Francis A. Mchenry

As printed in 1910

FRANCIS A. McHENRY. Francis A. McHenry, who for many years was a farmer of Phenix township, was born in White county, Illinois, September 27, 1828, a son of William and Susanna (Land) McHenry. The father was a native of Kentucky and was born in 1803, while the mother was a native of White county, Illinois, 181 1 being the year of her birth. In 1820 William McHenry settled in White county, and later came to Henry county, securing a claim of government land. There he passed the remainder of his life, being buried upon his own farm when death called him in 1868, for he had given of his land to make a cemetery. When he came to this state it was still a wilderness and Indians were frequently to be seen. His wife died in 1890. They were the parents of twelve children, eight of whom are now living. They were: Francis A., of this review; Coke, who Hves in Kansas; J. Benson, deceased; Charles Holiday, who lives in Cambridge; two who died in infancy; Elizabeth, the widow of Isaac Stafford, a resident of California; Mary, the widow of Brown Mapes and a resident of Davenport, Iowa; Julina, the wife of George Imel, of Rushville, Illinois; Emma, the widow of Silas Aldrich, of Geneseo, Illinois; Laura, the wife of Frank Cox, of Dakota; and Malinda, who is the wife of Absalom King, of Nebraska.

Francis A. McHenry received his education in the schools of Phenix township, and until he became of age he worked for his parents on the home farm. He then bought of his father one hundred and twenty acres of the land the latter had procured from the government and on this he lived until he relinquished the active duties of life and retired to the pretty house he had built in 1881. There the closing years of his life were spent in the enjoyment of the fruits of his arduous labors and of the pleasures of home. On the ist of October, 1893, he passed away and was buried in the McHenry cemetery, known as Oak Grove. Since his death his widow has carried on his interests. She is a woman of considerable business ability and her investments have brought her prot.

In 1858 Mr. McHenry wedded Miss Polly Ann Foster, who was born in Macoupin county, Illinois, March 22, 1837. She is a daughter of William Y. and Mary A. (Park) Foster, both natives of Kentucky, where the father was born February 14, 181 1, and the mother July 22, 1816. Mr. Foster was a teamster in early life, but came to Illinois, in 1830, settling in Macoupin county, where he pursued farming. He later removed to Galena and then to Phenix township, this county, where he passed the last five years of his life in the home of Mrs. McHenry. He died in February, 1905, and was buried in Oak Grove cemetery. His wife had died many years before, in 1877, and was buried in the cemetery at Morseville, Jo Daviess county, Illinois. They were the parents of ten children, only one of whom has passed away. Of these Mrs. McHenry was the eldest; Nancy is the widow of Wellington McCreery, and lives in Dubuque, Iowa; Isabelle married S. C. Gault, who is now dead, and she lives with friends; S. Ellen Foster is a dressmaker in Cripple Creek, Colorado; Julia A. is the wife of I. M. Rawlings and lives in Colorado; Martha married Milton Singer and passed away in 1893; Josephine is the wife of Harmon Hopkins and lives in Alma, Nebraska; Rosana is the wife of Edward Arnold and also resides in Nebraska; Henriette married Samuel Clay, now deceased, and she lives in Cripple Creek, Colorado; and Mary E is the wife of Frank Arnold and also makes her home in Colorado. Mr. Foster served in the Black Hawk war and as a republican occupied most of the county offices within the gift of the people. With his wife he was a devout member of the Methodist church and was a conspicuous figure in the early congregations.

Mr. and Mrs. McHenry had eight children: William, born April 26, 1859, in Henry county on the place where his mother now resides, died in 1903. Oscar, who was born October 4, 1860, lives with his mother. Alvin, born November 23, 1862, married Miss Lottie Weimer and lives in Wayne county, Illinois.

They are the parents of three children: Harry C, born in 1892; Helen Irene, born in 1899; and Lloyd Alvin, born April, 1903. Frank, the fourth child of our subject died in infancy. Mary F., born May 23, 1867, is the wife of Wilber L. Roberts and lives in Phenix township. Park, born December 19, 1869 is unmarried and lives with his mother. Ollie A., born January 20, 1873, married John A. McKibbon and lives in Atkinson township. She has three children — Robert Orrin, born November 1901; Gertrude M., born November 23, 1903; and [name withheld], born May 16, 1909. Anna May, the youngest of the family, was born May 2, 1876, and died on the 19th of that month.

One hundred years ago, in October, 1809, Mr. McHenry's maternal grandfather, R. Land, came to Illinois to make it his home. His descendants have continued the work of development which he began and when Mr. McHenry himself passed away the stories he had heard from him were tales of the far distant past. During his life, he, too, did his share in the progressive work of Phenix township, for besides being a farmer and stockman who knew how to make his efforts pay he was a man of public spirit. In his political views he was a democrat, while his religious allegiance as given to the Methodist church, it being the faith in which he had been reared.

As printed in History of Henry County, Illinois (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.