Coyner - John - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

JOHN COYNER, an early pioneer and honored citizen of Kirkpatrick, Montgomery County, Ind., died upon August 20, 1862, but although thirty years have elapsed since he passed away he still lives in the memory of old friends, neighbors and the general public, who knew him as a man of upright principles and unblemished honor. Mr. Coyner was born in Greene County, Ohio, December, 1821, and came with his parents to Clinton County, Ind., when he was but a little lad. In the new home upon the broad prairies of the west a large family of children grew to manhood and womanhood. The father and mother of our subject, Michael and Phoebe (Peterson) Coyner, were the parents of ten children. The brothers and sisters who gathered around the family hearth were: Jacob, who now resides in Clinton County; Mary, now the wife of Benjamin Lovelace (she had five children by her former husbands, Peter Horney and William Crowell); John, our subject, the third child; next in order of birth, Martha, widow of Edward Lovelace, of Clark's Hill; Dill, who now resides in Kansas; Susan, wife of William White, of Boone County; Jane, wife of Jesse Boyd, also of Kansas; William, who is dead, but left a family in Illinois; Martin, who now resides in Clinton County; Melissa, who lives in Chicago, Ill. John Coyner and Mary A. Horney were united in marriage in 1844, and continued to reside in Clinton County about seven years. At the expiration of that time the husband and wife located on the farm where he died and the widow still resides. Mr. Coyner left to the mother's care a family of two children, daughters, who are both married. Rhoda is the wife of William Halsted; Phoebe married Henry C. Shobe. Mr. Coyner was a practical farmer of energy and ability; he had done much to improve the homestead after he took possession of it, but when he died, leaving to the mother's care two little girls, the burden of her widowhood was heavy, but the capable manner in which she handled the estate evidenced her fitness for the trying position. Mrs. Coyner's parents, William and Rhoda (Anderson) Horney, were born in North Carolina, in 1784, and reared there to mature years. They were married in 1806, in the old Tar State. In a short time they located in Ohio, and from there removed to Indiana, where they both died. This worthy old pioneer couple were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as were also Mr. and Mrs. Coyner and their family. Mr. Coyner never was a politician, but he was a stanch Republican and firmly advocated the principles of the party. He was a close observer and an intelligent man, always taking an active interest in public affairs and the general events of the day. In his death the county lost a progressive citizen, and his neighbors missed a true and highly valued friend. Mrs. Coyner is sole survivor of the family of eight children, tenderly reared by her father and mother in the eastern part of Montgomery County. Since 1829, when her parents located there, how wonderful have been the changes in the surrounding country, to the steady growth of which she has been an eye-witness. She has watched the rapid transformation of the scene from the bleak ruggedness of early days to waving fields and smiling villages, all linked together with rails of steel. Although Mrs. Coyner achieved success in her agricultural work, she has now retired from the active management of the farm, and has entrusted the business to Mr. Shobe, who was married to her daughter Phoebe in 1886. Henry C. Shobe is a native of West Virginia, and was born in 1853. His parents were Washington and Rebecca Shobe and were both natives of West Virginia. The father died in 1862, and the courageous and enterprising mother moved with her family to Montgomery County, Ind., where she lived to see her six sons and one daughter grow to mature years. Mr. Shobe is well adapted to do the work he has in hand, and is accomplishing excellent results. Freed from outside duties, Mrs. Coyner now devotes herself to household affairs and has more time for her many friends, who regard her as a noble woman who has done life's work both worthily and well.-- kbz