COL. G. D. HENDRICKS
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Colonel George D. Hendricks, son of Captain David E. Hendricks, one of the first permanent settlers of Eaton, Preble county, Ohio, and the builder of the second house in the village, had a large experience of frontier life. Captain Hendricks was born at Middletown Point, Monmouth county, New Jersey, June 15, 1765. His father, grandfather, and several others of the family, emigrated from Holland to the British colonies in America, early in the seventeenth century, and through energy and foresight, acquired property and position in their adopted home. Captain Hendricks was a hero of two wars, and a pioneer who passed through the most rigid trials that beset the rugged path of life. All honor to him and to the noble class of which he was so high a type. Captain Hendricks settled at Camden in 1803, and remained until William Bruce laid out Eaton, where he shortly afterward moved and resided until his death, which occurred in 1845. Colonel Hendricks was born within the present town site of Camden, on the 3d of October, 1805, and came with his father to Eaton as a babe in arms. As he grew up he acquired, for the time, a good education, which he constantly improved by reading and observation, until he was, without doubt, as well-informed as any man then in the county. During the years of his early manhood he taught school, lectured on English grammar, gave instructions in writing, and at the same time kept up a diligent course of self-improvement. By the partiality of approving friends, he entered the field of politics, for which he was well-fitted by the variety of his knowledge, his unlimited understanding of human nature, and the possession of nearly all those qualities which combine to render a man popular. He was first elected auditor of the county, then sheriff, representative three times, and finally State senator. His military title of general was conferred by the General Assembly of his native State, superinduced, no doubt, by his military services in Texas with General Houston and A. Sidney Johnson, during the Texan Revolution in 1836-7. When not engaged in political affairs, Colonel Hendricks followed agriculture and dealing in lands. He seemed to possess remarkable foresight in conducting the latter business, and had, at one time, acquired a large property, but through the unsuspecting qualities of his nature and his desire to constantly assist others, he was financially ruined. The payment of security debts reduced his large means to a mere pittance, and in his old age he was obliged, or at least considered it necessary, to begin anew, and did so, opening a land agency in the west, which he has conducted with much of the energy and activity characteristic of him in his early years. He has succeeded in establishing a good business. Colonel Hendricks is in many ways a very remarkable and estimable man. He possesses a strong will and a cheery elasticity of nature, which have enabled him to bear up under adverse circumstances, and to recover from misfortune under which most men would become despondent. He is of a genial and hopeful disposition, and has lent great encouragement to others by the sturdy healthfulness of his own nature. He has always been noted for his practical benevolence, and has done a vast deal of good by bestowing such gifts as were within his power upon the worthy poor, as well as by encouraging the improvement and progress of individuals by his words. Socially he has been looked upon as a model of geniality and good humor, and being a fine conversationalist, has ever been a favorite and one of the leading spirits in whatever circle he has mingled. Colonel Hendricks was married September 4, 1839, to Almira Harbaugh. The off- spring of this union, were ten children.
Contributed by Lisa Varnes-Rex from "History of Cass County, Iowa. Together With Sketches of its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens." Springfield, Ill.: Continental Historical Company, 1884, pg. 703-704.
