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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.
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 also 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 moved to Indiana, where he worked as a farm laborer. They resided in Wea Township, near the town of Lafayette, when the federal census was taken in 1870.
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 Bates County shows him married to Mary (?) who may well have been Melinda.
Melinda's fate is not yet known.
Little else is known about Henry's life. In 1886, it's thought that he died at Butler, and apparently was buried there. If so, at his death, 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."
~ Daughter Clara Miner ~
Daughter Clara Miner (1857- ? ) is lost to history for now.
~ Son John Miner ~
Son John Miner (1854- ? ) has faded from our view, but we will keep looking.
Copyright © 2000, 2005-2006, 2009, 2013 Mark A. Miner