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- SOURCE: http://ingenweb.org/inparke/obitsL.htm; www.USGENWEB.com;Obituaries
"LUSK
Waveland Independent (Montgomery County, Indiana), ? date -- John Luskdied at his home near the Narrows of Sugar Creek on Friday. Some timeago he suffered a stroke of paralysis, but was able to take a load ofhogs to Indianapolis 10 days before his death, which resulted frompneumonia. Funeral services were held at Lusk Chapel, near the homeon Sun. morning, Rev. Charles Law of Bloomingdale in charge. Mrs.Mary Skirk and Miss Bessie McClain, Doren, Marvin and Harry Clore, M/MErnest Services attended the funeral from here. Mrs. T J Martin andSon, Donald, came from Terre Haute. He was b. 78 years ago and withthe exception of a trip to Calif. in the gold days spent all his lifein the vicinity of the Narrows. He attended the Old Academy here andin former years was a frequent visitor. He was very eccentric andwanted no one to come about his home. He leaves a considerableestate, mostly land of which there is over 1200 acres, much of itcovered with virgin timber. He was never married and his estate willgo to his nieces and nephews, among which are the Clores of thisplace.
Howard Maxwell was on Thurs. granted letters of admin. on the estateof the late John Lusk, by RJ Cummings, clerk of Parke Circuit court.The bond is $10,000. The estate is estimated to not exceed $3000personal property and $100,000 real estate. There are above 20 heirs.In the following list all save those otherwise indicated are nephewsand nieces: Joel Clore, 67, Thayer, Mo; Salmon Clore, 68, Waveland;Julia A. McClain, 65, Waveland; Doren Clore, 62 Waveland; Susan York,60, Dana; Marvin Clore, 58, Waveland; Mary E. Shirk, 55 Waveland;Almeda Martin 47, Terre Haute, Govneur Brewer, 45, Beach, ND; JohnBrewer, 43, Sturgis, SD; Otto Brewer, 25, grand nephew, Chicago;Izetta Brewer, 23 grand niece, Indianapolis; Salmon Brown, 65Ridgefarm, Ill; Commodore Brown, 60 Danville, Ill; John Brown 53,Ridge Farm, Ill; Ben Brown over 21 address unknown; Dewitt C. Lusk, 53Minneapolis, Minnesota; Chancy W. Lusk, 52, Kingman; Orvil Wood, 22grand nephew, Bloomingdale; Flossie Wood, 15, grand niece,Bloomingdale (may be more - article cut)" [Transcribed 25 May 2008,SLJuhl, Compiler, sljuhl1234@yahoo.com]
SOURCE: Notes of Joyce Lorraine Clore Elkins of Parke County,c.1975-2003, from the Clore Family Volumes (now owned by her daughterSandra Lee Elkins Juhl, Compiler); John Lusk Photo and caption underthe photo reads: "John was kicked Friday May 5th 1905 died Thursdayevening May 18th 1905. Sent for Dr. Kendal Monday May 8th and againMonday May 15th."
NOTE: Apparently, John Lusk lingered for a few days before actuallydying. [Transcribed 25 May 2008, SLJuhl, Compiler,sljuhl1234@yahoo.com]
SOURCE: Notes of Joyce Lorraine Clore Elkins of Parke County,c.1975-2003, from the Clore Family Volumes (now owned by her daughterSandra Lee Elkins Juhl, Compiler); Personal notes from Joyce. Thereis no source given for the below information:
" John. 1837 - 1915
John was a bachelor and he inherited 1,000 acres when his father died. He didn't socialize much, these facts gave rise to many legends abouthim. It is said that after shearing a sheep he would pick it up withhis mouth, byt the tail and hurl it out the door. The house wasreportedly full of newspapers that lusk dicarded. He did not likestrangers. It is said that after meeting a stranger he would run homeand put camphor or skunk oil on his hair to off set any poison thatthe stranger might have given him. It is also thought that he went toCalifornia to pan for gold and there are rumors of buried treasure.Young boys could often be found around the house trying to get a lookat a man who was reported as being a giant. Although, he didn't likestrangers, he was said to be very generous to his few friends. One ofthe friends once said of him, "John Lusk was a very eccentriccharacter and lived the life of a recluse, he avoided the society ofall women and nearly all men. He had but few intimate friends, butwhat few he had were genuine and lasting." Lusk enjoyed lettingpeople walk through his woods as long as they weren't lumbermen. Noamount of money seemed to temp him into parting with his trees whichis why Lusk is credited for preserving much of what is now Turkey RunState Park." [Transcribed 31 July 2008, SLJuhl, Compiler]
SOURCE: Notes of Joyce Lorraine Clore Elkins of Parke County,c.1975-2003, from the Clore Family Volumes (now owned by her daughterSandra Lee Elkins Juhl, Compiler); Page 128.
ARTICLE:
THE DAILY CLINTONIAN NEWSPAPER OF CLINTON, VERMILLION COUNTY, INDIANA
DATED: MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1995; HEADLINE: "BETWEEN THE LINES" byG.L.C.; Pages 1, 4
"This is another of the columns written exclusively for The DailyClintonian by Russell Hamm, of Rosedale. Mr. Hamm has a hobby ofresearching interesting old towns and sites in Parke and VermillionCounties--GLC.
JOHN LUSK: ENIGMA by Russell L. Hamm
John Lusk was the son of Salmon Lusk and he was perhaps best known for"saving" the virgin timber, which is now a part of Turkey run StatePark. He was a unique person; and because many tales were told abouthim, he has become a legendary figure--and there is still mysteryabout his life.
In spite of protecting the forests, he did sell 30,000 of timber topay off a debt for making a fill for a fish pond and to change thepublic highway (Rockville Tribune, March 23, 1915, and Isaac Strouse,1916). The "muley" (portable) mill was erected a half mile south ofthe Narrows. (The earth fill can be seen on Trail 1 in Turkey RunState Park.)
How did John Lusk come into possession of the huge acreage on eitherside of Sugar Creek? the Rockville Republican (March 24, 1915)reported: "The Republican has been unable to find anyone who knowshow the reality came into the possession of John."
Salmon Lusk, John's father, who died August 28, 1869, in his willprovided that two beds and bedding and two cows should be given hiswife; $200 to his son William; $200 to his son John.
After the payment of these bequests, he expressed the desire that hisreal and personal estate be converted into money and divided betweenhis children Susan Lusk, Elizabeth Brewer, Lydia Brown, and thechildren of his deceased daughter, Mary Clore. (A son, Salmon Lusk,Jr., was killed in the Battle of Thompson Station, Springhill,Tennessee, and a little daughter Caroline, who died at 2 years, 9months, and 2 days on November 12, 1842 is buried just to the south ofthe Lusk home.)
Mary Beard Lusk, John's mother, to whom he was devoted lived until1880; and after that, few people saw the interior of the house, whereJohn continued to live alone. It has been written that he boarded upthe windows of his mother's room lest some unfriendly eye gaze on herpossessions.
It has been written (Parke Place, October, 1985) that "John Lusk oftenwould perch atop the covered bridge at the Narrow of sugar Creek ...If sightseers visited the Narrows ... and Lusk believed there was aMason among them, he would stand on the bridge roof and rant and raveagainst the order. He would then climax the tirade by leaping off thebridge into the creek. It was to be a demonstration of purificationfrom the fancied contamination of having a Mason on the property."(Alas, William, his brother, was a prominent member of the ancientFree and Accepted Masons.)
Guy T. Dooley tells about a visit to the John Lusk home (Parke Place,April 1982): "A man by the name of John Lusk owned turkey Run andmost of the land on both sides of Sugar Creek to the Narrows Bridge.His brick home was situated on a hill northwest of the bridge. Myfather was a livestock buyer, and I recall one time stopping by theLusk place to see if he was ready to sell his hogs. Mr. Lusk invitedmy father and I to have lunch with him. I recall we had hard-boiledeggs, ham and potatoes. Mr. Lusk kept newspapers piled about six toeight inches deep on the floors in the two rooms he lived in. he saidit kept the floors warm. there was a fire place in the gig room.When Mr. Lusk would return home from Rockville after paying his taxeshe would take a bath in Sugar Creek. He feared someone might havetossed poison on him, so he told us."
[Note: When my aunt & uncle, Roy Paul & Vera Ellen Elkins Paddocklived in the house in the 1950's, it was very drafty and hard to keepwarm in the winter months. When mother (Joyce Lorraine Clore Elkins) &myself toured the home in 1995 with the State Historical Guides,Rangers; It certainly was very interesting, and mother mentioned thatnot much had changed with the home. After speaking with the stateguides, Mother sent information to the State Historical Group for thefamily's Lusk & Clore genealogy history. SLJuhl, Compiler]
The Rockville Tribune (March 23, 1915) reported that John Lusk "a fewyears back would ride horseback from his home to Marshall, about fourmiles, put the animal in the livery stable, and walk seven miles toRockville, make purchases of groceries and remain upon the streetsuntil late at night when he would start afoot, with probably a hundredpounds on his shoulder, to Marshall, where he mounted his horse androde home."
There are at least two photographs of John Lusk in existence: Instature and countenance he recalls the white bearded Walt Whitman.Like him, he was unkempt and careless in his dress. And apparentlyJohn Lusk cared not at all about money.
John Lusk had a good education for that time and place--havingattended the Waveland Academy. He was well versed in Scripture--ableto quote passage after passage without error. He was a voraciousreader. He never threw anything away. He kept the letters home ofSalmon Lusk, Jr., killed in the Civil War, as well as his diary andpoetry. Most amazing was a letter from Salmon Lusk, Sr.'s mother toher son, dated June 4, 1816, from Carleton, Vermont.
It has been written that John Lusk was a recluse, a hermit. How couldthat be when he employed hired hands, when he had good friends likeWilliam Hooghkirk, who leased "Bloomingdale Glenns" (Turkey Run) fromhim?
The Rockville Tribune said of him: "If a man did John Lusk a favor henever forgot it--likewise hate lurked in his body like a mistreatedanimal."
With the death of his mother, there remained but one absorbinginterest for John Lusk: his beloved trees and nature as a whole."
[Transcribed 25 May 2008, SLJuhl, Compiler, sljuhl1234@yahoo.com]
- (Medical):Per obituary information.
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