The Death of Henry Ream

In spite of the fact that the Ream family seems to have no connection whatsoever to Ainsworth, there has been a special place in my heart for them ever since I happened to buy some of their papers at auction almost three years ago. So I take note of the passing of Henry Ream — father of the 17-year-old Arnold killed by lightning, as reported in the ragged 1903 newspaper I found among the papers (and random dishes and books) in that box I bought.

His son's untimely death was not the last tragedy Henry had to live through. A year later, his 17-year-old nephew, Roscoe Howard, died after accidentally shooting himself in the head as he went out to hunt birds on a neighbor's farm. In 1917, Henry had lost another son in an accident. William Ream, 33 years old and single, living with his parents, had been doing some work in the basement of "Watkins," wherever that might be. He was alone at the time, so when he was found in the afternoon, unconscious on the basement floor, no one knew what had happened — or would ever know, for William died that evening without regaining consciousness. The conjecture was that he had fallen and struck his head.

Henry, in contrast, died in his own bed on October 15, 1919, peacefully, and not unexpectedly, as he had suffered from "heart trouble" for several years.

He had been born on June 20, 1852,* in Ohio. Sometime before 1860, his parents, John and Mary (Clark) Ream, brought their family to Indiana and settled on a farm east of Hobart. There Henry grew up.

For unknown reasons, in 1883 he went to Arkansas, and there he met and married Josephine Havely. Henry and "Josie" returned to Hobart to live and raise their family. They farmed east of town until the spring of 1908, when Henry decided to retire from farming and move his family to Hobart. According to the Gazette, he "joined two small houses on the corner of Third and Linda streets" to create the new family home. (Unfortunately the story doesn't indicate which corner of Third and Linda Streets.)

Henry was survived by his wife and three children in their twenties: Bert and Edith, who both still lived at home, and Ollie,** now the wife of John Fleming.

Henry is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.


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__________________
*This is the date given in both his obituaries and it accords with the Indiana death record, but all census records suggest he was born in 1850, and that is the year carved on his grave marker.
**The Gazette gives her name as Alice, but the News and the census and marriage records all call her Ollie.


Sources:
♦ 1860 Census.
♦ 1900 Census.
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Accidental Shooting." Hobart Gazette 15 July 1904.
♦ "Death Comes Suddenly to Wm. Elmer Ream." Hobart News 30 Aug. 1917.
♦ "Dies as a Result of Fall." Hobart Gazette 31 Aug. 1917.
♦ "Henry Ream Dies Suddenly." Hobart Gazette 17 Oct. 1919.
♦ "Henry Ream, Aged Hobart Citizen, Dies Suddenly Wednesday." Hobart News 16 Oct. 1919.
♦ Indiana Marriage Collection.
♦ Indiana WPA Death Records Index.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 27 Mar. 1908.

Acquaintances at Rest

Yesterday morning was gloomy and wet, perfect for wandering around Hobart Cemetery, where I encountered some acquaintances from previous posts.

William and Carrie Raschka, the "merchant of Ainsworth" and his Chesterian wife, whose relatives once owned my property.

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I tried to brush the moss off Carrie's name, but I just made it worse.


Members of the Ream family:

Arnold Ream, the young man killed by lightning.


Arvin Ream, his uncle.


John Ream, his grandfather (I believe) and the diligent taxpayer of Porter County.

The gravestone is so worn that you can scarcely read his name. I think I can make out the birth year, 1821, but the rest is illegible. To the left and right of this monument are smaller stones, "Wife" and "Husband," so presumably John's wife is buried there as well, but if her name was ever on the stone, time and weather have erased it.

Interview with the Time Travelers

Tax Receipt dated January 1, 1856


Porter County Vidette , September 17, 1903

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Ainsworth, Indiana: Thank you both for being here today. Tax Receipt, since you've come the longest distance, I'll start with you. Now, pardon me for gushing a little bit — I can't believe you've come all the way from 1856. That just astonishes me.
Tax Receipt: Yep.
AI: And the fact that you were part of a box lot I bought at auction for $2.50, and I was the only bidder! That a visitor who has come so far, and passed through such perils, would end up like that, I'm just shaking my head at it.
TR: Yep.
AI: You've come here with quite an entourage, although the other documents haven't traveled quite so far. That tax receipt from 1912, for instance, you probably think he's a lightweight.
TR: Yep.
AI: You're a tax receipt of few words, I can see, so let's get right to the point.
TR: John Ream paid the Treasurer's Office $2.94 in taxes, in full, for the year 1855.
AI: Did that include real estate taxes?
TR: State, county, school, road, township, library, sinking fund and special tax, one poll, and $120 personal property.
AI: OK. Well, let's assume it did include real estate. Was it on the same, or part of the same, land as all the other tax receipts?
TR: State, county, school, road —
AI: Excuse me, we got that. By the way, I'm curious about something else — was this the same John Ream who married Perescellie Bowers, who died in 1899? — because if it was, his wife had the coolest name in Porter County.
TR: John Ream.
AI: Um, okay. I was just wondering, was John Ream the "Ream" in Onstatt v. Ream? You have to admire a man who goes all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court over a pig!
TR: John Ream.
AI: Yes, I know, but what I'm asking — oh, well, let's move on. Porter County Vidette, you've come from 1903. It looks like it's been a rough journey. No offense, but I've got a Harper's Weekly from 1870 that's in better shape.
Porter County Vidette: One dollar per year.
AI: Yes. But were you stored near a furnace, or in an attic or something, that caused you to deteriorate so badly?
PCV: Alvin Jones was the guest of his "cousin" at Valpo over Sunday. Miss Bertha Trowe, of East Chicago, is visiting at home.
AI: Yes, you do love your social gossip, don't you? That really struck me about you. Nowadays we have Facebook and Twitter for that sort of thing.
PCV: Former Valparaiso Man Still Being Reviled at Marion.
AI: That too. But let's be honest here: I think the main reason, perhaps the only reason, you're here with us today is that article on your front page, about the tragedy in the Ream family.
PCV: Boy Killed by Lightning. During the terrific thunder and lightning storm yesterday morning Arnold Ream, a well known young man, was killed almost instantly.
AI: And you still think of it as "yesterday," don't you? That's part of what makes you so remarkable. Now, you say that his grandfather —
PCV: — His grandfather, who was near, was unhurt.
AI: But you don't give the grandfather's name; was it the same John Ream whose tax receipt I was just talking to?
PCV: Ream was taken to the home of his father, Henry Ream ...
AI: Henry was John's son, and Arnold his grandson?
PCV: ... where he breathed a few minutes but never regained consciousness.
AI: Well, apparently that's all you have to say, but it's enough, isn't it? I mean, any other newspaper would have been used to line the bird cage, or for even less savory purposes. So Henry Ream kept you. What I'm wondering is, why did he hand you off to the Kraft brothers in 1916 along with all the tax receipts pertaining to the land he transferred to them?
PCV: The funeral service will be held Wednesday afternoon.
AI: All right, you can't tell me why. I guess I'll never know. Thanks for your time, both of you.