Biographies
For
Muscatine County Iowa
1889



Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 252

H. D. HENDRIX, one of the honored pioneers of Muscatine County, is now residing on section 33, Seventy-Six Township. He is a native of Clermont County, Ohio, born in 1804, and is a son of Henry and Martha ( Day ) Hendrix. His paternal grandparents were John and Abagail ( Poe ) Day.

Henry Hendrix was born in Maryland in 1768. During the War of 1812 he was drafted into the army, but proved too old for service. He was united in marriage with Martha Day, who was born in Maryland , Dec. 25,1788, and nine children graced their union : John, Mary and Jesse are all deceased; H. D., of this sketch, was the fourth in order of birth; Ruth has also departed this life; Isaac is living in Rush County, Ind.; Eli and Abagail are deceased; and Elizabeth is the wife of Samuel Penry, a resident of Jamestown, Hendricks Co., Ind. The death of the father occurred in 1855, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years .

When twelve years of age our subject removed with his parents to Wayne Co., Ind., where he grew to manhood, assisting his father in the labors of the farm. When twenty-four years of age he led to the marriage altar Miss Theodosia Willits, and shortly afterard purchased a farm upon which the young couple commenced their domestic life. In 1843, selling his land in Indiana, accompanied by his family he came to Muscatine County, Iowa, locating upon a farm in Seventy-Six Township, where he purchased 320 acres of land, which still continues to be his home.

For only five years was Mrs. Hendrix permitted to enjoy life in her new home, her death occurring in 1848. By their union seven children were born: Angeline, who wedded William Rockfellow in 1848, and emigrated with her husband to Oregon, where she died in 1867; Charles M. married Hannah Collins, Dec. 225, 1857, and is now living in Greene County, Iowa; Martha J. became the wife of William Murray in 1849, and now resides in Dallas County, Iowa; William wedded Charlotte R. Willits in 1865, and makes his home in this county; Ellen became the wife of Jacob Wagner in 1860, and is living in Jackson Co., Ore,; Ira became the husband of Hannah J. Wills in 1866, and now lives in Seventy-Six Township; and Melissa, widow of Newton G. Long, residing in Adel, Iowa The mother of these children was a most estimable lady, and a kind and loving wife and mother. She will live in the memory of her husband and children until at last, when " length of years have made them tired of earthly joys, and the curtain of death gently closes around their last sleep of human existence," they, each in his turn, are laid beneath the sod.

After two and a quarter years, our subject realizing that a home from which an affectionate wife and kind mother has been taken is a barren spot, a desert without a single oasis, wedded Mrs. Margaret Whitaker, widow of I. S. Whitaker, the ceremony taking place May 27,1850. The lady is a daughter of John and Jane ( Duncan ) Dinwiddie, and by their union three children have been born, two of whom died in childhood. Mary M., the only surviving one, is the wife of James H. Letts. She was born in Muscatine County, Feb. 1, 1854, and was united in marriage March 1, 1877. Politically, our subject is a strong advocate and firm supporter of the Republican party, while religiously, he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his wife of the Presbyterian Church. He was one of the first settlers of this county, and for forty-five years has been numbered among its best citizens. His life has been an industrious one, and besides laboring for himself he has aided greatly in the advancement of his adopted county, furthering in all possible ways her enterprises, and endeavoring to advance her moral interests. He is now an old man, but as he glances back over his past record he need feel no remorse for past misdeeds, for his life has been such as any young man might do well to follow.


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