John Edgar Hartley, son of James Leonidas Hartley and Josina Weir, was born 7 February 1888 in Prairie Township, Henry County, Indiana. When John had his first cry in this world, he became the only son of James and Josina, and at once the younger brother of nine-year-old sister Emma and seven-year-old Lottie. With four pairs of arms to cradle and care for him, John must never have felt a lack of love.
John was raised on the family farm. Photographs from the early 1900s show that John learned how to keep cattle, sheep, and chickens. He worked in the fields planting and harvesting crops to feed the animals and those who tended them. John felled trees and chopped wood to keep the fires burning during the long, cold winter in Indiana. A box camera snapshot of John standing in waist-deep snow indicates how resilient he must have been.
The knowledge of a farmer gives him a sense of the land beneath his feet. So with that knowledge a place was chosen where to build a two-story bank barn. Such a barn is built with earth banked around it, thus giving ground-level access to the loft and stalls below. In the prime of his youth, John was strong and capable when he set himself to the task. Members of family and his friend Charlie Hamilton all came with hammers and saws and the willingness to construct one of the finest barns in Henry County. They put their nail aprons on and raised a sturdy barn, awe-inspiring to any who have stepped inside and looked up to the beams.
John cried again when in 1904 his sister Lottie died of pulmonary consumption less than five months after giving birth to a baby girl. Lottie had suffered through her sickness for many years. John was 16 years old when his sister left.
In the summer of 1906, the Oakville Band began to organize after a pause of some seven or eight years. Several boys from the rural community joined up, with John offering to play cornet. By early 1908, uniforms and caps were purchased for the musicians. The band played at fairs, campaign rallies, ice cream socials, memorial services and a 4th of July celebration in 1910 in Modoc.
Bertha Alice McCormick. This is the name of John Edgar's sweetheart. She was a corseted beauty when John met her. The daughter of a dark-haired Irish immigrant, Bertha must have seemed a bit exotic. John heard the swishing sound of her starched, white skirt as she came down the stairs. That was it for him. John hitched his horse to a buggy. From the family farm near Springport, Henry County, he drove a good distance north into Delaware County just to see her again and again. How many miles did he travel? How many hours was the journey? He must have thought about Bertha Alice McCormick all the way there and all the way back.
On 11 March 1909, John Edgar Hartley and Miss Bertha Alice McCormick were united in marriage by Clark Crawford, minister of the High Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Muncie, Indiana. The marriage was a quiet ceremony, taking place in the church parsonage at three o'clock. Mrs. Clara Crawford, the minister's wife, signed as witness on the wedding certificate. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford were the parents of composer Ruth Crawford Seeger.
John and Bertha kept their wedding certificate until death did them part. John was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in his older age. In a candid snapshot, Bertha Alice stands beside him. She helps hold him steady by his waist pocket. Their daughter Marcella, barely visible, is behind him. She is the buttress supporting the weight of her father. Like always, Bertha is laughing and John Edgar is smiling.
John, a lifelong farmer, passed away at age 66 on Wednesday, 1 September 1954 in Henry County Hospital after an extended illness. Surviving were his wife Bertha; a daughter Mrs. Marcella Ritchie; a son Loren G. Hartley; a sister Miss Emma Hartley; a niece Hazel Hartley; and five grandchildren. Since 1945, Bertha and John had grieved the loss of their son John Jr. who died suddenly at age 34 of a massive heart attack misdiagnosed as indigestion.
Funeral services were conducted Friday afternoon at 1:30 at the Meeks Mortuary in Muncie, Indiana, by Elder H. E. Boyer of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. John Edgar Hartley was laid to rest in Elm Ridge Cemetery, Muncie, Indiana. Family and friends paid their respects at the mortuary Thursday afternoon.
compiled and contributed by Nancy Jane, member 50502168
21 March 2022
John was raised on the family farm. Photographs from the early 1900s show that John learned how to keep cattle, sheep, and chickens. He worked in the fields planting and harvesting crops to feed the animals and those who tended them. John felled trees and chopped wood to keep the fires burning during the long, cold winter in Indiana. A box camera snapshot of John standing in waist-deep snow indicates how resilient he must have been.
The knowledge of a farmer gives him a sense of the land beneath his feet. So with that knowledge a place was chosen where to build a two-story bank barn. Such a barn is built with earth banked around it, thus giving ground-level access to the loft and stalls below. In the prime of his youth, John was strong and capable when he set himself to the task. Members of family and his friend Charlie Hamilton all came with hammers and saws and the willingness to construct one of the finest barns in Henry County. They put their nail aprons on and raised a sturdy barn, awe-inspiring to any who have stepped inside and looked up to the beams.
John cried again when in 1904 his sister Lottie died of pulmonary consumption less than five months after giving birth to a baby girl. Lottie had suffered through her sickness for many years. John was 16 years old when his sister left.
In the summer of 1906, the Oakville Band began to organize after a pause of some seven or eight years. Several boys from the rural community joined up, with John offering to play cornet. By early 1908, uniforms and caps were purchased for the musicians. The band played at fairs, campaign rallies, ice cream socials, memorial services and a 4th of July celebration in 1910 in Modoc.
Bertha Alice McCormick. This is the name of John Edgar's sweetheart. She was a corseted beauty when John met her. The daughter of a dark-haired Irish immigrant, Bertha must have seemed a bit exotic. John heard the swishing sound of her starched, white skirt as she came down the stairs. That was it for him. John hitched his horse to a buggy. From the family farm near Springport, Henry County, he drove a good distance north into Delaware County just to see her again and again. How many miles did he travel? How many hours was the journey? He must have thought about Bertha Alice McCormick all the way there and all the way back.
On 11 March 1909, John Edgar Hartley and Miss Bertha Alice McCormick were united in marriage by Clark Crawford, minister of the High Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Muncie, Indiana. The marriage was a quiet ceremony, taking place in the church parsonage at three o'clock. Mrs. Clara Crawford, the minister's wife, signed as witness on the wedding certificate. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford were the parents of composer Ruth Crawford Seeger.
John and Bertha kept their wedding certificate until death did them part. John was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in his older age. In a candid snapshot, Bertha Alice stands beside him. She helps hold him steady by his waist pocket. Their daughter Marcella, barely visible, is behind him. She is the buttress supporting the weight of her father. Like always, Bertha is laughing and John Edgar is smiling.
John, a lifelong farmer, passed away at age 66 on Wednesday, 1 September 1954 in Henry County Hospital after an extended illness. Surviving were his wife Bertha; a daughter Mrs. Marcella Ritchie; a son Loren G. Hartley; a sister Miss Emma Hartley; a niece Hazel Hartley; and five grandchildren. Since 1945, Bertha and John had grieved the loss of their son John Jr. who died suddenly at age 34 of a massive heart attack misdiagnosed as indigestion.
Funeral services were conducted Friday afternoon at 1:30 at the Meeks Mortuary in Muncie, Indiana, by Elder H. E. Boyer of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. John Edgar Hartley was laid to rest in Elm Ridge Cemetery, Muncie, Indiana. Family and friends paid their respects at the mortuary Thursday afternoon.
compiled and contributed by Nancy Jane, member 50502168
21 March 2022
John Edgar Hartley, son of James Leonidas Hartley and Josina Weir, was born 7 February 1888 in Prairie Township, Henry County, Indiana. When John had his first cry in this world, he became the only son of James and Josina, and at once the younger brother of nine-year-old sister Emma and seven-year-old Lottie. With four pairs of arms to cradle and care for him, John must never have felt a lack of love.
John was raised on the family farm. Photographs from the early 1900s show that John learned how to keep cattle, sheep, and chickens. He worked in the fields planting and harvesting crops to feed the animals and those who tended them. John felled trees and chopped wood to keep the fires burning during the long, cold winter in Indiana. A box camera snapshot of John standing in waist-deep snow indicates how resilient he must have been.
The knowledge of a farmer gives him a sense of the land beneath his feet. So with that knowledge a place was chosen where to build a two-story bank barn. Such a barn is built with earth banked around it, thus giving ground-level access to the loft and stalls below. In the prime of his youth, John was strong and capable when he set himself to the task. Members of family and his friend Charlie Hamilton all came with hammers and saws and the willingness to construct one of the finest barns in Henry County. They put their nail aprons on and raised a sturdy barn, awe-inspiring to any who have stepped inside and looked up to the beams.
John cried again when in 1904 his sister Lottie died of pulmonary consumption less than five months after giving birth to a baby girl. Lottie had suffered through her sickness for many years. John was 16 years old when his sister left.
In the summer of 1906, the Oakville Band began to organize after a pause of some seven or eight years. Several boys from the rural community joined up, with John offering to play cornet. By early 1908, uniforms and caps were purchased for the musicians. The band played at fairs, campaign rallies, ice cream socials, memorial services and a 4th of July celebration in 1910 in Modoc.
Bertha Alice McCormick. This is the name of John Edgar's sweetheart. She was a corseted beauty when John met her. The daughter of a dark-haired Irish immigrant, Bertha must have seemed a bit exotic. John heard the swishing sound of her starched, white skirt as she came down the stairs. That was it for him. John hitched his horse to a buggy. From the family farm near Springport, Henry County, he drove a good distance north into Delaware County just to see her again and again. How many miles did he travel? How many hours was the journey? He must have thought about Bertha Alice McCormick all the way there and all the way back.
On 11 March 1909, John Edgar Hartley and Miss Bertha Alice McCormick were united in marriage by Clark Crawford, minister of the High Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Muncie, Indiana. The marriage was a quiet ceremony, taking place in the church parsonage at three o'clock. Mrs. Clara Crawford, the minister's wife, signed as witness on the wedding certificate. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford were the parents of composer Ruth Crawford Seeger.
John and Bertha kept their wedding certificate until death did them part. John was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in his older age. In a candid snapshot, Bertha Alice stands beside him. She helps hold him steady by his waist pocket. Their daughter Marcella, barely visible, is behind him. She is the buttress supporting the weight of her father. Like always, Bertha is laughing and John Edgar is smiling.
John, a lifelong farmer, passed away at age 66 on Wednesday, 1 September 1954 in Henry County Hospital after an extended illness. Surviving were his wife Bertha; a daughter Mrs. Marcella Ritchie; a son Loren G. Hartley; a sister Miss Emma Hartley; a niece Hazel Hartley; and five grandchildren. Since 1945, Bertha and John had grieved the loss of their son John Jr. who died suddenly at age 34 of a massive heart attack misdiagnosed as indigestion.
Funeral services were conducted Friday afternoon at 1:30 at the Meeks Mortuary in Muncie, Indiana, by Elder H. E. Boyer of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. John Edgar Hartley was laid to rest in Elm Ridge Cemetery, Muncie, Indiana. Family and friends paid their respects at the mortuary Thursday afternoon.
compiled and contributed by Nancy Jane, member 50502168
21 March 2022
John was raised on the family farm. Photographs from the early 1900s show that John learned how to keep cattle, sheep, and chickens. He worked in the fields planting and harvesting crops to feed the animals and those who tended them. John felled trees and chopped wood to keep the fires burning during the long, cold winter in Indiana. A box camera snapshot of John standing in waist-deep snow indicates how resilient he must have been.
The knowledge of a farmer gives him a sense of the land beneath his feet. So with that knowledge a place was chosen where to build a two-story bank barn. Such a barn is built with earth banked around it, thus giving ground-level access to the loft and stalls below. In the prime of his youth, John was strong and capable when he set himself to the task. Members of family and his friend Charlie Hamilton all came with hammers and saws and the willingness to construct one of the finest barns in Henry County. They put their nail aprons on and raised a sturdy barn, awe-inspiring to any who have stepped inside and looked up to the beams.
John cried again when in 1904 his sister Lottie died of pulmonary consumption less than five months after giving birth to a baby girl. Lottie had suffered through her sickness for many years. John was 16 years old when his sister left.
In the summer of 1906, the Oakville Band began to organize after a pause of some seven or eight years. Several boys from the rural community joined up, with John offering to play cornet. By early 1908, uniforms and caps were purchased for the musicians. The band played at fairs, campaign rallies, ice cream socials, memorial services and a 4th of July celebration in 1910 in Modoc.
Bertha Alice McCormick. This is the name of John Edgar's sweetheart. She was a corseted beauty when John met her. The daughter of a dark-haired Irish immigrant, Bertha must have seemed a bit exotic. John heard the swishing sound of her starched, white skirt as she came down the stairs. That was it for him. John hitched his horse to a buggy. From the family farm near Springport, Henry County, he drove a good distance north into Delaware County just to see her again and again. How many miles did he travel? How many hours was the journey? He must have thought about Bertha Alice McCormick all the way there and all the way back.
On 11 March 1909, John Edgar Hartley and Miss Bertha Alice McCormick were united in marriage by Clark Crawford, minister of the High Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Muncie, Indiana. The marriage was a quiet ceremony, taking place in the church parsonage at three o'clock. Mrs. Clara Crawford, the minister's wife, signed as witness on the wedding certificate. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford were the parents of composer Ruth Crawford Seeger.
John and Bertha kept their wedding certificate until death did them part. John was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in his older age. In a candid snapshot, Bertha Alice stands beside him. She helps hold him steady by his waist pocket. Their daughter Marcella, barely visible, is behind him. She is the buttress supporting the weight of her father. Like always, Bertha is laughing and John Edgar is smiling.
John, a lifelong farmer, passed away at age 66 on Wednesday, 1 September 1954 in Henry County Hospital after an extended illness. Surviving were his wife Bertha; a daughter Mrs. Marcella Ritchie; a son Loren G. Hartley; a sister Miss Emma Hartley; a niece Hazel Hartley; and five grandchildren. Since 1945, Bertha and John had grieved the loss of their son John Jr. who died suddenly at age 34 of a massive heart attack misdiagnosed as indigestion.
Funeral services were conducted Friday afternoon at 1:30 at the Meeks Mortuary in Muncie, Indiana, by Elder H. E. Boyer of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. John Edgar Hartley was laid to rest in Elm Ridge Cemetery, Muncie, Indiana. Family and friends paid their respects at the mortuary Thursday afternoon.
compiled and contributed by Nancy Jane, member 50502168
21 March 2022
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HARTLEY
JOHN E.
1888 -- 1954
BERTHA A.
1889 -- 1960
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