Leonard Wilbur "Len" Ragon (1874-1953)

Civil War Reunion	1885

The following information comes from the Surprise family CD-Rom created by Janet Umlauf:

Leonard Wilbur RAGON was born on 7 Jan 1874 in North Liberty, IN. He died on 10* Feb 1953 in Hammond, Lake, IN. He was burined on 13 Feb 1953 in Lowell Cemetery

* NOTE -- Leonard Ragon's wife's obituary lists his death date as Feb. 9, 1953, rather than Feb. 10 of that year.

This March 1, 1901 Lowell Souvenir article was found on page 11, column 1:

L.W. Ragon was at Rensselaer last Tuesday as an expert witness in the Babcock vs. Marshal newspaper libel case. The jury returned a verdict acquitting Bro. Marshal.

The following April 13, 1901, Lowell Souvenir articles were found

--on page 9, column 2:

MR EDITOR:--Please announce my name as a candidate for the office of City Clerk and Treasurer of the Town of Lowell, Ind., at the coming May, 1901, election. L.W. RAGON

(Note: This advertisement was repeated in subsequent issues of the newspaper.)

-- on page 10, column 2:

City Clerk Ragon has received his Justice of Peace docket and is now ready to deal out justice to any one who may present himself before his august Honor.

The following April 27, 1901, Lowell Souvenir article was found on page 11, column 3:

Did It Fool You?

EDITOR SOUVENIR:--With reference to a statement made by Brother Ragon, on the Tribune, April 25th, relative to Justices and other officials holding more than one office at the same time, I would say that the late Legislature of 1901 made and passed a law that all Town Clerks might qualify and hold office as Justice of the Peace, and all other laws of the same matter were repealed. It reminds us of a saying of our beloved Lincoln that "you can fool all of the people part of the time, and part of the people all of the time, but you canont fool all of the people all of the time."

M.J. SANDERS.

The following Aug. 17, 1901, Lowell Souvenir article appeared on page 3, column 1:

Our two usually good natured meat market men had a few words and a little "set-to" Monday morning over their Sunday closing agreement. One of them heard the other was having the Town Clerk prepare affidavits against him charging provocation and assault and battery. He thereupon hied himself over to Justice Sanders, called the prosecutor, lodged a complaint against himself, had the other party subpoenaed, pled guilty to the charge and was given a nominal fine. This was rather a joke on the Town Clerk, as he was thereby beaten out of a job; but he may get even on something else.

According to a Jan. 18, 1902, issue of the Lowell Souvenir (page 1, column 2), E.E. Ragon was the secretary of a Cedar Creek Republican Committee that met on Jan. 10. At that meeting S.C. Dwyer and L.W. Ragon were chosen as delegares to the district convention.

This information was found in the Dec. 28, 1916, Lowell Tribune, page 5, column 4:

Mr. and Mrs. L.W. Ragon and children visited her brother, U.D. Hurley and family in Valparaiso Sunday and Monday.

This April 29, 1943, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 5, column 3:

Cecil

This newspaper article, hand identified as being from the Feb. 12, 1953, Gary Post Tribune, was found in a scrapbook owned by Lowell Town Historian Richard Schmal:

Ragon Dies; Once Edited Lowell Paper

Lowell Tribune

Ragon's death followed a shock he received in his home Sunday afternoon when an oil burner exploded.

A lifetime printer, he learned the trade from his brother more than 50 years ago, he became associated with his father, H. Ragon, in editing the Lowell Tribune. In 1912 another brother, C.U. Ragon, purchased his father's interest in the paper and the two brothers continued to operate it until 1941.

At that time Ragon's nephew, Charles Surprise Jr., bought Leonard Ragon's interest in the paper and worked with him until 1948, when Surprise also purchased the interest of C.U. Ragon. Surprise's nephew is the present editor of the Tribune.

Survivors include Adelia Ragon, a poetress and author, who lives in Hammond; a daughter, Mrs. Azalia Richards of Whiting; one son, Max, of Columbus, O.; one granddaughter; two great grandchildren; one brother C.U. Ragon, of Lowell; and three sisters, Mrs. Minnie Collins of Little Rock, Ark., Mrs. Myrtle Buckley of South Bend and Mrs. Ernest Surprise of Lowell.

Funeral services will be at 2 pm. tomorrow from the Sheets Funeral Home. Burial will be in the Lowell Cemetery.

Another article on the same page of the scrapbook was hand-identified as being fromt a February 1953 issue of the Hammond Times:

Hammond Man Dies After Oil Stove Backfires

The victim, Leonard Ragon, 78, of 7249 Johnson Ave., Hammond, was not burned so seriously as to cause his death, hospital attaches said.

Dr. Benjamin W. Chidlaw, Hammond Deputy Coroner, planned an autopsy to seek the cause of Ragon's death.

Soot and sparks were blown about Ragon's face when the fuel oil stove backfired as he was bent over igniting it.

The following Feb. 12, 1953, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 1, columns 5-6:

L.W. Ragon, Former Tribune Publisher and Prominent Citizen, Dies in Hammond

Death closed the book on the final chapter of one who played a prominent role in Lowell's history, with the death Monday of Leonard W. Ragon, 79.

Educated in community schools, where for more than 30 years his father was a teacher, Len was inspired early in life to participate in civic affairs and take an active interest in Republican politics, by his public spirited father, H.H. Ragon, a Civil War captain, Republican State Representative of Southern Lake county, Cedar Creek Twp. trustee and founder of the Lowell Tribune.

Len served as the first secretary of Lowell's Volunteer Fire Department, retaining the office for more than two decades. For several years he was Clerk-Treasurer of the Town of Lowell and for 28 years was Editor of the Lowell Tribune. Through constructive editorials and several trips to the state capitol, he assisted in obtaining Lowell's present Carnegie Library.

Equally interested in social affairs, he held membership in the Lowell chapter of the Oddfellows, Modern Woodsmen and Knights of Pythias lodges.

After working in the Tribune office for several years, Len, in 1897, purchased half interest, entering into partnership with his father. Upon the retirement of the senior Mr. Ragon in 1914, the partnership continued with his younger brother Cordie, until January, 1942, when Len sold his interest to his nephew, Charles L. Surprise, grandson of the Tribune's founder.

Leonard W. Ragon was born Jan. 7, 1874, at North Liberty, Indiana, son of Howard Harrison Ragon and Jane Smith Ragon, formerly of Ohio. The family moved to Lowell in 1877.

In the year of 1898, on Sunday, June 26th, he was married to Miss Adelia Lee, also of Lowell, in a ceremony performed at Crown Point, with Rev. R.D. Utter officiating. They were the parents of two children, Max L. and Azalia.

For the past year they had resided in Hammond to be near their daughter. Death was attributed to shock caused by a small explosion or backfire from an oil stove. The accident occurred last Sunday afternoon and death came at 5:30 a.m. Monday at St. Margaret's hospital, Hammond.

Survivors include his widow; son Max L. of Dayton, Ohio; daughter, Mrs. Baron (Azalia) Richards of Whiting; a granddaughter, Mrs. Otto Ritter and two children, also of Dayton; three sisters: Mrs. Minnie L. Collins, Little Rock, Ark.; Mrs. E.A. (Lola) Surprise, Lowell; Mrs. Myrtle E. Buckley, South Bend; and a brother, C.U. Ragon of Lowell; besides many other relatives and a wide circle of friends.

Rev. Paul A. Reisen, pastor of the Lowell Methodist church, will officiate at memorial services to be held in the Sheets funeral home this afternoon, February 12th, at 2 p.m. Interment will be in the Lowell cemetery.

Last updated on March 4, 2008.

Go to Leonard W. "Len" Ragon, "Pioneer History Index," for further information.
Return to Lowell Biographies.

Leonard Wilbur “Len” Ragon (1874-1953)