Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 180, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1920 — OBITUARY OF JAMES A. MAY SR. [ARTICLE]

OBITUARY OF JAMES A. MAY SR.

James Allen May was born in । Green Brier county, Virginia, on; March 19, 1843. He was the,sixth: child of George and Mary May who emigrated from Virginia to Indiana whfen the deceased was about four years of age. The father and mother of James A, May were sturdy Virginia farmers and continued this sort of work after settling down to life in Jasper county, Indiana. The trip .was made most of the way by boat down the Ohio and up the Wabash river to Lafayette. They came ,to Remington from Lafayette by ox team where the family endured the pioneer hardships on the farm now kdown as the May farm, just east .of the present town of Remington. The present .residence of Robert May was a part of the pioneer tjpme of this family. When the civil war broke out ne was a lad of eighteen. The young man possessed a militant patriotic spirit that led to his volunteering at Elkhart, Indiana, where he served in the 48th regiment of Indiana Volunteers, Company K, along with many, other young men from Jasper coimty. His still younger brother, Jacob, volunteered a little ■ hater ar Pittsburg, Pa. The latter was taken prisoner by the confederates and placed in the Andersonville prison. White confined in this prison he was taken-out by the Confederates and commanded to fire a bridge over which a victorious- Union army was approaching and intending to cross. A pathetic coincident occurred at this time and place between the two brothers. James A. May was among the victorious Union men who were firing on the Confederates who were firing the bridge. This pathetic coincident wrung tears from these brothers’ eyes upon numerous occasions in later life when they would get together and I tell about the affair- The story of < their experiences upon this occasion is known by all of the immediate members of their respective families artd ujill be a family tradition for generations to come. James A. May fought at Pittsburg Landings Look Out Mountain, Chattanooga, Port Hudson, and numerous other battles of national importance, March from Atlanta to Sevannah and north to Richmond. He was under Grant until transferred to Sherman in 1864. He was wound-' ed at Vicksburg July 9, 1864, and carried a crippled hand to his final resting place today. After returning from the war he* was married to Isabelle Southard who died in 1916. To this marriage nine children were born: George E. May,

Remington, Ind: Frank May, Remington, Ind.; John R. May, Wolcott, Ind.; James A. May, Jr., Lisbon, N. Dak.; William May, McComb, Miss.; Fred May, Denver, Colorado; Alta Stuart, Remington, Ind.; Nellie Sterrett, Rensselaer, Ind.; and Belle May, Remington, Ind. All of these children survive their father. The children were taught to work from the time they were old enough to do so. Although the deceased was ostensibly harsh arid extraordinarily firm with his children yet they learned to love’ the man whose warm heart, tender hands and kind words nursed every one of them through many a night of sickness as is peculiar to all ftfge families of children. He was known by. his children and neighbors as one of the warmest friends 'to them when in need. The deceased is also survived by twenty-five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.oAH of his sisters preceded him in death. They were Elizabeth Gray, Jane Guy, Ann Courtney and Sara Roberts. Of his three brothers two of them are still living. They are Robert May, Remington, Ind., and John Y. May, Goodland, Ind. v His other brother was Jacob May, referred to above in thft obituary, died at Remington a little over a year agoDeath came to James A. May on Friday at 6:50 in the morning, July 23, 1920. He had been a sufferer for the last ten years of rheumatism contracted in the army and later from his hard work dustrious man and \ continued to

at ■ manual labor until about six years ago* when he became an invalid. He remained indoors, either in bed or in his wheel chair and was unable to get around except by help. He bore his pains with patience and was always sensitive to his great care upon his children, jrhere was always a wholesome welcome extended to his children, grandchildren, neighbors and friends, whenever they came to his home. Of the more than seventy-seven * years of his life, fifty of them had been given to the maintenance of a home for his family. The death of this father will end the home that has been so- highly cherished by his nine'children for over a half century.