Our great grandmother Martha Ann ("Mattie") DARNALL was 
born, probably near Bainbridge, Putnam County, Indiana, 
22 February 1852. She was the daughter of Johnson 
DARNALL and Martha Ann YATES. As far as wešve determined, 
Martha was the last of nine children born into the 
Johnson DARNALL family. Her father was a prominent farmer 
near Bainbridge, Putnam County.

On 3 December 1874, at the age of 22, Martha married 
John Riley GORDON, age 26. During his lifetime, John 
was a prominent educator, county assessor and appraiser, 
lawyer, and three-term member of the Indiana House of 
Representatives. They made their home in Bainbridge 
until 1877, when John began his law practice in Greencastle 
(Putnam County), Indiana. Three children were born to 
their marriage, Benjamin Lowell (1875), Mary H. (1879), 
and Lucy Lee (1884).

Tragically, our great grandfather John Riley GORDON died 
7 May 1888, of pneumonia, at the early age of 39. Just 
two and a half years later, at age 38, Martha Ann 
("Mattie") DARNALL Gordon died at 8:45 a.m., 11 November 
1890, after a two-year bout with consumption 
(tuberculosis). Her funeral was held, 12 November 1890, 
at the family residence on Hanna Street in Greencastle, 
Indiana. She was buried in Lot 3, Block 3, Range 9 of 
Forest Hill Cemetery in Greencastle, where her husband 
had been laid to rest in 1888, and her daughter Mary 
was to join them in 1901.

Martha left behind three children, ages fifteen, eleven, 
and seven years old. Unfortunately, we have yet to 
determine what happened to the three young children 
after Mattie died.


Compiled, written, and submitted by Judy Gordon, 9 January 2001