Shown in the above picture taken recently in the home of the patriarch, John

Toney of Leon, are the original five generations of this family.

John, who will be 99 years old in March, is shown with his ornate carved

cane; behind him is his oldest son, Frank of Lamoni, 73; to Frank's left is

his second son, Jay L. of Lamoni, 44; directly in front of Jay is his

daughter, Janice Patricia Brady of Toledo, Ohio, 24, mother of Deanna Kay,

and Brady, 4, who is standing between her mother and her great-great

grandfather.

John also has three other great great-grandchildren: Christopher Brady, 3,

and Patricia Lynn Brady, 1, other children of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Brady;

and Erik Ingvert Hansen, 6 months old, son of Marvel Toney Hansen of Omaha,

Neb.

At the age of 98, John Toney still has a remarkable memory. He remembers

sitting on the bank of Grand River and discussing with Joseph Smith (founder

of the LDS [RLDS] church)[son of Joseph Smith of the LDS Church] the

possibilities of running a railroad line through the town of Terre Haute.

John Toney's mother, Earlyann, [Ery Ann] was a daughter of M. D. Miller, who

was the founder of the town of Terre Haute. M. D. Miller also gave the land

for the Terre Haute cemetery and is now buried there beside John Toney's

mother and father.

John Toney was born just after the Indians were pushed out of Iowa by the

government to Oklahoma. But he still remembers some of the Indians who came'

back to Terre Haute and Potoff Creek to visit their old campsites.

John was born two miles north of the Lamoni Sale barn, then one mile east.

He lived for years on a farm a mile north of Lamoni, and his entire lifetime

has been spent in the vicinity of Lamoni, Leon and Terre Haute. His life is

a legend one can only appreciate by knowing and talking to him.

Lamoni Chronicle, Nov 19, 1964.

Earle & Pat Koeble <mailto:koeble@koeble.org>

http://www.koeble.org