Terry - Keturah - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Miss Kate Terry, resident of Crawfordsville and the southern portion of Montgomery county for more than fifty years, passed away at the home of her sister Mrs. Missouri Miller in New Market, Thursday afternoon at 4:30. Death was due to uremic poisoning, from which the deceased ha suffered at intervals during the past several months. Miss Terry was born near Christiansburg, Va., September 8, 1844, coming with her family to this county in 1874. She was a woman of sterling character and endeared herself to every one with whom she came in contact. Particularly was she a friend of children. Surviving are four sisters, Mrs. Missouri Miller and Mrs. Nickie Taylor of New Market; Mrs. Lillie Tressle, of Darlington, and Mrs. Dora Curtis, of Terre Haute. She also leaves two brothers, Joe Terry of Ceylon, Minn., and John Terry of Ladoga, besides quite a large number of nieces and nephews. Short funeral services, will be held at the Miller home in New Market Sunday noon. The body then will be taken to Ladoga where other services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday fro the Ladoga Presbyterian church, of which Miss Terry was member since early womanhood. Rev. E. A. Arthur, of Crawfordsville, will be in charge. Interment will be made in the family lot in the Ladoga cemetery.

Keturah Blanche Terry, better known to her people and friends as Katie, or Aunt Kate, was born September 8, 1844, in the village of Childress Store, Virginia, and departed this life January 24th, 1930, in New Market, Indiana. Katie was the daughter of Thomas W. and Susan Terry. Like all Virginians she was exceedingly proud of the state of her birth and often referred affectionately to “The Old Dominion,” the place where she was born. She was also proud of her Bible name, Keturah. Childress Store was situated in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains in the lower Shenandoah Valley and many a child has been charmed by Katie’s stories of her early life in that beautiful country. Sometimes she told of the stirring days of ‘61, when she watched her brothers march away to join Lee’s army, how during the was Union soldiers cane to the Terry home and were treated with kindness, although the family were ‘secesh,” and how later she welcomed her brothers home after the surrender at Appomattox. In the early seventies, following the death of his wife, Thomas Terry moved to Indiana, settling in the vicinity of Ladoga. The family of children was large; money was not plentiful, and Katie went to live in other homes to make her way. The Ashby’s, Harshbarger’s, Huntington’s and other good people of that community received her in their homes. About 1890 she went to Crawfordsville to the home of the late Rev. Thornton D. Fyffe, who had formerly been pastor of the Ladoga Presbyterian church. For the span of an ordinary life-time Katie remained in the home of this Minster, sharing in its joys and sorrows. A bond of affection was created that grew with the years and they loved her as one of the family. And no family ever had a more loyal and devoted friend than they found in Katie Terry. She was loyal, likewise to her own people always solicitous of their welfare and ready to go them in times of trouble. She had a gift for making friends readily and it may be truly said that Katie never met a stranger, while her love for children was boundless. She knew the way to their hearts and they loved her without exception. Katie was deeply religious, She was remarkably well versed in the Scriptures and quoted from them freely in her daily life. She had the ability to offer beautiful prayers and did so as the occasion arose. Early in life she united with the Presbyterian church and for a half century was a faithful member of the Ladago congregation. Although her work called her away for long periods, Katie remained loyal to her old home church, her mite toward its support. And she was always fond of telling now nobly his same church came to her aid when she suffered a serious illness many years ago. No sketch of her life would e complete without reference to the romantic side of her nature. At times she seemed to live in a land for dreams where all was love and beauty. She had a genuine love of poetry, of music, and a strong passion for flowers of every kind. Perhaps the finest trait of character that Katie Terry possessed, -and certainly a rare one, was her unfailing charitable attitude toward her fellow men. She did not look for faults. She ignored them when they existed, or better still sought to cover them up. She looked for the good, and invariably found it. Kate Terry has not lived in vain. Those whose lives she touched were enriched, and her memory will be inspiration to many for she spent her long life in unselfish devotion to others. Surely no finer tribute can be paid to and one. The judgments of old friends and neighbors carry weight when an estimate is being place upon a human life that has ended. Many of Katie’s old acquaintances had this to say of her “Well if anybody ever went to Heaven it surely was Katie.” Of worldly riches Katie had almost none, nor did she crave any. She met her obligations and managed for the small amounts that came to her hand to build a fund so that her death would bring expense to no one. But money, as such, was never either a concern or a consideration with Katie. She lived with perfect faith in God, and a firm belief that the righteous are never forgotten. One of her favorite songs was the old hymn “The Child of the King.” and those who knew her best will never forget how Katie would sing this old song, her kindly face lighting up with a sweet and trusting smile “My father is rich in houses and lands. He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands; Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold. His coffer are full-He has riches untold. A tent or a cottage, O why should I care? He is building a palace for me over there; Though exiled from home, yet still I may sing All glory to God-I’m a Child of the King.”