Mrs. Maud Howard Gaines
In a list of the prominent citizens of any community today, mention is made of women as well as men for whether they are actively in the business world or not, the high position of woman as a factor in civilization is being recognized as it has never been before. Therefore in any account of those who have played a part in the history of Grant County, Indiana, Mrs. Maud Howard Gaines should have a place. Mrs. Gaines come of one of the oldest families, not only in Grant County, but in the United States, a family noted for its patriotism and sincere devotion to the country. She has lived in Marion for many years and has taken an active part in many phases of the city's activities.
Mrs. Gaines was born in 1866, the eldest of the five children born to John A. and Susan (Kirkpatrick) Howard. John A. Howard was born in Ohio in 1836, a son of Maurice and Matilda (Sabin) Howard. Matilda Sabin was the granddaughter of Elijah Sabin, who had been a commissioned officer during the Revolutionary war, and other ancestors who fought in this war give Mrs. Gaines the right to be proud of her family and the record they made in this memorable struggle. Coming further down in her ancestry, her own father left a splendid record for military service. the records in the adjutant General's office in the War Department at Washington show that John A. Howard was enrolled on April 23, 1861, as a private in Company I, Twelfth Indiana Infantry, that he served on year and was honorably discharged from the service as a private, together with the whole company on the 15th of May, 1862. In speaking of the experience of this year Captain Howard said that the whole regiment inclined to the opinion that one year of such hardships as they had endured was enough. But after they had once more become private citizens Lincoln asked them to visit their homes and then return and help him out and there was not a hand that was not raised in response to this plea. On the 22nd of October, 1862, therefore, Captain Howard returned to the service, this time with a commission as first lieutenant in company C, Fifty-fourth Infantry. He served in this capacity until December 8, 1863, when he was honorably discharged from the service at New Orleans, Louisiana. It was only a short time until he re-enlisted, this time at Marion, on the 7th of February, 1865. He was mustered into service on the same day as a private in Company G, of the One-Hundred and Fifty-third Indiana Infantry to serve one year. A few days later, on the 22nd of February, 1865, he was commissioned captain of this company and served as such until his final honorable discharge from the service on the 4th of September, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky. This long record of military service as shown by the official documents in the war department at Washington is one which Mrs. Gaines treasures greatly, being proud not only of the actual service rendered to her country but also of the spirit of patriotism and self-sacrifice shown by her father. Maurice Howard, Mrs. Gaines grandfather and father of John A. Howard, was a soldier in the War of 1812. He enlisted in the New York troops, serving most of his time around and near Detroit, Michigan.
Captain Howard took part in some of the most important engagements of the Civil war, among them being; Antietam, Arkansas Post, Raymond, Thompson Hills, Black River, Champion Hills, Chickasaw Bluffs, Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi, being wounded at the latter battle. Captain Howard always wears an American flag as a boutonnière, and he is a regular attendant at the camp fires of the General Shunk post of the Grand Army of the Republic, although it is saddening to see his old comrades at arms rapidly diminishing in numbers. In slavery days the Howard homestead was one of the stations of the underground railway, and as a young boy Captain Howard conducted many negroes from the shelter of his own home to the next friendly resting place, his father remaining behind on guard. later when the temperance question came before the attention of the people he was an active advocate of that side of the question which had the protection of the family and the home at heart. Captain Howard married Susan Kirkpatrick, who was born in Grant County, Indiana, in 1847, a daughter of William and Margaret (Carrothers) Kirkpatrick, and they spent many years on a farm near Marion. Several years ago, however, Captain Howard retired from active life and they now make their home in Marion, their daughter Mrs. Gaines living with them.
Mrs. Gaines, or Miss Maud Howard, as she was before her marriage, was in the first graduating class from the district schools of Washington Township, this being in 1881, and when she was only sixteen she taught her first winter school at Salem, Indiana, having many pupils who were older than she was herself. Mrs. Gaines has two brothers, Maurice and Harry Howard, and two sisters, Mrs. Helen Howard Williams and Miss Mary Margaret Howard. It was when Miss Maud Howard was twenty-two years of age, on the 22nd of November, 1888, that she was married to Edmund Morton Gaines. Mr. Gaines, who was also born in 1866, was one of eight children born to Oliver and Mary Jane (Bradford) Gaines.
Both the Howard and Gaines families were pioneers in Grant County, and had lived side by side as neighbors and friends for three generations. The Howard's came from New York, the Bradford and Gaines from Virginia, and the Kirkpatrick's from Ohio. Oliver Gaines is the son of Edmund P. and Polly (Bond) Gaines, and his wife, who is now deceased, was a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Schell) Bradford. The grandparents in both the Howard and Gaines families had come to Indiana as emigrants, but the parents were all born in the community. the linking together of the interests of the two families by the marriage in the third generation, only drew closer together those who had always been close friends.
Edmund Morton Gaines was christened Edmund because there had always been an Edmund in the family since the house of Gaines was established in America more than four hundred years ago, and the name of Morton was given in honor of Indiana's war governor. he and his wife had twenty years of perfect wedded happiness before he was taken from her, his death occurring on the 6th of January, 1909. Mr. Gaines was always active in church and fraternal affairs. Although he came of Quaker ancestry he and his wife were members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Marion, and for several years he was a member of the official board. He belonged to the Knights of Pythias and the lodge emblem is engraved on the stone that marks his grave.
Mrs. Gaines is an enthusiastic member of the Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, and takes special pleasure in the work of the society. She is a member of the Marion Central Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of which an aunt, Mrs. Mary Howard Williams, was an early member -in fact, the union really grew out of the crusade of which Mrs. Williams was a leader. Mrs. Gaines has always been an interested student of history and is a member of the Thursday Historical Club, and of the Grant County Historical Society. She is the historian of her native township, her love for the flag being instilled into her from babyhood, and inherited from her ancestors, and since all heroes are not necessarily those who face the guns of an enemy on the battlefield, but are all those who do their part in the battle of life quietly and bravely, she is certainly in line for recognition. Mrs. Gaines is a member of the General Francis Marion Chapter, daughters of the American Revolution, having traced her lineal Revolutionary descent through her paternal grandmother, Mrs. Matilda (Sabin) Howard, although she had other ancestral lines just as clearly defined.
Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914.