| Notes |
- Life and times of Simeon McQuiston
Nov 12, 2015
"S. McQuiston — 1915" reads the stone cap over the top of the front entrance to the red brick house 1 mile west of Greentown. Begun that year by Simeon J. 'Simi' McQuiston, the home was completed the following year, when the McQuiston family — Simeon, wife Millie. and son Ralph moved in.
Simeon McQuiston was a son of pioneers John and Susan Mcquiston, who came to this area in 1873 from Decatur County. Simeon was born in 1878, and married Millie Hamper in 1901. Their son and only child, Ralph, was born in 1906.
A farmer, "Simi" McQuiston amassed some 600 acres on which he raised the usual crops, and was a breeder of full blooded cattle and hogs. He employed the most advanced methods of farming, was one of the first to acquire a tractor, and used all of the most modern implements available in his operations. He fenced his fields, placing ornate concrete posts at corners and gates, and he put concrete floors in his barns. On his main farm he enlarged an existing barn, and put up other buildings.
For his home he engaged Kokomo architect Charles W. Barrett to draw up plans for the kind of house he himself had been working on the design for. Following a modified Georgian-Colonial style, it would have a full basement with a garage in it for a car. There would be two floors with an attic over the top. It was built up as a frame with brick laid over, and the roof was red tiles.
The interior contained front and back stairs, a dining room at the back with etched glass in a bow window, and a large living room where the front door opened onto an equally large porch that could be used for extended living and entertaining in the warm months. The main entrance and a side door under the carport had windows with edges of beveled glass. A front library, a kitchen and pantry, and a bedroom suite rounded out the first floor. Upstairs were four bedrooms, a bath, and a large square hall, In the kitchen was a dumbwaiter that McQuiston used to lift corn up to the attic, where he hung the ears on nails in the rafters to dry!
The home was as modern as could be made in 1915, with a central vacuum system, a fire extinguisher, well and soft water, and it was wired for electricity. Wood for the house was cut from woods on the farm, the boards milled and dressed in Kokomo. Mostly oak was used for finishing, with imported birch for the tile-floored kitchen. In early 1906, Simeon, Millie and Ralph moved in. That fall the annual McQuiston family reunion was held at the new home, and Simeon was named secretary.
McQuiston belonged to the Greentown Methodist Church and was on the building committee that remodeled their building in 1917, again using Charles W. Barrett as architect.
McQuiston tried investing in the United Broom Co., who's chief asset was a revolutionary machine that was going to make sweeping changes in how brooms were made. But mismanagement swept away any profits. He tried the Rapid Rim Co., which promised a new and easy way to change tires, but only quickly rolled its investors. Stevenson Gear Co. of Indianapolis may have proved more profitable, being less shifty than those other concerns.
Simeon McQuiston was a member of the Kokomo Chamber of Commerce and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He died on June 1, 1922, at the early age of 43, from a general poisoning of his system due to diseased tonsils. He was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, where a large imported tombstone marks the family plot. Millie McQuiston passed in 1938 and then Ralph and his wife Mary McQuiston lived on the farm. Ralph and Mary's children were twin daughters Josephine(Howell) and Jacqueline (Ladd). Ralph passed in 1989 and the house became home to grandson Bob and Jill Howell and their family. They began remodeling and some structural repairs were necessary, so they had the Helvie Co. of Flora raise some settled areas with jacks. The specialized updating the house required was done by Mennonite contractor Paul Mullet. In 1991 the home was thrown open to host the annual YWCA show home event, with record numbers of tours.
Today the barns that stood behind the house are gone, having fulfilled their purpose, but the land is still owned and worked by the (McQuiston) Howell family, and the home looks as good as the day it was finished — 100 years ago.
Simeon McQuiston would be proud!
Jeff Hatton
Greentown
|
1877 - 1922 (44 years)
[1, 3] 
