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 1827 - 1924 (96 years)
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| Name |
David King Howery |
| Birth |
11 Dec 1827 |
Springfield, Franklin County, IN  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Residence |
1903 |
Whitewater, Butler County, KS |
| Death |
28 Feb 1924 |
Whitewater, Butler County, KS |
| Burial |
1 Mar 1924 |
Green Valley Cemetery, Sedgwick County, KS |
| Person ID |
I1255 |
Bob Juch's Tree |
| Last Modified |
31 Dec 2022 |
| Father |
Samuel Howery, b. Abt 1770, Paradise, York County, PA d. Abt 1835, Van Buren, Shelby County, IN (Age 65 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Mother |
Maria Roseboom, b. Abt 1782, New Jersey d. Abt 1861, Shelby County, IN (Age 79 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Marriage |
17 Jul 1811 |
Butler County, OH |
| Family ID |
F503 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 |
Sarah L. Ashworth, b. 28 Aug 1828, North Carolina, USA d. 4 May 1859, Warren County, IA (Age 30 years) |
| Marriage |
11 Mar 1847 |
Shelby County, IN |
| Children |
| | 1. Charlotte J. Howery, b. 1853, Warren County, IA d. Oct 1909, Whitewater, Butler County, KS (Age 56 years) [natural] |
| | 2. Nancy A. Howery, b. 1848, Shelby County IN [natural] |
| | 3. George M. Howery, b. 9 Dec 1854, Warren County, IA d. 19 Feb 1876, Greenfield Twp., Warren County, IA (Age 21 years) [natural] |
| | 4. John W. Howery, b. 31 Jan 1857, Warren County, IA d. 19 Feb 1876, Warren County, IA (Age 19 years) [natural] |
| | 5. Mary E. Howery, b. 31 May 1850, Polk County IA d. 5 May 1852, Warren County, IA (Age 1 year) [natural] |
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| Family ID |
F485 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
31 Dec 2022 |
| Family 2 |
Elizabeth Ann Colclazier, b. 16 Oct 1836, Shelby County, IN d. Abt 1926 (Age 89 years) |
| Marriage |
14 Oct 1859 |
Warren County, IA |
| Children |
| | 1. William J. Howery, b. 16 Dec 1867, Iowa d. 18 Feb 1887, Warren County, IA (Age 19 years) [natural] |
| | 2. Saul Howery, b. 1869, Iowa [natural] |
| | 3. Jasper Howery, b. 11 Oct 1871, Greenfield Twp., Warren County, IA d. 17 Jan 1955, Butler County, KA (Age 83 years) [natural] |
| | 4. Claracy Howery, b. 1873 [natural] |
| | 5. Margaret Howery, b. 1875 [natural] |
| | 6. Della M. Howery, b. 1879 [natural] |
| | 7. Julia A. Howery, b. 18 May 1881 [natural] |
| | 8. Emma M. Howery, b. 1862, Iowa d. 1941, Carlisle, IA (Age 79 years) [natural] |
| | 9. Ephraim Howery, b. 8 Nov 1864, Iowa d. 17 Feb 1865 (Age 0 years) [natural] |
| | 10. Ida Howery, b. Abt 1865, Iowa [natural] |
| | 11. James Howery bur. North River Cemetery, Warren County IA [natural] |
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| Family ID |
F486 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
31 Dec 2022 |
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| Notes |
- A native of Shelby Co. Indiana; born December 11, 1827 and came to Warren County,Iowa in October, 1849, and since that time has lived on the farm he now occupies; he was married while in Indiana, to Sarah Ashworth, a native of North Carolina, in 1847, who died May 5, 1859, and left four children: Charlotte, Nancy, John, and George, who are now deceased; he was married a second time to Elizabeth Colglazier, a native of Indiana; they have a family of seven children living: Emma, Ida, Willie, Jasper, Clarissa Margaret, Della May, and Sarah: Ephraim and Samuel deceased; owns a farm of 230 acres.
THE "TEAR DOWN" MURDERS.
This story comes from "The History of Warren County, Iowa" 1879
The story is very lengthy so I have decided to take some highlights of the story to give you a general
idea of what happened.............
The story of the "Tear Down" Murders is chronicled as the bloodiest offense ever committed on the
soil of Warren county and one of the worst ever perpetrated in the West.
It occurred on Saturday night, Feb. 19, 1876, on the way home from a revival meeting at the so-called
"Tear Down" church, of the Christian denomination, near the center of Greenfield township. [ The North River Church]
THE FEUD
It was a neighborhood brawl, one which had existed for many years, in which many citizens of the neighborhood had taken sides, but few had taken part in it.
A few years before, and repeatedly, David Howery made the charge to his neighbors that Reuben Westfall had been found in his corn crib, at night, in an attempt to steal corn. Westfall stoutly denied this.
No legal proceedings were ever taken to prove these charges. As time went on, the hatred and malice
between these neighbors grew.
There were young lads in each which were ever ready to defend the injured name and honor of their families. The results of these further differences produced quarrels and fights between the children at school, and fights also between the heads of the families.
FAMILIES INVOLVED;
The Dillard Family; George Dillard, one of the wealthiest men in the township, was allied with the quarrel on the side of the Westfall family. Fiercer quarrels and fights resulted by this accumulated fighting force. Nothing very serious ever resulted from the families troubles except increased uproar in the neighborhood. Although Dillard was considered one of the most reliable and prosperous men in the township, he had permitted his family to grow up in a sort of moral darkness.
His family consisted largely of boys who sought out adventure and amusement and with their training, and development, nothing was more natural than that fights and quarrels should come to be in their line.
The Westfall Family; The Westfalls had little position in society, and little cared to have any. The old man, Ruban Westfall, was of that character of men who generally keep on the outskirts of civilization.
He was not deemed a bad man, but he permitted his boys, of whom he had three almost grown, to enter into his quarrels and also make new ones without any discouragement from himself.
The Howery Family; David Howery was a man of an entirely different character. He was an honest, industrious, hard-working, straightforward man, who tended to his own business. He was not a man to seek a quarrel. He was not a man to give up.
His children were much more promising than either the Westfalls or the Dillards and generally stood much better in the society of the community.
THE FIGHT
The church service had ended about 9:00, and they started on their way homeward, all compelled to pass along the same road. When they had proceeded about forty rods north from the church, David Howery became involved in a quarrel with one the boys of the opposite party. Blows followed until all the members of both parties were involved in a fierce hand to hand conflict. David Howery was slightly injured. The party consisted of Ben Westfall, 22yr.old, Lewis Westfall, 16yr.old., and Levi Westfall, about 20yr.old., sons of Reuben Westfall; Thomas Dillard, 23yr. old, Fremont Dillard, 20 yr.old, and Jack Dillard about 21 yr.old, sons of George Dillard; Frank Battles and Thomas Flannagan, a hired hand of Mr. Dillard's, eight persons in all.
The Howery party consisted of David, the father, his son George, 22 yr.old, and his son John, about 19 yr.old; and a young Irishman named James Grum, who took the Howery side in the quarrel and subsequent fight.
The fight only lasted a few moments, but when the field was examined it was found that George Howery had fallen dead in his tracks, caused by a knife wound under the shoulder blade and one below the shoulder joint. John Howery, stabbed in the left side of the spinal column and a second wound near the first, walked about forty feet when he fell against a tree and died. David Howery was shot in the upper lip with the shot passing through the upper jaw. He received other flesh wounds and slash wounds to the face. Although many thought he would not recover, slowly, he pulled through.
James Grum lingered for a day or two and he too died of numerous stab wounds.
The bodies of the two murdered boys were taken to the house of Mr. George Bishop, about twenty rods distant from the scene of conflict, to await the coroner and to be prepared for burial.
After the battle, the perpetrators returned to Mr. Dillard's house where Sheriff Meek arrested them about noon the next day.
CONCLUSION
To try to shorten this story, I won't reprint the legal happenings. These men were all jailed for a short time awaiting trial. The trials of each were either postponed or dismissed over and over. It drug on for many many months. Finally, one by one, they were let go and not one of the persons charged were ever convicted.
The following comes from the files of Larry Warren of Des Moines, Iowa. He has done extensive research on the Howery Families that connect to the Ashworth's.
David: He and his family lived in Greenfield,Twnp., Warren Co., Iowa from the 1850's until the 1880's.
He was not a man of great culture but was known as an honest, industrious, hard-working, straightforward man who attended to his own business. He was successful in accumulating a fine farm of 240 acres before leaving Iowa. The low point in his life probably can be found at the time his sons were murdered by neighbors after a dispute over corn that kept disappearing from David's corncrib at night. He moved to Whitewater, Kansas in 1903.
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