Shelby County Indiana Genealogy & History, Obituaries

Shelby County Indiana
Obituaries

Hord

The Shelbyville News
Saturday October 13, 1951
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EX-CITY DOCTOR'S WIFE SUCCUMBS
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Mrs. Jewett Hord Dies In Utah, Rites To Be Here
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Sudden death of Mrs. Eugene F. Hord, wife of Dr. Jewett Hord, former local physician. Mrs. Hord died in Ogden, Utah, where the couple had resided since January, 1950.
Body will arrive here Sunday afternoon at 2:35 and will be taken to the Murphy Mortuary. Further details and funeral arrangements will be announced later.
Dr. and Mrs. Hord left Shelbyville in 1942 and resided in Denver before moving to Utah.
[Buried Forest Hill Cemetery]
Contributed by Barb Huff
Summarized by Phyllis Miller Fleming

The Shelbyville Republican
Monday September 19, 1932
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LUTHER J. HORD, 63, KILLS SELF
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Owner of Local Sanitarium Inflicts Fatal Bullet Wound
Early Sunday Afternoon
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BODY FOUND IN BEDROOM
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Ill Health Believed Cause of Suicide;
Victim Was Former Member of City Council
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Luther J. Hord, sixty-three years old, proprietor of the Hord Sanitarium here, for the last twenty-seven years, committed suicide at 12:30 p.m. Sunday in an upstairs bedroom at his home, 716 west Franklin street, by discharging a .32 revolver against his right temple.
His body was found by his wife a few minutes after his self-inflicted death had occurred, reclining on a bed in the room. The bullet had penetrated his head and lodged in a baseboard at one corner of the room.
The shock to Mrs. Hord and to numerous friends and acquaintances of Mr. Hord throughout the community was great, as he had never indicated to anyone that he planned to take his own life. His action was attributed to ill health. He failed to recover from a serious operation which he underwent five months ago.
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PLANNED VISIT TO FARM
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Mr. and Mrs. Hord had planned to go to their farm in Moral township, near London, immediately after dinner. After eating a good meal, Mr. Hord said he was going upstairs to get his revolver, as he wanted to hunt squirrels at the farm. When he did not return from his room as soon as expected, Mrs. Hord went upstairs to call him, and found his lifeless body on the bed. No one had heard the report of the gun when it was fired.
Mr. Hord was born in Shelbyville May 9, 1869, the son of Judge K. M. and Emily McFarland Hord. Except for thirteen years, during which he was a druggist in Ponca City, Oklahoma, he spent all of his life in Shelbyville. His father, who was a noted attorney and judge of the Shelby Circuit Court, was associated with him in the operation of the sanitarium here, which specialized in treatment of addicts to drugs. Mr. Hord was a pharmacist, having completed courses in chemistry and pharmacy at Indiana and Purdue Universities.
The marriage to Miss Ellen R. Bailey took place on August 20, 1892. One son, Dr. Jewett L. Hord, of Oxford, Indiana was born to them and survives, besides the widow.
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PROMINENT LODGE MEMBER
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For four years Mr. Hord served as a city councilman. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, a 32nd degree Mason and a member of the Blue Lodge of the local Masonic oganization. He also belonged to the Scottish Rite in Indianapolis and to Chilion Lodge of the Knights of Pythias, Shelbyville.
Private funeral services will be held at the home on west Franklin street, Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock, Dr. L. O. Richmond officiating. Burial will be in the family lot in the Forest Hill cemetery, in charge of C. F. Fix and Son, funeral directors. Pall bearers will be: Frank Strong, Al Schneider, Herbert DePrez, Will Webb, Herbert Jones and Ernest Fortune. The honorary pall bearers are: Dr. B. G. Keeney, Dr. L. C. Sammons, Dr. R. F. Barnard, Harry Lawson, Harry Armstrong, Frank Clark, John Day DePrez, and C. V. Crockett.
Friends may call at the late home any time after four o'clock this afternoon until the hour of the funeral.
Contributed by Barb Huff

The Shelbyville Republican
Thursday February 9, 1922
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MRS. EMILY HORD PASSED ON
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One of Shelbyville's Best Known Women
Died At Her Home This Morning
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ACTIVE IN CIVIC AFFAIRS
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Mrs. Emily Hord, widow of the late Kendall M. Hord, died this morning at 10:30 o'clock at her home on West Washington street after an illness of more than three years. Not long ago she accidentally fell in an Indianapolis theatre, breaking one of her arms at the wrist and receiving other injuries. After that time she was never well. Recently Mrs. Sarah Sedgwick, and her daughters, Martha and Mary, lived with Mrs. Hord as companions. Her death will come as a great surprise to her multitude of friends and acquaintances.
Mrs. Hord was born in Springfield, Ohio. She was the daughter of John and Betsy McFarland. They came to Shelbyville from Springfield in 1855. Both died here. For many years they resided in the property on west Franklin street, now owned and occupied by Dr. Thomas Green. Mrs. Hord was a member of the first class that graduated from the first high school established in this city. She was married to Kendall Moss Hord on August 20, 1867. Their only child is Luther J. Hord, owner of the Hord Sanitarium. Mr. Hord was one of Shelbyville's young attorneys at the time of his marriage, he later in life becoming the leading attorney of the county.
For many years Mrs. Hord was exceptionally active in the affairs of the community. For a long period she took much interest in the development of music being at that time the leading soprano in the choir of the First M.E. church. In social affairs she was a leader. When Kings' Daughters was organized she was made president, serving in that capacity until the organization disbanded to make way for the Federated Charities. She was one of the first advocates for a home for orphan children. When the Gordon Orphan Home was ready for occupancy she was the head of the board of control. In that institution she was always deeply interested. No one had the least conception of the amount of work she did among the poor of the city. Three winters ago when there was so much suffering in the city because of the severity of the weather, The Republican contained a story of a family that was said to be in dire distress. As soon as Mrs. Hord read the article, she called the office asking the street address. Within 2 hours she had coal and provisions in that home. She asked that nothing be said about what she did. That was her way of doing good deeds. There was not a time in her life that Mrs. Hord was not surrounded with a multitude of good friends and good wishers. Her home was open at all times to these friends. Her life was sturdy but filled with the pleasure of a thousand deeds of kindness that flowed freely from a sympathetic heart. She was a charter member of the Catherine Merrill Club, participating in it meetings as long as she was physically able. In all club work she was interested in fact in all movements in the direction of community welfare, she took her place and did her work. But few women ever lived in Shelbyville who spent as many years actively in behalf of the city as Mrs. Hord. Her loss will be keenly felt.
Funeral services will be held Saturday afternoon at two o'clock at the home in west Washington street, the Rev. Owen Livengood, pastor of the Christian church here, officiating. The body will be placed in the McConnell mausoleum in Forest Hill cemetery. Ralph Edwards has charge of the arrangements for the funeral.
Contributed by Barb Huff

The Shelbyville Republican
Monday April 9, 1917
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JUDGE KENDALL M. HORD DIED MONDAY MORNING
Dean of Shelby County Bar Passed Away After Brief Illness, Mourned By Multitude of People
WAS CITIZEN OF MANY ACTIVITIES
Lawyer of Great Ability, Potentially Progressive, Staunch Friend Full of Good Deeds and Honors
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After an illness of but a few days, Judge Kendall Moss Hord died this morning at 7:15 o'clock at his home, 131 West Washington street, this city. From Saturday it was apparent his death was but a question of time. The cause of his death was pneumonia. He was stricken suddenly with a chill in the nighttime, pneumonia quickly following. With an iron will, he stood off the dread destroyer as complacently as he ever took up any duty of life. His rugged frame had withstood the assaults of many storms, but the time had come when he must go so he gathered the draperies of his couch about him and passed into eternity. He gave up a life in which there had never been an idle day; a life of usefulness and great good; a life spent in activity in his chosen profession; a life that produced the footprints that live for posterity to follow in paths of right living. His death will be mourned throughout the county.
Judge Hord traced his ancestry back to sturdy stock in Sweden. His grandfather, Elias Hord, grew up in Virginia. His father, Francis T. Hord, was born in Mason County, Kentucky. He married Elizabeth S. Moss and to them were born nine children. Judge Hord being the seventh child and the sixth son. The father was a noted lawyer in his day. At the age of 19, Judge Hord graduated from Maysville, Kentucky Seminary. In 1859 he commenced the study of law in his father's office, teaching school during the winter terms. He was born in Maysville, Kentucky on October 20, 1840. The early age of his graduation, his early entrance on the study of law indicate the sturdiness of the boy. In 1862 he was able to pass a legal examination before two judges of Kentucky, an ordeal that had to be successfully passed before he could take up the practice. This he did with striking honors. He then located at Flemingsburg, Kentucky to practice. It was there he joined a company of Home Guards and for more than a year did military duty. In 1863 he came to Indianapolis and entered the law office of Hendricks and Hord in order to ascertain the mode of practice in Indiana. In the early winter of that year he came to Shelbyville. From that day he was a commanding figure in the affairs of Shelby county. He was a natural leader of men and this ability coupled with an acquired education fitted him for the full duties of a large man. He was quickly recognized as a man of unusual parts. Here he was less than a year when he was elected district prosecutor of the common pleas court. In 1866 he was elected prosecuting attorney. In 1876 he was elected judge of the Shelby county Circuit Court, served six years and was again elected. In his various positions he rendered a full measure of service. At the end of his second term as judge he took up the practice of the law in which he continued without interruption and practically without loss of time up to the very day on which he was stricken. To Mr. and Mrs. Hord were born but one child, Luther T. Hord, owner of the Hord sanitorium. He has one brother, Elias Hord, of Chicago, and one sister, Mrs. Josephine Clark Rogers, of Maysville, Kentucky.
The late Francis T. Hord, attorney general, was a brother.
The life of Judge Hord would make many chapters in the history of Shelby county. In the beginning of his career here, he came in contact in his practice with such men as Benjamin Harrison, Thomas A. Hendricks, Daniel W. Voorhees, Major Gordon, Henry W. Lane, Joseph McDonald, and others who wrote their very being into the fabric of Indiana. Locally he was in constant contact with Alonzo Blair, Eden H. D. Davis, Benjamin Love, Oliver J. Glessner, Stephen Major, J. B. McFadden, Benjamin Davis and others who laid the foundation of learning and wealth for Shelby county. Among all these men at home and away from home, Judge Hord impressed all with the fact that he was more than an ordinary man.
His home life was bright and as cheerful as the beams of the sun. Throughout the years that Mrs. Hord was at the head of various charity organizations, Judge Hord was at her side with his means, his influence, his advice. The Book of Time is the only record in which was kept their multitude of sacrifices and good deeds.
Judge Hord was one of the men who materially assisted in making Shelbyville and Shelby county the fine communities they now are. While his residence here did not encompass a wide span of years yet it covered one-half the age of the county. He came at a period when the blood of men run high and hot. He took his place in the front rank with the leading and the progressive men of the day and there he remained. He possessed a personality that drew men to him. He was not only exceptionally strong mentally but he was physically rugged; always aggressive; a tireless toiler in all his undertakings. He never went into court until his case was thoroughly prepared and he always made the attempt to know both sides of the case. Every lawyer he ever met will say of him that he was a fair opponent; that he practiced in the open; also that when a case was closed in which he had taken part that they always fully appreciated the fat that they had contended with a lawyer of unusual ability and high attainments.
One of the strong points in the legal practice of Judge Hord was that he never underestimated the strength of his opponent. He went into every case in which he participated giving the attorneys on the other side full credit for being thoroughly prepared. He was never heard to decry the ability of any lawyer; he met them all as fair men overrating rather that underrating their capabilities. Above all things he held their friendship. Such was his career in court that when the word goes out that he has passed on, not a lawyer he ever met will speak ill of him.
No man ever lived in Shelbyville who got more out of life than did Judge Hord. He never denied his family or himself of anything that would bring them pleasure. In years gone by he tramped the woods and fields with gun and dog and he always had the best; he found recreation along the rivers and the streams and his string of good stories never reached the end. He traveled much through the far west camping in the mountains, on the plains and among the Indians. He addressed assemblages by the hundreds, presided at public gatherings, delivered orations on patriotic occasions and was as fair a fighter in politics as ever lived.
It was beautifully said of him Sunday morning by Dr. Von Tobel at the First Presbyterian church, that notwithstanding he was not a member of the church, that he presided over the congregational meeting when it was decided to erect the splendid church on west Broadway. That incident typifies that interest that Judge Hord unassumingly took in all the forward movements in Shelbyville covering a period of almost 50 years.
Honest with himself, fair with all men, true to every trust and obligation, he stood a man among men, a citizen whose death will be regretted throughout the county.
At a meeting of the Shelby County Bar Association held at one o'clock this afternoon at the court house, Albert F. Wray, George Meiks, and John Tindall, were appointed as a committee to pass resolutions on the death of Mr. Hord.
It was decided to attend the funeral in a body and Charles Hack, A. E. Lisher and O. L. Williams were appointed to arrange for conveyances to the cemetery.
Invitations will be extended the bar associations of the surrounding counties to attend the funeral.
The funeral services will be held at 2:30 o'clock Wednesday after noon at the home on west Washington street. Rev. Albert F. VonTobel, pastor of the First Presbyterian church will officiate. Burial will be made in Forest Hill cemetery.
Contributed by Barb Huff

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