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John
'Henry' Minor |
John "Henry" Minor was born in Pickaway County, OH, the son of John and Lucretia (Morris) Minor.
He was a pioneer settler of Indiana and Missouri.
On Oct. 29, 1854, when he was about 24 years of age, Henry married 17-year-old Melinda Six (1837- ? ) in Hocking County, OH. Justice of the peace Samuel F. Stearns led the wedding rituals.
They became the parents of at least three children -- John Miner, Minerva Jane "Jennie" Lame and Clara Miner.
In 1858, the Minors bought a four-acre farm along the "Maysville and Zanesville Turnpike" in Pickaway. They sold this farm in 1860.
When the federal census was taken in 1860, Henry, Melinda and the three children were enumerated near the post office of Circleville, Pickaway County. The census-taker recorded Henry's occupation as "farmer."
Henry and Melinda acquired a 14-acre farm along the turnpike, in Pickaway, and sold it in 1864. When his father died unexpectedly in 1866, Henry was chosen to administer the estate, a task completed in 1868.
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| Aqueduct in Circleville, carrying Ohio Canal boat traffic over the Scioto River in the mid-1850s |
By 1870, they and their three children had left Ohio, and relocated to Indiana, where he generated income as a farm laborer. That year, they resided in Wea Township, near the town of Lafayette.
Later, Henry moved to Missouri, becoming a pioneer settler of Butler, Bates County. He is thought to have worked there as "a professional house renovator." Henry's sister Eliza (Minor) Swearingen also settled at Butler, in about 1884. A search of Bates County deeds by family researchers in 2009 shows that Henry did not purchase any property in the county.
The 1880 census of Butler, Bates County shows him married to Mary (1840- ? ), a native of Virginia. She may or may not have been Melinda. He had no occupation at that time, and there were no others in the household.
He may be the same Henry Miner who was driving a spring wagon on Dacotah Street on the Fourth of July 1883 when it turned over, injuring three young women. The Bates County Democrat said that "Persons cannot be too careful in driving a team through a crowd and should avoid racing, heading off, &c., as was done on the 4th."
Henry again was in the news in June 1884 when "assisting Sheriff Hanks at the court house," reported the Butler Weekly Times. "Mr. Miner is proficient in this line of duty."
Melinda's fate is not yet known.
Little else is known about Henry's life. On March 26, 1886, at the age of about 55, it's thought that he died at Butler. If so, in an obituary, the Butler Weekly Times said he had a "familiar face … known and liked by everybody in town…." The Times added that his "valuable [home renovation] services will be sadly missed by a score of good housewives this spring." Burial was in Oak Hill Cemetery. The Democrat added that "Deceased leaves a wife and several grown-up children."
~ Daughter Clara Miner ~
Daughter Clara Miner (1857- ? ) was born in about 1857 in Ohio.
At the age of three, as shown in the 1860 U.S. Census enumeration, she resided with her parents and siblings near Circleville in Pickaway County, OH.
Did she accompany her father to Missouri during the 1870s, and if so, is she the same Clara Miner known to have attended the Butler (MO) High School in the fall of 1873? Two years later, in mid-September 1875, the Bates County Democrat reported that "Miss Clara Minor left for Indiana on Tuesday to make it her permanent home." Evidence suggests that she tied the marital cord with John L. Wilkins ( ? - ? ), a business partner with H.M. Cannon, in the mercantile firm of Wilkins & Cannon.
That very same day, the Democrat said that a man we purport to be her future husband had left Bates County "for the eastern cities to purchase their stock of fall and winter goods. They propose to purchase as large a stock as any other house in town." He returned to Butler within a week or two, and then traveled to St. Louis that December to "lay in a heavy stock of Dry Goods, &c."
Within the year, the Butler Times-Press announced that "Miss Clara Miner" and "Mr. John L. Wilkins" were wed in Indianapolis on Oct. 31, 1876, and that the bride and groom were "both formerly of Bates county, Mo." On her marriage license she claimed to have been age 14 but in reality would have been 19.
The Wilkins & Cannon firm fell upon hard times. In July 1878, their real estate (owned by Cannon) was seized by the county sheriff under order of the circuit court, to be sold in favor of the firms John G. Allen & Son and Dodd & Brown.
Clara's and John's trail after that runs cold, and all of this conjecture needs to be confirmed.
~ Son John Miner ~
Son John Miner (1854- ? ) was born in about 1854 in Ohio.
His early years were spent in Pickaway County, OH, and as a six-year-old boy he is shown in his parents' farming household in the 1860 federal census enumeration. The record indicates that he had attended school within the year.
John faded from our view, but we will keep looking.
Copyright © 2000, 2005-2006, 2009, 2013, 2026 Mark A. Miner