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William Henry Arvin
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This biographical sketch is under development.
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William was born 17 September 1845 in Daviess County, Indiana, near the town of Loogootee.
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During the Civil War, Congress passed the Conscription Act of 1863, and he became subject to the nations first lottery to draft men into the Union Army. According to family tradition (as remembered by his youngest daughter Loretta), Will's number came up and, at the tender age of 17, he was subject to induction unless he paid a $300.00 exemption fee. Will's father and uncles chipped in to come up with the money.
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Married Margaret Ellen Yates on 27 January 1879. Children:
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Mary Ann was born 3 December 1879.
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Louis Edward was born 3 January 1881.
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Rose Emmaline was born 5 March 1882.
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Joseph Leo was born 8 January 1884.
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William Francis was born 1 September 1885.
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Elizabeth Jane was born 22 June 1887.
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Michael Sanford was born 8 December 1888.
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Margaret Mabel was born 22 April 1890.
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John Ambrose was born 11 September 1891
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Rita Odessa was born 28 April 1893.
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Loretta Catherine born 30 April 1896
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William and Margaret lived with his parents after they first were married, then moved out on their own. Eventually they bought a house somewhere southwest of St. John's church on the outskirts of Loogootee, which Loretta remembered as, "a white two-story house with a graveled circle drive on several acres of land."
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Will became a self-taught "horse and buggy" veternarian who traveled around rural areas near Loogootee. Loretta remembered the attic of the house being full of cattle horns which had been sawed off by Will and brought home for the kids to play with.
She also remembered an incident in which Will and her older brothers were working around the house, and a wagon loaded with rock was accidentally pulled over Will's hip, injuring him badly. In another incident, Will was kicked by a horse and suffered another hip injury, which restricted him permanently to bed. Loretta remembered Will as being bed-ridden all the time she knew him, getting out of bed only once that she could recall.
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Will's hip condition grew progressively 
worse each year. Loretta remebered her mother pulling passers-by off the street to come in and "pray for Will."
In February 1907 his condition was complicated by pneumonia, to which he succumbed on the twenty-third of the month..
He was buried in St. John's cemetery in Logootee, Indiana.
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Their oldest son Louis had moved to Kansas City Missouri, to pursue a degree in engineering, and after Will's death, Margaret decided to sell the homestead and move with all the children to Kansas City, "to start a new life and give her children more opportunities."
Margaret died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrage. She was buried at Calvary cemetery in Kansas City Missouri. After her death, youngest daughter Loretta, who was now married to Frank D. Jackson of Kansas City, had the body re-interred at Calvary next to Margaret, where they remain today.
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Robert Joseph Arvin, Jr.