Biography - John and Annie Long
It was on an Indiana summer day - October 29, 1863 - that John T. Long and Annie Havens were married in Howard County.
Born in Marion County in 1838, John was two years old when his father, Judge Thomas A. Long, brought his family to what was then the nearly unbroken wilderness and took out a claim on land in Clay Township, on the north bank of the Wildcat, near what became known as West Middleton. There John spent his youth working with his father around the cabin and farm and playing with the Indians, who were frequent callers at the Long home, since Judge Long was also something of a gunsmith and it was to him the Indians would come to have their rifles "doctored."
John was reported to have been a companion of Peter Cornstalk, one of the few Indians whose name has come down in Howard County history. Living out in the rural part of the county, John could only obtain schooling from the sporadic subscription schools. He had made plans to enter the Normal School in Kokomo when the Civil War broke out. He then planned to join the forces and received a lieutenant's commission, but family necessity changed these plans as well.
Annie was the daughter of the Rev. George Havens, and a granddaughter of a famous pioneer Methodist preacher. After her marriage to John, she raised 9 children, including William G., Emma Trabue, Arthur F. (also the subject of a sketch in this display), and Omer H., all of Kokomo; Ethel Long, and Mabel Shutters, both of the West Middleton area.
Mr. and Mrs. Long were both lifelong members of the Methodist Church. John also filled township offices several times and served as county commissioner. John and Annie died at their residence in West Middleton.
John T. Long, b. Aug. 10, 1838-Dec. 18, 1928
Annie (Havens) Long, b. 18??, d. 1921