Obituary of Major Jonas Aden Emery 1856 - 1915

Submitted by: Judi Burns
e-mail: reibur@pwrtc.com

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DEATH OF WELL KNOWN RETIRED U.S. ARMY OFFICER - - Major Jonas Aden 
Emery Dies Suddenly of Heart Failure at his Home in Bloomfield 
Thursday Evening, June Seventeenth - - RETIRED IN 1907 UNDER THE 
THIRTY YEAR CONTINEUS SERVICE LAW - - Major Jonas Aden Emery a retired 
United States Army officer, died at his home on Mechanic street, 
Thursday due to heart trouble from which  he had been a sufferer for 
several months, and while not wholly unexpected, the sudden call came 
as a shock to all. Major Emery was the son of Nathaniel and Susan 
(McWhirter) Emery, honored pioneer residents of Greene county, 
Indiana. He was born Nov. 8, 1856 and reared on a farm in Taylor 
Township, where his mother's parents were the first settlers.  His 
early education was obtained in the county schools and he taught 
school until the lure of the soldiers career led him to seek and 
obtain a cadetship in the United States Military Academy, West Point 
in 1877.  After four years spent in that institution he was graduated 
and received a commission as Second Lieutenant of the Elventh Infantry 
U.S.A. His first station after leaving West Point was at Fort Sulley, 
Dakota where he served four years. He was afterward stationed at 
Madison Barracks, NY.; Fort Hauchuca, Ariz.; Whipple Barracks. Ariz. 
and Waco, Texas where he remained until the beginning of the Spanish 
American was then  ordered to Porto Rico.  While at Waco he was 
instructor of Military science and head of the Mathematical Department 
of Baylor University. Returning to the States, after two years service 
in Porto Rico, he   was sent to the Phillipines where  promoted to the 
rank of Major of  the Twenty-seventh Infantry, having attainted the 
rank of first Lieutenant in 1866 and captain in 1897.  His next 
station was at Indianapolis where he served as recruiting officer for 
two years and then was sent to Cuba and back to Fort Sheridan, Ill., 
and in 1907 retired under the thirty years continueous service law, 
since which time he has resided in Bloomfield. He was married Sept. 
12, 1882 to Emma Gainey, daughter of William W. and Eliza Gainey of 
Bloomfield. To this union were born three children: Robert A., who is 
now First Lieutenant, Twenty-seventh Infrantry stationed at Texas 
City, Texas; Jessie who is the wife of Capt. A. W. Brown of the 
Twenty-seventh Infantry; Nathaniel W. of this place, who is a member 
of the Indiana National Guard Battery A.  Major Emery was a descendant 
of a family of soldiers; his father and his fathers brothers having 
served their country in the Civil War.  His great grandfather Ambrose 
Emery served in the Revolutionary war, and his great grandmother often 
distributed rations to General Washington and his staff.  His ancestry 
can be traced to the sixteenth century and all have been well known in 
their respective locaties. As a soldier he served his country 
faithfully, never wavering in the discharge of his duties, and 
throughout his military career was a brave and galant soldier and an 
efficient and popular officer. He was a skillful markskman and was the 
owner of a number of valuable medals awarded him for marksmanship, 
wining in 1883 the $100 prize gold medal for the best marksman in the 
Dept. of Dakota. As a citizen he was universilly esteemed, and while 
not directly connected with any public enterprise, he was ever 
interested in and ready to support any movement that would tend to 
build up the community or benfit his fellowman.  As a man he was a 
strong personalty and strict integrity and his wide experience and 
extensive travel made him a most interesting companion.  He was broad 
minded, intellectual and cultured, believing in the common brotherhood 
of man in practicing the broad principles of humanity as found in the 
golden rule. He was a worthy example of a selfmade man, whose ambition 
and determination enabled him to overcome many difficuties in early 
life and advance steadily until he obtained the object of his desire 
and gained positions of honor and trust.  He was a sportsman in the 
best sense of the word and found his greatest pleasure in the pursuit 
of game. To his friends he was ever loyal; to his family kind and 
indulgent. Bravely he faced dangers and the possiblity of instant 
death in the service of his country. No less bravely did he face and 
fight the ravages of disease; but when the sudden summons came there 
were none of the horrors of death on the battlefield, for, surrounded 
by all the comforts of his home and alone with her whom he so tenderly 
cherished and who in true devotion had shared with him the varied 
expereiinces of the soldier's life, he peacably fell asleep. Besides 
his wife, his children and three grandchildren, he is survived by his 
mother Mrs. Susan Emery, of this place; three brothers Charles and 
Harvey of Taylor township, Jesse Emery of Parson, Kans., and a sister 
Mrs. Charles Rayburn of Seattle, Wash. Private funeral services where 
held at the family residence Sunday  afternoon conducted by. Dr. L. P.  
Marshall of the Presbyterian church, and the Rev. J. A. Spencer of the 
Christain Church. A quartet composed of M. F. Pate, E. R. Mason, G. E. 
McCracken, and H. L. Doney rendered beautiful and apporiate music. 
Silent tokens of the esteem in which the deceased was held were the 
many handsome floral offerings, among them being one presented by his 
own regiment the Twenty-seventh Infantry U.S.A.  The pall bearers 
where his brothers Charles and Harvey Emery, his nephews, Jonas and 
Ross Emery, and brother-in-laws L.C. Gainey and Charles Wylie. Beneath 
the stars and stripes, the flag he loved so well and followed so 
gallantly the remains were laid to rest in Grandview cemetery. 

Thursday 24 Jun 1915 BLOOMFIELD DEMOCRAT