John Howard was born in Holden, Missouri
on December 13, 1891 to Mattie Thornton and Albert S. Howard. When he was ten his family moved back to
Clover Bottom in Woodford County Kentucky.
In 1914 John’s father was accidentally shot and died from an infection
in the wound. After his death, John was
in charge running the farm where they lived.
In 1915, John’s mother noticed his
interest in a neighbor’s daughter and told him he might as well marry her. John agreed and on November 10, 1915 he
married Lena Phillips in Versailles.
They then took the train to Frankfort for a few days’ honeymoon.
After returning they moved in with
John’s mother for a few years. Before
the second child was born, John moved Lena into the house next door to his
mother, but still on the same farm. They
lived there until about 1929, when they moved to down the road to a tenant
house owned by a neighbor. Another
neighbor, noting the move, told John he should buy his own farm, but John
disagreed. So the neighbor went to Lena
and told her he would finance the purchase if John would buy a farm from
him. Lena told John that night they were
moving and he would be paying the mortgage. The bungalow house they bought was
the house they lived the rest of their lives in and where they reared all nine
of their children.
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| John Howard (Back) and his sons - Taken about 1938 |
John still farmed for his mother and
his six boys did the work on both farms. They raised hemp, hay, and
other farm feed crops. He also was known
as a good breeeder/trainer for Tennessee Walking horses, gaited mules, and
hunting dogs.
As the
grandchildren came along, John mellowed and was known to always have candy
tucked inside his dresser drawer…if he was asked.
John was a very stubborn man who
refused to admit he was getting older. When
he was about 85, he was hit by a large truck as he stepped off of a curb. The truck was turning a corner and did not
see him. He was knocked down and
permanent damage was done to his knees. Due
to his age doctors gave him pain meds, but no treatment. After a 3-year old granddaughter pointed out
that she walked better than he did, John went looking for a Dr. that would
treat the problem. At age 87 he had both knees replaced and had no problems
walking the rest of his life. When he complained about the pain after the
surgery his wife told him that he had paid a lot of money for those knees and
he shouldn’t be complaining. After that
success he went looking for an eye doctor that would remove the cataracts that
his previous eye doctor told him were not worth the risk of removing. He found one and was able to see without
glasses until he died.
When he was about 90 his son brought
a thoroughbred mare and colt home. John
decided that he should help train the horse.
Although he promised his wife he would stay away from the barn, the
first time she went to town and left him alone, he slipped down to the barn. . When
Lena came home she asked why he had changed his clothes, but he refused to
answer her. After investigating, she
finally found his other shirt in the trash, torn and with blood on the
collar. He had gotten in the stall with
the colt and the mother had defended her baby, getting him down against the
stall wall. Luckily, when he went down the mare decided he wasn’t a threat and
allowed him to crawl out of the stall. Later
he admitted that it took him the better part of an hour to get from the barn to
the house. John ended with stitches in
his neck and shoulder and a vast array of bruises.
As John got older, his driving became more and more
alarming. When his truck got a flat tire his sons decided that this was a blessing in disguise and
kept putting off the repair, thinking this would keep him from driving. Except John had other ideas. So, when he decided that it was time for him
to fix the tire he went out to fix it.
As he pulled the tire off, the jack slipped and the truck fell, breaking
John's leg.
When Lena was unable to live at home any longer, John would
move to the nursing home with her in the winter months, but would go back to
the farm for the summer. John passed
away just one day before the second anniversary of Lena's death. A few days before his death, John went to his
lawyer to adjust some things in his will and went back to the nursing
home. It was like he knew it was time
or, more likely, he decided it was time and he just died. John always said that he would live to be
100, but he was a few months short.
John was very much against anyone gathering family
history. He was adamant that they
shouldn't be poking around and would be sorry.
No one knows what he was trying to hide, but I sure am looking!
