LAWRENCE COUNTY OHIO - OBIT: TEMPLETON, Creed (d. 1922)
***********************************************************************
OHGENWEB NOTICE:  All distribution rights to this electronic data are
reserved by the submitter.  Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted
material will require the permission of the copyright owner.  The submitter 
has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently 
for free access.
***********************************************************************
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Elizabeth Burns
October 11, 1998
***********************************************************************


Creed Templeton Obituary
Contributed by: Elizabeth Burns

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

CREED TEMPLETON, CENTENARIAN, DIES AT FARM ON SYMMES
January 1922

Creed T. Templeton, patriarch of Symmes Creek, father of a number of well
known Huntington residents, who had lived for more than a hundred years in
the peaceful valley of Rome Township died Wednesday night after a brief
illness. He would have been 101 years old had he lived until June 17.

Mr. Templeton was born in 1821 on the farm which his father had hewed out of
a virgin forest ninety years before. As a boy he hunted deer and bear on
what was afterwards to become one of the most fertile farms in the valley
and at his centennial celebration last year he took pleasure in pointing out
the spot within fifty yards of his home where, ninety years before he had
encountered two timber wolves.

Up to within a few weeks ago he retained the remarkable vigor which had
characterized his entire life. At his hundredth birthday celebration, to
show the scores of relatives and friends who had gathered to spend the day
with him, he mounted his favorite riding horse and rode for fifteen or
twenty minutes.

"I feel as young as I did twenty years ago," he said upon that occasion,
"and I feel certain that I will live to see the day that I am 105."

Asked how he had lived almost twice the time of the average man, Templeton
expressed the need for moderation in all things with the exception of work.
"I'll pass the hundred year mark," he said, "because of regular habits since
childhood. Plenty of work, plenty to eat-there's no other way to live to a
ripe old age."

And in his program of work he was a firm believer. Up to the time he was
ninety-eight years old he was active in harvest time as was the youngest
field hand. Two years ago he was persuaded to remain in the cool shade
beside the old mansion while the younger men did the heavier work but it was
with difficulty that he reconciled the thought that his working days were
over.

"I'm afraid I'm getting old," he remarked sadly as he watched the fieldhands
moving down the golden fields of wheat which stood in the foreground of the
old house.

Templeton had always taken an interest in politics. In 1920 he voted for
Warren G. Harding, was a firm believer in woman's rights and in 1920
accompanied his daughter Mrs. J.F. Watters to the polls, telling her to
"vote right."

Though he never used tobacco in any form he was decidely opposed to the
anti-cigarette movement in which was at one time started in Lawrence County.

His attitude on the liquor question was liberal, "I believe in liquor in
its' place," he told relatives on his hundredth birthday. "It has medicinal
virtues. But it should never be used for any other purpose."

A reporter who once tried to draw him into a discussion on the subject of
the dress of modern women found he could give and take quips with better
humor than the average man.

"What do you think of the dresses the girls are wearing now?" he was asked.

He stroked his chin and said, "When I was a boy they wore skirts. But the
clothes that girls wear today are no affair of mine. You'll have to answer
that queston yourself."

Templeton was forty years old when the first gun was fired in the Civil war.
It was one of the regrets of his life that he had been unable to go. But he
took pride in the fact that his sons who were old enough promptly took up
arm on the side of the Union.

One of these sons was Martin Templeton, father of C.E. Templeton of
Huntington.

Templeton always took an active interest in the welfare of the common man,
was widely known for his charitable position and his ardent championship of
church affairs. Schools were unknown on Symmes Creek when he was a boy but
he secured the rudiments of an education from his mother. He was fond of
reading and was known as one of the best read residents of the valley.

Besides a large number of great grandchildren, grandchildren and more
distant relatives, he is survived by the following children: Martin
Templeton, James Templeton and Mrs. J. F. Watters of Symmes Creek and Mrs.
Diana Burns of Huntington.

Funeral service will be held at the Templeton residence at Getaway, Ohio
Sunday at 2:00 p.m.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any
format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons.
Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain
the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative
of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof
of this consent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Elizabeth Burns
October 11, 1998
------------------------------------------------------------------------