Obituary: Maurice L. McCullough

DANA —  Maurice L. McCullough, 86, of Dana, passed away Monday, Dec. 27, 2010, at his residence. He was a retired farmer. He was born Sept. 3, 1924, in Clay County, to Earl Ray McCullough and Ruth Elliott McCullough. His wife of 57 years, Doris Campbell McCullough, preceded him in death July 17, 2005. 

Survivors include three daughters, Nancy McMahon and her husband Wilburn of Covington, Rebecca Lawson and her husband Steven of Dana, and Karen McCullough of Indianapolis; two brothers, Marion McCullough of Terre Haute, and Donald McCullough of Indianapolis; two granddaughters, Amy (Benjamin) Biddle of Lebanon, and Janet (Nathan) Benzing of Fairmount, Ill.; three great-grandchildren, Josiah and Elizabeth Biddle, and Mercedes Benzing.

After graduating from Dana High School in 1942, Maurice served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II, and was awarded two Purple Hearts. He and his wife, Doris, farmed together for 50 years in Dana, until their retirement in 1998. He attended Montezuma Independent Baptist Church, and was a member of Falcon Lake Church in Zapata, Texas, serving as a member of the board.

Services will be 1 p.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010, at Overpeck-Gooch Funeral Home, 225 Maple St., Dana, with Pastor Keith McIntyre officiating. A private burial will be held at Bono Cemetery. Visitation will be 4 to 7 p.m. today. In lieu of flowers, it is suggested, memorials be made to Falcon Lake Church or Friends of Ernie Pyle in Maurice’s memory as a veteran; envelopes will be provided at the funeral home.  Friends may sign an online guest register at:

www.goochfuneralhome.com 

Dana Softball Team Opens Season Sunday

reprinted from the Dana News, June 1949
The recently organized Dana Softball team journeyed to Ridgefarm Sunday only to come home on the tail end of a 3 - 2 count. Maurice McCullough pitching for the locals, allowed only 3 hits while striking out 6 but his teammates couldn't produce the run needed to tie. Dana short stop, Royce King, hit a 4 bagger with catcher Don Haase on base, for the two Dana runs. White, Strubinger and Pearson each gathered one for the winners with the bases empty.
The Dana team will go on to Montezuma Monday night to play an exhibition game under the lights with the W.R.O.W team.

Hoosier Originals

A recent Land Patent Search turned up some interesting results. I found the original land purchase when William McCullough moved to Indiana from Tennessee in 1837. Family always said they were from the Brazil, Indiana area, which is partly true but the land is actually in Putnam county. William purchased up to five patents and two of his sons, West and Thomas bought more just down the road.
It was also interesting to google map the location and see what it looks like now. Martin Van Buren is listed as the US President on the document and Millard Fillmore on some of the others. so it looks like the McCulloughs have been Hoosiers almost since the beginnning.

Helt's Prairie Cemetery

by K. McCullough

Dad & I were at Helts Prairie Cemetery this past Sunday. We saw the tombstone of Ralph & Eliza Campbell, my Grandpa (Claude) Campbell's parents. I noticed that staked in the ground behind Eliza's side of the tombstone was a metal marker from the DAR. Engraved in Ralph's side of the tombstone was a symbol--three chain links and in the center of each link was an initial--"FLT". I did some checking on the internet today, and found that this stands for "Friendship, Love and Truth" and marks members of the Oddfellows. This fraternal organization started in England in 1810, and appears to be a forerunner of labor unions in this country. Its members--who were generally laborers--paid dues, but that money went back to its members in times of need. It was also a social group.

I also saw the tall pillar tombstone for Capt. Josiah Campbell. From the dates, he was probably the father/uncle of Ralph Campbell, and I would say that he fought in the Civil War.

I also found the tombstone of Louisa Stokesberry and her husband (whose name escapes me)--my Grandma (Geneva) Campbell's parents. I noticed that she and her husband had buried two little boys who were about 12-13 months old at death. The second son that they lost was named Owen S. Stokesberry. Evidently, then, Geneva named her oldest son, Owen Stanley, after her little brother who was lost in infancy.

I also found the tombstone for Esther Ambrose Campbell--Uncle Owen's ex-wife. She's buried by herself and Owen is buried by himself in a very different part of the cemetery. Esther's parents are buried a few rows over from her.

Just thought you might find this interesting. Makes you feel a little more connected and now you can support the Oddfellows' fundraisers.

Obituary: Doris McCullough

DANA- Doris J. McCullough, 82 of Dana died at 8:35 pm Sunday July 17, 2005. She was born June 25, 1923 in Vermillion County, Indiana to the late Claude Campbell and to Geneva Stokesberry Campbell. Survivors include her husband of 57 years Maurice McCullough whom she married Jan. 4, 1948 in Dana; three daughters, Nancy McMahon and her husband Wilburn McMahon of Covington, Rebecca Lawson and her husband Steven Lawson of Dana and Karen McCullough of Indianapolis; two granddaughters, Amy (Ben) Biddle of Lebanon and Janet (Nathan) Benzing of Fairmount, Illinois; two great-grandchildren; She was a 1941 graduate of Dana High School. She and her husband farmed together in Dana for over 40 years, retiring in 1988. She attended the Montezuma Independent Baptist Church. Services are 11:00 am Wednesday, July 20, in Overpeck-Gooch Funeral Home at 225 Maple St. in Dana with Pastor Keith B. McIntyre officiating. Burial is in Bono Cemetery in Dana. Visitation is from 4-8 pm on Tuesday at Overpeck-Gooch Funeral Home, and before services on Wednesday. Memorials should friends so desire, may be made to the Independent Baptist Church, PO Box 335, Montezuma, IN 47862 in her memory.

Campbell Family Has Reunion

(note: this was a newspaper clipping hand dated 1981)

Descendants of Claude and Geneva Stokesberry Campbell gathered at Covington City Park September 20 for a reunion and carry-in dinner. The reunion was hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Fred Landis of Kingman, Mr. and Mrs. David Landis and Bryan of Covington, Mr. and Mrs. Jeffery Kurowski of Plymouth and Linda Landis of Houston, Texas.

The Campbell family had not been together for a reunion for approximately ten years and it is planned to have annual reunions in the future.

Those attending were Owen Campbell, Mr. and Mrs. Maurice McCullough and Mr. and Mrs. Steven Lawson, all of Dana; Mr. and Mrs. Howard Rettig, Janet Rettig, Mrs. Ruth Blackwell and Karen McCullough, all of Indianapolis; Mr. and Mrs. Buddy Balen and sons, Mr. and Mrs. Craig Widener and son and Alice Balen, all of Danville, Indiana; Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Rettig of Plainfield.

Also Mr. and Mrs. Paul Campbell and Susan of Chrisman, Illinois and Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Teuscher and family of Atlanta, Indiana. A special guest was Mrs. Paul Bennett (Mildred Campbell) of Bismark, Illinois.

The next reunion will be in Danville, Indiana, September 19, 1982, hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Buddy Bolen and Mr. and Mrs. Howard Rettig.

McCullough Coat of Arms

The same coat of arms is claimed by both Scottish MacCullochs and Irish MacCulloughs.
Ermine fretty Gules. Crest: A hand throwing a dart all proper. Motto: vi et animo (I live and breathe).

While not in the list of the hundred most numerous surnames in Ireland, MacCullagh, MacCullough and other spelling variants such as MacCollough and MacCulloch combined constitute one of our most numerous names, with an estimated population in Ireland of nearly 5,000 persons. Together they constitute one of the fifty most common names in Ulster and eighty to ninety per cent of those of the name in Ireland are of that province, principally Antrim, Down and Tyrone.
Petty's “census” reveals a similar position in 1659, when MacCullough and variants was listed as among the principal Irish names in the baronies of Antrim, Belfast, Carrickfergus and Toome in Co. Antrim and Lower Iveagh in Co. Down. In the previous century the Annals of Loch Cé tell us that Seamus Mac Con Uladh was killed at Dunbo (near Coleraine) in 1532. This name is given by the learned editor in his index as MacCullagh. Today in Ulster about one-third use the -agh ending and most of the remainder the -ough, although MacCullow and MacCulloch are also found. The -ough spelling is very much more common in counties Antrim and Down, but it must be remembered that the spellings do not necessarily denote the origins of any particular family.

The name MacCulloch is also that of an important Scottish family. This name is traditionally derived from the Scots-Gaelic word culach, a boar, and in this connection it is interesting to note that in Co. Sligo, within living memory, Boar and Bower were in use as synonyms of MacCullagh. These MacCulloughs can be of two origins. MacCulloch is and was common in the province of Galloway, whence stemmed so many of the Ulster settlers. Its origins, however, are totally obscure, and although it has been suggested that it derives from the Scots Gaelic Mac Cullaich, it is possible that it too derives from Mac Cú Uladh and represents previous Irish settlers in Galloway. This theory is reinforced by the fact that the MacCulloughs of Ireland and the MacCollochs of Scotland claim similar coats of arms. - Source