Lester Touby Kurtz

 (1914-2011)

Lester was a favorite cousin of the Touby girls.  His mother, Alice Leora Touby, "Aunt Allie," married John Harley Kurtz.  They had three children, Dorothy Jennette, Lester Touby and Geneva Agnes.  Jennette was a school teacher and was Virginia's teacher one year.  (I can't imagine having a cousin as a teacher!)  My mother remembers how much fun it was when she and her sisters got together with their cousins.
 

Lester, Jennette and Agnes

Lester graduated from Howard Township High School and then from Purdue University.  He married Frances Sinnamon in 1940 and made their home in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where he had begun as a graduate assistant in the Department of Agronomy in 1938.  He completed his PhD in 1943 and was made full professor in 1951.  Lester was known by his middle name "Touby" among colleagues and friends.  Most of his career was in research on soil-plant fertilizer interactions.  Among his contemporary soil scientists, he was best known as co-originator with Roger Bray of the "P-1" test.  This test became the accepted rapid chemical procedure in soil testing laboratories of the North Central Region of the US and is still widely used in many areas.  

He was a Guggenheim Fellow with the USDA, a Senior Fullbright Fellow in Australia and a Lady Davis Fellow at the Israeli Institute of Technology, and in addition worked with the Tenessee Valley Authority, USAID in Sierra Leone, and advised and taught in the People's Republic of China.  He retired from U of I in 1982 after a long and distinguished career.  

Lester and Frances

Peace and Plenty

1847 "Peace and Plenty" Coverlet 

written by Virginia Touby Coan

Winifred Bishop, her son Mike Bishop, Virginia Touby Coan, May Lovejoy Loop, Bess Touby Lovejoy (?)

The early woven Jacquard coverlet belonged to the Locke Family.   My great-grandfather, Elias Locke (1821-1891) came with his wife Sarah Ann Brown Locke (1824-1907) and two small children in 1849 from Preble County, Ohio, to settle on a claim in Howard County, Indiana, near the small village of Kokomo.  Here they established their home and raised their family of nine children.  My grandfather, George Luther Locke (1856-1938) was the sixth of seven sons and two daughters.  It is uncertain if the coverlet came with them from Ohio, or if it was acquired later from an itinerate professional weaver.  My mother, Elsie Locke Touby, recalled that each of her father George's siblings owned a woven coverlet of similar pattern.  Although this is not documented, it has been verified through conversations with family members.  In 1983, two of the Locke coverlets were shown, along with two early cane bottom chairs which had belonged to my great-grandparents, Elias and Sarah, in an exhibit of "Early Quilts, Coverlets and Rugs," held in the Kokomo Public Library.  My second cousin, Madeleine Holt, granddaughter of Abraham Locke (grandfather George's brother), and I were the exhibitors of the coverlets.  

Jacquard looms were introduced in America in the 1820s.  Professional weavers had come from Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and France.  Many had settled in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.  Most of the weavers were men.  The looms were large and it took great strength to operate them.  Women often brought their home-dyed wool to the professional weaver to be made into coverlets.  There were patterns and samples in the shop to choose from, and the weaver would select a border and often add a signature corner block.  D. Arnold may have been the weaver of the Locke coverlets.  He often used the "Peace and Plenty" corner block.
      Virginia Touby Coan

Growing up on Liberty Grove Farm

Dave, Jane, Arthur, Virginia, Nancy and Elizabeth.

We (David, Jane, Nancy and Elizabeth) were the fourth generation of our family to live on Liberty Grove Farm.  We have written records, deeds, documents, and family photographs that bear witness to our history there.  Before our family settled in that spot, the Miami Indians occupied the land.  Only artifacts remain and we wish we knew the stories behind each one.  There were baskets of arrowheads and other carved stones that had been gathered by our great grandparents.  I remember when they were divided among all the cousins.  These are the ones that came to me...probably by drawing straws so that it would be fair.  Fairness was a revered virtue in our family.  They intrigue me.  They could not all have come from our land; some of the stones are not native to the area.  Were they traded?  Were they bounty?  We don't know.  But the abundance of stones found on the land does speak to the desirability of settling there.  It is fertile ground.  Each spring when Dad would go out to plow, more would surface.  He said they glinted in the sun.  He had a sharp eye and could spot anything...fox tracks in the snow, or the slightest movement of a bobber on the water, for example. 

Peter Hersleb was an early settler in Howard County.  Miami Indian territory eventually ceded to settlement by way of treaty.  This is a document from our family's archives.  I had always thought that the Hersleb deed was the original Land Grant document to our property: Howard County: Liberty Township (Twp. 24): NW quarter of section 20.  The Hersleb deed describes the SW quadrant of section 30 of Liberty Township.

We have several deeds and quit claims to properties, all in succession, and it makes me wonder if it was customary to transfer documents from one owner to the next.  If that is the case, did we at one time own the property in the SW quarter of section 30?  That will take more research.

In 1891 the estate of Elias Locke was settled and on 14 April 1891, the 100 acres he owned was purchased from the heirs by George Locke and his two sisters Louisa Reid and Laura Locke.  This was the South side of the NW quarter of section 20, Twp. 24 for $5000.  On 6 June 1896 Louisa and Laura sold their share of 33.3 acres to George for $1.  On 19 August 1903 60 acres, the North side of the NW quarter of section was purchased from Simon and Catherine Troyer of Ohio for $4200.  That completed the 160 acres that today comprise the farm our great grandparents, George and Settie Locke settled on and where they built a fine two-story home.

George Locke, cigar in hand

Generation 1:
Settie (Graf) and George Locke

George and Settie had two children, Ross and Elsie.

Generation 2:
Philip Roscoe "Ross" and Elsie Locke

Elsie married Emmett Touby and they had five daughters.  Virginia, the fourth daughter, married Arthur Coan and they returned to the farm where they raised their four children

Generation 3:
Virginia (Touby) and Arthur Coan with David (Spring 1948)

Generation 4:
David, Jane, Nancy and Elizabeth - Christmas 1958

Arthur and Virginia's 50th wedding anniversary, June 1996

So, what was it like growing up on the farm?  We could each tell our stories, but one poignant memoir was penned by Elizabeth just following our parents' move from the farm to Greentown.

Dear Daddy,

I can't tell you how many times I have looked through the pictures that I had taken at the farm during the early morning hours when I visited in May.  That day became so busy with packing and moving that I felt I never really had the opportunity to just sit and reflect upon what a truly wonderful home you had provided for each of us children.

I couldn't begin to capture on camera all of the places and things around the farm that brought to mind special memories that I have.  As I walked around that morning I would find myself standing in a place where a rush of emotions would come over me.  Even the sounds of the birds and the breeze through the trees triggered a memory...

  ...climbing in the hayloft and making tunnels in the bales of hay;

discovering a new litter of kittens tucked in amongst the bales;

picking strawberries and enjoying fresh strawberry pie for dinner;

riding with you on the tractor as you made your way up and down the field rows;

delivering ice cold lemonade to you at the fence;

helping Mother prepare meals for all of the farm helpers;

listening to the sounds of the cicadas on a warm summer evening;

raking the leaves into piles to be burned on a cool fall day;

watching the snow from the window seat in my bedroom;

running downstairs on Christmas morning to see what Santa had magically delivered...

I want you to know how much it means to me to have grown up in such a special place.  You and Mother took such pride in the farm home and the land and I am very proud to have called it my childhood home.

You are in my thoughts and prayers as you continue to adjust to your new setting in town.  You and Mother are creating a lovely new home that will provide many happy memories for you and for each of us as well.  The girls and I had such a good visit with you in July and we look forward to many more visits to come.  "No matter what, no matter where, it's always home if love is there."

I love you,
Elizabeth

These are the photos Elizabeth took on the day before our parents moved from the farm into town.

It was a tradition to wave good-bye at the dining room picture window.