Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed by Sharon Elijah September 20, 2020

Samuel Davis Henry, editor and proprietor of the Coon Rapids Enterprise and also for many years postmaster of Coon Rapids, was born in Shelby county, Indiana, October 10, 1854. He is a son of John D. and Mary (Cleaver) Henry, both of whom were born in Kentucky. The father was a carpenter by trade but devoted his attention during the principal part of his life to farming. He took up his residence in Shelby county, Indiana, but in 1868 removed to Ottawa county, Kansas, where he engaged in agriculture. In 1884 he retired from active labor, making his home at Coon Rapids. He is now eighty-five years of age. His wife died in 1863 at the age of thirty-five. She was a Quaker but he is a pronounced believer in Spiritualism. At the time of the Civil war he served for one year in the Union army. There were six children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Henry, three of whom grew to maturity, namely: Almira, who married George Casson and is now deceased; Samuel Davis, of this review; and Lyman, who is publisher of the Daily Herald of Charles City, Iowa. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Samuel Henry. In his family were two sons and a daughter, the names of the sons being John D. and James. The grandfather on the maternal side was a wagon maker and a general mechanic. He and his wife lived to be well advanced in years and both of them died in Indiana.

Mr. Henry of this review was fourteen years of age when he removed with his parents to Kansas and in the common schools of the Sunflower state received his preliminary educational training. His early education, however, has been supplemented by extensive reading and by observation, inquiry and contact with the world, so that today he is one of the best informed men on many subjects to be found in this part of the state. In 1874 he went to Des Moines, Iowa, where he followed the flour miller’s trade. In 1883 he became associated with his brother, Lyman, and they purchased the Coon Rapids Enterprise. In 1884 he acquired the interest of his brother in the paper and has since conducted it in his own name. The paper is published weekly and has a general circulation in the county, being one of the well established republican organs of Iowa. Mr. Henry has prospered financially and is the owner of the Coon Rapids Electric Light Plant and the Coon Rapids Garage. He is also a stockholder in the Bank of Coon Rapids.

On the 3d of October, 1876, Mr. Henry was married to Miss Mary E. Stimson, who was born at Hartford, Iowa, and is a daughter of William R. Stimson. The parents were both natives of Ohio and settled at Hartford, this state. The father served in the Civil war for three years, being wounded while discharging his duties as a defender of the Union. He died in Ohio but the mother is still living and makes her home at Dayton, Ohio. In politics Mr. Henry is a stalwart republican and has given his earnest adherence to that party ever since he cast his first ballot. He was appointed postmaster of Coon Rapids by President McKinley in 1897 and was reappointed by President Roosevelt, serving as postmaster until May 20, 1911, almost fourteen years. He has discharged the responsibilities of the office in a manner that has met the hearty approval of the officials at Washington and of the people of Coon Rapids. He lost his wife by death in 1898, and in June, 1911, was married to Miss Josephine C. Sever at Des Moines, Iowa.

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