Wilmer Lentz Daily was born to (Jacob) Bruner Daily
and Fannie Lentz. He married
Mary Day Mathews, daughter of Wakeman S. Mathews and Delilah Ann
Hall. He was father to 4 children; Mildred Josephine
Daily b. 20 Dec 1912 d. 14 Sep 1965, Francis (Bub) Irvin Daily
b. 18 Apr 1916 d. 16 Oct 1984, Lila Lee Daily b. 3 May 1921
d. 15 May 1997, and Robert Mathew Daily b. 13 Feb 1924
d. 18 Apr 1990. Wilmer owned his own business
(Midway Auto Shop) in Midway, IN, now known as Clarksville. Family
members recall a night that Wilmer returned home with the days earnings
from his shop. He ran into the house and told Mary, his wife
to get his rifle. He then ran back outside and began firing
his rifle. John Dillinger had followed him home with intentions of
robbing him of his earnings. Dillinger fled after Wilmer began firing
at his vehicle. Family stories report that Wilmer
owned the first automobile in Clark Co., IN and built a truck so sturdy
that it could pull other vehicles from the muddiest bog. Wilmer
was stricken with "elephantitis" of the leg. In family photos,
this is apparent. Mary would have to buy 2 pair of identical
trousers, rip the seam from one leg, cut the leg from the identical
pair, and insert it into the other pair. In his later years, he
was unable to move around much, so the burden of delivering supplies
to the Clark County Farm Bureau fell on his 2 sons, Francis (Bub) and
Robert. He owned trucks that had to be driven out of state (usually
Ohio and Illinois) to pick up supplies, then driven back to Indiana
and the supplies delivered. Stories told by his grown children
indicate that he was not an easy man to live with. Many times he refused
to eat the supper that Mary had made because it was cold or just not
cooked to his liking, so he would knock all the dishes off the table,
throw all the food away, and make Mary cook him something fresh. It is unknown
if this
was a result of his "condition" or not. To this point,
there has been no reports of this type of behavior in the Daily
males. Wilmer was buried in New Chapel Cemetery in
Utica Twp., Clark Co., IN. There is some controversy as to
where, exactly, his remains lay. Upon the death of his wife Mary,
their son Robert was called to the cemetery. He was told that
his father's remains were not located in the grave that is indicated. Robert
searched for Wilmer in the rain, using a long knife to
poke the ground to see if he could "hit" the concrete vault
containing his father's remains to no avail. It is believed that a
driveway was paved directly over his fathers remains. His
mother was laid to rest beside the military marker for Wilmer and
nothing has been done to find his remains. |