Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 January 1910 — PIONEER PASSES AWAY AT AGE OF NINETY. [ARTICLE]

PIONEER PASSES AWAY AT AGE OF NINETY.

John Makeever Succumbs to Injury Received More Than Year Ago. •’The death of John Makeever occurred at 10 minutes beftre 5 o’clock Monday evening at his apartments in the Makeever hotel. He passed quietly away, apparently suffering nc paiji and being conscious although unable to speak until a few minutes before he parsed away. He was worn out and was ready for peace and rest in the great beyond. Mr. Makeever’s decline dates from the 20th day of October, 1908, when he was thrown from his buggy by his horse becoming frightened while he was driving near the residence of James T. Randle,* returning from a trip to his farm which he made daily at that time. He, fractured two ribs and bruised one shoulder and probably suffered other internal injuries. The shock was quite severe and he never recovered from it, although he was out in a remarkably short time after the accident. During the early fall of last year he lost his appetite and consequently his strength failed and each day saw him weaker. He was not sick, suffering no pain, his pulse was normal and he slept like a child, but his strength failed and he became weaker and lost flesh each" day. For several years he was a very robust man and up until the time of his accident he weighed 186 pounds but when death came he was reduced almost to skin and bones. He was worn out and death was due to his age, superinduced by the shock of his accident.

He was 90 years of age on Dec. Ist. He was one of ten children born to Patrick Makeever and wife, and came with his parents and other members or the family to Jasper county from Pennsylvania in 1846. He is the last of these ten children to die and lived to an older age than any of ills brothers or sisters, although his father and mother each lived to be more than 100 years of age. With a team of horses and a small amount of capital he set about the task of making a home in a new country and his industry and thrift soon gave him a commanding position in this county and the name Makeever became known throughout northwestern Indiana. It was probably in 1880, when Rensselaer was a town of only about a thousand people that he decided to erect the Makeever which required an investment that not many men would •have undertaken with the limited prospect for business that was indicated. But the hotel was built and waß one of the largest hotels in this part of Indiana. He has occupied it as a residence since its completion, retaining' the east suite of rooms on the first floor during the various landlordships that the hotel has had. He engaged in the banking business, conducting a private bank that never catered extensively for deposits but he was i a money lender known all over northwestern Indiana. In January, 1885, his wife died, and a few years later he was married again. Three children were born to his first union, one, a son, John Napoleon, born in 1863, died at the age of one year and 14 days. The two daughters, Mrs. J. W. Williams and Mrs. Almira Stockton, survive and were constantly with their father during his last days. Two grandsons, Mrs. Chas. H. Porter and Jay W. Stockton, also survive. The funeral will take place Thursday afternoon at 2 o’clock at the M. B. church, being conducted by Rev. C. L. Harper, who will be assisted by Rev. Aaron Wood, a former pastor of the church and a personal friend of the deceased. The Masonic lodge will also have a part in the service.