and moved several times through the years throughout central Indiana. They finally settled in Sheridan, IN, which is where Grandma was from.

Margaret also wrote “May I ever keep things as they are now—Happy—Love–etc. & may they ever grow deeper.” Sadly, while they started out happily, Grandma’s wish didn’t completely come true as they were divorced after about 28 years. But without this union, my Dad & his siblings wouldn’t be here to carry on the line through their descendants.

©MJMcK 2016