John R. HENDERSON, one of the enterprising business men of Mount Ayr, is a native of Ohio, born in Guernsey County, February 8, 1837, a son of Ebenezer and Jane (LEE) HENDERSON, both natives of Washington County, Pennsylvania, the father born in 1810, and the mother in 1812. They were among the early settlers of Ohio, and were residents of Guernsey County until 1849, when they removed to Adams County, Ohio. They subsequently settled in Mercer County, Illinois, where they lived till their death. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom five sons and three daughters lived to maturity.

John R. our subject, was the fourth child in his father's family. His education was obtained in the district schools which he attended during his spare time while not working on the farm. He remained with his parents till twenty-three years of age, and was married October 10, 1861, to Miss Elizabeth L. LESLIE, of Henderson County, Illinois. They are the parents of two children - Etta L., wife of G. H. HERRINGTON, of Nebraska, and Eddie H. After his marriage Mr. HENDERSON settled in Mercer County, Illinois, where he engaged in farming.

In 1862 he enlisted [as a Private from North Henderson, Illinois, on August 14, 1862] in the late [Civil] war, in Company C, Thirty-sixth Illinois Infantry, and joined his regiment in Kentucky. He participated in the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge when he was placed on detached duty. He was in the Atlanta campaign and in front of General Hood's army. He then went to Huntsville, Alabama, thence to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he was mustered out June 17, 1865.

After being honorably discharged, he returned to his farm in Mercer County, Illinois, and in the fall of 1865, removed to Marshall County, Iowa, and shortly afterward settled in Centre View, Johnson County, Missouri. In 1869 he removed to Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa, and in 1874 was elected Sheriff of Ringgold County, which office he resigned after filling it for sixteen months, and in the following fall engaged in his present grocery business, in which he is meeting with good success.

He is also engaged in dealing in stock, and is the owner of a fine farm of 160 acres, located in Jefferson Township. Both Mr. and Mrs. HENDERSON are members of the United Presbyterian church.

NOTE: John and Elizabeth HENDERSON's daughter Mary E. was born circa 1863, and their daughter Edie was born in Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa, circa 1877. Elizabeth's widowed mother Harriet LESLIE was residing with the family in 1880.

SOURCES:
Biography & Historical Record of Ringgold County, Iowa, p. 280, 1887.

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System Database

Amercian Civil War Soldiers, ancestry.com

1880 Federal Census, Mount Ayr, Ringgold Co. IA

WPA Graves Survey

Transcription and note by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2009

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