Abraham Keith Leedy

Abraham is a certified pioneer of Kosciusko County, Indiana and he was one of the earliest to settle there after it was no longer considered to be Indian Territory. In October of 1842 Abraham and his family moved from Ohio to the Pierceton, Indiana area with four children, over the years their next seven children would all be born in Koscisko County, Indiana. He arrived in the county about five years after the arrival of his Uncle Lewis Keith (the co-founder of Pierceton). Land tract books show that Abraham had 160 acres, the northwest quarter of section 16. He purchased that land on December 4, 1843. When the family arrived in the territory in 1842 they stopped at Turkey Creek Prairie for the first week, then moved into a log cabin standing where the town of Pierceton is located today. The cabin was owned by Hannah Warsing, a woman who would have a decades long relationship with his Uncle Lewis Keith. In February of 1843 he moved his family into their own log cabin where they would live until 1860 when he built a large frame house. His land was virgin forest land never before tilled by a white man. Politically speaking he was originally a whig, but later became a republican. He was Justice of the Peace of Washington Township for five years and Township Trustee for seven. Four of his children were mutes (deaf & dumb), all girls. The family were devout members of the local German Baptist Church (Church of the Brethren) located just to the east of his farm and the family could easily walk from their house to the church in just a few minutes time. A bit further to the east stands the Washington Union Cemetery where Abraham, his wife and many of his children are buried. One can stand at their gravesite, look straight to the west across the highway (State Route 13) and survey the land that once was his farm. Abraham served as a deacon in the Brethren Church and a spiritual counsellor in the community. He died on July 16, 1896 and curiously his wife Elizabeth died just four days later on July 20, 1896. The exact circumstances concerning these two close deaths are not known, but both deaths appear to have been from natural causes. In Elizabeth's case, perhaps she died of a broken heart. They both were quite old, he being 82 and she 80 and they had lived together the better part of their lives. Possibly the pain of losing her lifelong partner was just too much for her and she did indeed die of a broken heart. (wab)