The Political Graveyard: Howard-Bibler-Merriman-Pillsbury family of Indiana

Howard-Bibler-Merriman-Pillsbury family of Indiana

Note: This is just one of 643 family groupings listed on The Political Graveyard web site. These families each have three or more politician members, all linked together by blood, marriage or adoption.

Some families traditionally (and perhaps properly) considered separately are joined together here if linked by marriage or otherwise. These groupings — even the names of the groupings, and the state or lists of states of main activity — are the result of a computer algorithm, not the choices of any historian or genealogist.

Washington Irving Howard (1831-1899) — of Steuben County, Ind.; Rochester, Fulton County, Ind. Born in Jamaica, Windham County, Vt., May 7, 1831. Married 1856 to Mary Rowley Stocker; married to the sister-in-law of Michael Luther Essick; son of Mary Louise Killeen (1882); grandfather of Robert Lendon Bibler. Republican. Lawyer; hardware dealer; member of Indiana state senate, 1873; newspaper publisher; member of Indiana state house of representatives, 1887; defeated, 1856. Member, Delta Kappa Epsilon. Died in Spencer, Owen County, Ind., 1899. Burial location unknown.
Michael Luther Essick (1834-1913) — also known as "Old Man Eloquent" — of Manhattan, Riley County, Kan.; Rochester, Fulton County, Ind. Born in Ohio, February 20, 1834. Son of Samuel Essick (abolitionist; took part in the "Underground Railroad" helping escaped slaves) and Grizella (Todd) Essick; married to the sister-in-law of Washington Irving Howard; married 1858 to Ellen L. Rowley. Republican. Lawyer; member of Kansas state senate, 1861-62; served in the Union Army during the Civil War; newspaper publisher; candidate for circuit judge in Indiana 41st District, 1896. Scottish, German, and Irish ancestry. Member, Grand Army of the Republic. Died in Rochester, Fulton County, Ind., September 19, 1913. Interment at Odd Fellows Cemetery, Rochester, Ind.
Marion L. Pillsbury (1902-1983) — also known as Pill Pillsbury — of Coldwater, Branch County, Mich. Born in Metz, Steuben County, Ind., January 7, 1902. Son of Zachary A. Pillsbury and Meda (Burch) Pillsbury; married, December 1, 1925, to June Lois Merriman (1906-1985) (second cousin of Robert Lendon Bibler). Played professional basketball for the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (now the Detroit Pistons); automobile dealer; mayor of Coldwater, Mich., 1966-70. Member, Freemasons; Exchange Club; Farm Bureau. Pillsbury Avenue in Coldwater was named for him in 1986. Died in the Community Health Center of Branch County, Coldwater, Branch County, Mich., January 2, 1983. Interment at Oak Grove Cemetery, Coldwater, Mich.
Robert Lendon Bibler (1905-1978) — also known as Robert L. Bibler — of Valparaiso, Porter County, Ind. Born in Fulton County, Ind., October 1, 1905. Grandson of Washington Irving Howard; son of James Henry Bibler and Lola (Howard) Bibler; married, May 24, 1924, to Marjorie Jane Waid; second cousin of June Lois Merriman (who married Marion L. Pillsbury). Republican. Chair of Porter County Republican Party, 1946-58; alternate delegate to Republican National Convention from Indiana, 1948. Christian. Died in Daytona Beach Hospital, Daytona Beach, Volusia County, Fla., February 13, 1978. Interment at Graceland Cemetery, Valparaiso, Ind.

"Enjoy the hospitable entertainment of a political graveyard."
Henry L. Clinton, Apollo Hall, New York City, February 3, 1872

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