Joseph Francis Anspaugh as a young adult
Back in 1979, my great-great-grandfather, Joseph Francis Anspaugh (1890-1981), published a genealogical volume named "Faces Westward, Volume II". As far as I know, he was the first person to do in-depth genealogical research in my direct line. Ever since his early adulthood, he had worked to understand our family's history, and I have to thank him for much of the information I now have to use. This web site is in part dedicated to him, since he would have wanted someone to keep the research going. My father partly continued this research, and now I have taken up the family historian position. If he were not to have done the research he did, our history would be shrouded in the mist of time.
After spending part of his childhood in Shelby County, J.F. experienced what that county was like to live in, but he wanted to see more of the world. He married Lora May Jackson (1891-1964) and lived for a time in Greensburg, IN. To quote my father's website on his early adulthood, "In 1910, Joseph's career in the coffee and tea business began as he was hired by The National Tea Company in Richmond, Indiana. He later went to work for The Great American Tea Company and was transferred to Muncie, Indiana to serve as Sales Manager. During this time, he covered a three state territory and eventually ended up headquartered in Detroit, Michigan as the Store Manager of the Grand River Avenue store. From there, Joseph went to work for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company and managed their store on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit, Michigan until the end of 1918. He and Lora then moved back to Shelbyville, Indiana, where he went to work again for The Great American Tea Company until 1934. (3acoffee.com)". In 1934, with his sons Lawrence and Kenneth (1915-1989), J.F. started the 3-A Coffee Company, centered in Shelbyville, IN. He chose Shelbyville because, to paraphrase his own words, "there is no place better to live". That is why my current family lives in Shelbyville, IN. J.F. operated the company until 1961 when his wife became ill. There was a 45-year hiatus, and then my father reopened the company, once again in Shelbyville, IN.
Clearly, J.F. was the family patriarch who really defined what it was to be an Anspaugh. Although he was stubborn and opionated, he loved his family and had a great sense of humor. Although he died in 1981, at the ripe age of 91, he is still mentioned in family conversations today. My father, grandfather, and everyone else who knew him always have numerous and humerous accounts of the man. He even wrote a journal of his life experiences when he was 88 years old, and it is viewable on my father's coffee website. He and his wife had four children: Lawrence, Kenneth, Irene, and Margaret. To this day, many Anspaughs live in Shelby County, and are a very closely knit family. Even as the generations live on and spread out across the country, we won't forget this great man and how he defined who our family was.
The 3-A Coffee Company Storefront
Joseph and Lora Anspaugh with their great-grandson, (my father) Jeff Anspaugh, in 1963.
Joseph Francis Anspaugh later in life. This is probably the most well-known photograph of him.