Biography of John P. Widney, pages 397/398/399/400. History 
of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., 
Indianapolis, 1914.



The importance that attaches to the lives, character and 
work of the early settlers of DeKalb county and the 
influence they exerted upon the cause of humanity and 
civilization is one of the most absorbing themes that can 
possibly attract the attention of the local historian. If 
great and beneficent results-results that endure and bless 
mankind-are the proper measure of the good men do, they who 
is there in the world's history that may take their places 
above the hardy pioneer. To point out the way, to make 
possible our present advancing civilization, its happy 
homes, its arts and science, its discoveries and 
inventions, its education, literature, culture, refinement 
and social life and joy, is to be the truly great 
benefactors of mankind for all time. This was the great 
work accomplished by the early settlers and it is granted 
by all that they builded wiser than they knew. Prominent 
among  the worthy representatives of the pioneer element in 
the county of DeKalb was the well-known gentleman to a 
review of whose life the following lines are devoted. For 
many years he was a forceful factor in the growth and 
development of this locality and because of his life and 
accomplishments he is eminently entitled to representation 
in the annals of his county, for the record would not be 
complete were there failure to give him his due meed of 
credit for the important part he played in the early drama 
enacted here.  John P. Widney was born of Irish parentage 
in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on November 28, 1816, his 
parents having been John and Joanna (Patterson) Widney. In 
1835, at the age of nineteen years, he married in May of 
the following year, the young couple came to DeKalb county, 
Indiana, locating on the banks of the St. Joe river, in 
Concord township,  where he entered a tract of government 
land. To the clearing and improvement of this land he 
immediately applied his energies and in the course of time 
succeeded in establishing a comfortable home. In those 
years of toil and hardship inseparable from the life of a 
pioneer, John P. Widney evaded no share of labor and during 
those early years he knew no idle moments. From want of 
facilities he had received but a meager school education; 
but the necessities of pioneer conditions, and 
responsibilities as the head of a family so early in life, 
caused him to depend wholly on personal effort, guided by 
exceptional natural mental acumen.  He developed such 
qualities of mind as won for him the respect and confidence 
of the early settlers,  which was shown in an unmistakable 
manner when the first election in DeKalb county was held, 
he being chosen with one other to constitute at the county 
seat the first canvassing board, whose duty was to verify 
the vote of the county to the governor. Subsequently he was 
elected a member of the Legislature, serving in 1847 and 
1848. In this public  capacity he proved himself worthy of 
the trust of his constituents and the regard of his co-
legislators.  In 1850 he was elected county clerk, serving 
one term of four years. His official duties required his 
residence in Auburn, and he shared with that village its 
early struggles and its ultimate success. In 1852 he was 
chosen one of the town's board of trustees. He was later 
elected justice of the peace and in that capacity showed 
himself sound of judgement and prompt in decision.  He was 
also deputy internal revenue collector and held that 
position of trust.  During the Civil war Mr. Widney was 
active in his support of the Union cause, but did not 
enlist for active military service himself for the reason 
that, while putting in the bridge across Twenty-six-mile 
creek, near Newville, he had been severely injured, not 
fully recovering until late in life.  In matters political, 
he was not a blind partisan, but gave careful consideration 
to men and measures, casting his vote at all times for what 
he considered the best interests of the community, state 
and nation. He was a man of strong and positive 
convictions, and wrote much for the press, giving his views 
on questions of the day and on matters that pertained to 
the county.  In religious faith he was an Universalist. In 
character, he was prudent in his investments, wise in the 
management of his affairs, and frugal in his tastes, 
qualities which enabled him to accumulate a goodly amount 
of material substance, which was largely shared by his 
children.  In reputation, social, business and official, 
John P. Widney was regarded as an upright, honorable man, 
of the strictest integrity of thought and action. He "stood 
four square to every wind that blew" and never violated the 
confidence which his fellow citizens reposed in him. His 
last years were spent with his children, his death 
occurring on October 11, 1905, at the age of eighty-nine 
years-a long life, in which he gave the best that was in 
him for his family and community.  He always stood by the 
right as he knew the right, having the courage of his 
conviction, though sometimes in the minority. In evidence 
of this is the fact that he was re-nominated for election 
to the Legislature, but was defeated because he advocated 
the free-school system and a bill to regulate the sale of 
intoxicating liquors. It is a matter of fact that, though 
he was very successful in the accumulation of money, much 
of which he loaned,  he never charged more than the legal 
rate of interest, and never distressed any one in the 
repayment of borrowed money, while, on the other hand, he 
gave material assistance to many a poor man in the securing 
of a home.  His reputation for honorable dealing and just 
treatment of his fellow was firmly established and is 
emphasized by those who best knew him.  Quiet and 
unassuming, he was never a seeker for public preferment,  
and it is said that he was never present at a meeting where 
he was nominated for office, though, as a loyal citizen, he 
gladly and efficiently performed his full duty when called 
by his fellow citizens to perform official functions. In 
1835  John P. Widney was married to Jane Linn, the daughter 
of John and Jane (Scyoc) Linn, and to them were born five 
children, of whom but two survive, Oliver H., who is 
referred to specifically elsewhere in this work, and Samuel 
L.  Mrs. Jane Widney died on October 11, 1851, and on May  
30, 1852, he married Mary H. Widney, a daughter of Judge 
Widney. To this union were also born five children, of whom 
three are living, Mrs. Mary Alice Lewis, John Morris Widney 
and Mrs. Cora Lodewick, All of the surviving children 
reside in Auburn, with the exception of Samuel L., who 
lives at St. Joe, this county, and Mrs. Lodewick, of 
Ashland, Ohio.  Mrs. Mary Widney passed away at Auburn on 
November 14, 1903, after which Mr. Widney made his home 
with his children, who gave to him the most loving and 
solicitous attention.  The Linn and Widney families had 
been for a number of centuries closely connected. The 
Widneys are descended from Colonel Widney, who was an 
officer in the army of William of Orange, of Holland. He 
accompanied that prince from Holland to England in 1688 and 
was in the war against King James II. For his valuable 
services he received a large estate in county Tryone, 
Ireland, which was handed down to his descendants. Colonel 
Widney's great-grandson, James Widney, who inherited the 
estate, was a squire. In1784, when thirty-one years old, he 
sold the ancestral acres and came to America, buying six 
hundred acres of land in Path Valley, Franklin (then 
Cumberland) county, Pennsylvania. The Linn family is 
descended from the ancient Celts who migrated from Scotland 
to Ireland after the conquest by William of Orange. They 
settled not far from the Widney estate and the two families 
became very close in their relationships.  When James 
Widney came to America, he sent work back to Hugh Linn, his 
sister's husband, and in 1788 Hugh Linn and his family came 
to Pennsylvania and located near the Widney estate, in Path 
Valley. There they became successful in their material 
pursuits and prominent in the social, civic and business 
life of the community.

Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

agoodwin@ctlnet.com