Biography found in "The History of Berrien County" 1906, page 921 [describing Francis Austin McKindley]

FRANK A. McKINDLEY has been a witness of the growth and development of Berrien county through many years and has been a leading representative of horticultural interest. He was born in Ellisburg, Jefferson county, New York, on the 15th of December, 1846. His father died when the son was very young and his mother, who bore the maiden name of Mary Ellis, afterward became the wife of Hiram Tubbs. Her grandfather Ellis was a pioneer and in an early day became a resident of that section of New York which is now called Ellisburg township, Jefferson county. In March, 1854, Hiram Tubbs came with the family to Michigan, making his way first to Branch county, where he remained for a year. Throughout his [Hiram Tubbs’] entire life he followed the occupation of farming and after his removal from Branch county he spent one year on the Sherwood Snyder place. In those pioneer days Mr. McKindley made his way to schools by means of marked trees called a blazed trail, for the track lay through the dense forest. When his stepfather had resided for a year in this county he purchased forty acres of land, for which he paid three dollars per acre, Phineas Pearl being the agent for the property. After beginning the work of improvement and development there Mr. Tubbs finally sold and later he owned and then sold two or three more farms. About 1859 or 1860 he came to his present place of residence, where he has since remained and now at the age of eighty-three years he is living with his daughter, Mrs. Chevis. His wife, the mother of Frank a. McKindley of this review, died in 1895. By her first marriage she [Mary Ellis] had two sons, the elder being John E. McKindley, who is now living in Osakis, Minnesota. By her marriage to Mr. Tubbs she became the mother of four children, all of whom are yet living. Her life was devoted to her family and she did everything in her power to promote the comfort and secure the happiness of her children.

Frank A. McKindley was reared by his mother and stepfather and through the winter months he attended what became known as the Tubbs school. At different times he worked out as a farm hand and he was thus engaged until on the 13th of February, 1864, when he enlisted as a member of Company D, Sixty-sixth Illinois Western Sharpshooters. The company was formed of Michigan men, although it was attached to an Illinois regiment, Mr. McKindley was but sixteen years of age at the time. The members of the regiment were armed with heavy rifles and with the command Mr. McKindley went to the front, serving in the Army of the Tennessee. He took part in the battle of Pulaski, Tennessee, and in other engagements and movements in that part of the country, after which he went on the Sherman campaign to Atlanta and on to the sea, continuing with his company up to the time of the capitulation of the city of Atlanta. He took part in the battle of Peach Tree Creek, where he was wounded on the 22nd of July, 1864, but he did not leave his command and was discharged with the regiment. However, he was granted a furlough and returned home, but at the end of thirty days he found that he was not able to again take up active field work and remained at home altogether for sixty days, after which he rejoined his regiment at Raleigh, North Carolina, going by way of New York and Hiltonhead. He was with the regiment in all of its movements from Raleigh to Washington, D.C., and was in that city at the time of the Grand Review.

When the war was over Mr. McKindley returned to his home with a creditable military record, for he had ever been found loyal at his post and never faltered in the performance of any military task assigned him no matter how difficult it was. He returned to Benton Harbor, where he has since remained. He has never voted outside of the township. His first farm comprised twenty-five acres, which is now a part of his present farm. It was sold once but he afterward purchased it. For twenty-five years he lived on a forty acre farm. During that time he bought several tracts of land and developed his present property. He now owns one hundred acres of very rich and attractive land in the extreme southeastern part of Benton township, seven miles southeast of the city of Benton Harbor. This farm is improved with excellent buildings and indeed is equipped with all modern accessories and conveniences. He is quite well known as an extensive and successful fruit raiser and shipper, having now forty acres in fruit, including peaches and apples. This tract brings to him a good financial return annually. It lies just right for the purpose for which it is adapted. His apples are old trees, having been in bearing condition for nearly forty years. The orchard has paid well, the Baldwin apple proving exceptionally valuable. For twenty-five years he has successfully engaged in the cultivation of apples and his crops of this character annually bring to him a very gratifying return.

On the 10th of November, 1868, Mr. McKindley was united in marriage to Miss Helen Howard, a daughter of John F. and Sylvesta (Easton) Howard. The mother had four children, but never saw any of them for she was blind for sixty years. She died February 2, 1902, at the age of eighty-six years and six months. John F. Howard and his wife were both natives of New York, being married in Jefferson county, that state and they lived successively in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, coming eventually to the last mentioned state in 1852. A child was born unto them in each of the four states. Mr. Howard was for many years crippled with rheumatism. However, he possessed ability in the line of carpenter work that amounted almost to genius. He could only walk aided by a chair, but he would sit in a chair and cut the largest trees on his forty acres. He cleared much of this land, but he died young, passing away at the age of forty-five years and on the 3rd of September, 1859. The eldest child, Helen, was then fourteen years of age, the eldest son only ten and the youngest child three years of age. The mother would spin and knit for the neighbors and she did everything possible for her family, being very handy in many ways despite her blindness. The daughter Helen did the farm work and was also employed in different homes in the neighborhood. After Helen was married the brother, Frank A., purchased the home place, which he has since sold to his son-in-law, Mr. Nutting. Helen had to be the head of the family and she gave a home to her mother. Her two sisters died in childhood. Her brother, R. S. Howard, is now living in Coloma.

In the McKindley family were two children: Mary who is now the wife of Earl Nutting, who resides upon the old Howard homestead, and William Howard McKindley, who married Miss Cynthia Wees and operates the old home place with his father. There is one child of this marriage, a son, Myrl, while Mrs. Mary Nutting has two children, Francis McKindley and Ethelyn. The family is one of prominence, having been long been represented in the county, while genuine worth was won for its members a gratifying position in public regard. Mr. McKindley was highway commissioner of his township and is a Republican. He never missed but one election in Benton Harbor. For over half a century he has lived here and has witnessed many changes as the forest has been cut away, the land cleared and the farms developed, transforming Berrien county into a rich agricultural and horticultural district.