LANGDON, HENRY STEPHEN

LANGDON, COUCH, WHITNEY

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 1/24/2004 at 17:16:10

Biography reproduced from page 690 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Little is known of the early ancestry of the Langdon family in America. John Langdon of England was the great-great-grandfather of Henry S. Langdon, the subject of this sketch. On arrival from England John Langdon settled in Farmington, Connecticut, in the early days when the colony had a list of free men in each town made out and recorded. John Langdon had one son, Noah, who moved to Berkshire county, Massachusetts about the time of the Revolutionary war. His son, Jesse, was married and settled in eastern Massachusetts. He had four sons, Anson, Richardson, Hiram and Albert. The latter gained some prominence by being elected a member of the Massachusetts house of representatives. John Langdon, a collateral descendant of John Langdon of England, was one of the signers of the Constitution of the United States.

Anson Langdon married Sarah Couch, the result of this union being Henry Stephen, our subject and Martha Langdon. Henry Stephen Langdon was born September 28, 1821, in Tyringham, Massachusetts. He was married to Miss Mary A. Whitney, November 5, 1844, and to them were born the following children, Eugene W., Henrietta J., Ella C., Emma A. and Albert H. Our subject moved west to Illinois in 1852, settling in Somonauk, Dekalb county, where he engaged in farming. From there he went to St. Charles, Minnesota, in 1862, where he owned a drug store and where he remained until he came to Algona in 1875. For nearly twenty years he was with his family a resident of this place, engaging a greater part of the time in merchandising, and taking an active part in the business and social life. During these years he made many friends who knew him as a man of strict integrity, the supporter of all that was for the upbuilding of the community, the possessor of strong religious convictions, and the father of a family who ranked among the first. Mr. Langdon was a member of the Congregational church, and an ardent supporter of that organization. After an illness of many weeks, he died May 8, 1893 and in his death Algona lost an estimable citizen.