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Marietta (Younkin) Porterfield |
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| Transcribed Bible record of the births of the elder Porterfield children - National Archives |
Marietta's five known offspring with William included Robert Shannon Porterfield, Jerome Porterfield, Clara I. Henry, Edward Porterfield and Charles E. Porterfield.
Census records for 1850 show the family in Findlay, with William working as a merchant.
When the federal census enumeration was made in 1860, the Porterfields dwelled on a farm in Blanchard Township, Hardin County, OH, receiving their mail at the Dunkirk post office. Swiss-born Maria Sigler, age 71 and inform, resided in the household that year.
Circa 1864, the family relocated to Nebraska. They first settled in Council Bluffs, where in 1867 through 1869 he was county treasurer. From there they moved to Fremont, Dodge County.
The U.S. Census of 1880 shows William and Marietta and adult sons Jerome and Charles in Fremont, in a home on Fifth Street. William earned a living for a few years as a merchant.
The pair traveled to Council Bluffs in June 1881 to see their son James. Reported the Fremont Weekly Herald, "They will remain to see the Tournament, and then proceed to Ohio to visit the scenes of their early life and see relatives and friends. Mr. Porterfield is now 80 years of age." They returned home in October.
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President Grover Cleveland
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Marietta and William returned to Findlay in the late summer of 1884. While there, they visited with Marietta's brother-in-law, Absalom P. Byal. The Weekly Jeffersonian reported at that time that William "is aged 83 years, but hale and hearty, and in the full enjoyment of all his faculties, except that he is a little hard of hearing."
Again traveling in March 1885, they went to Chicago for a long visit in the home of A.P. Willoughby at Hyde Park. In September 1885, William delivered a historic document to the local newspaper office, a warrant dated Oct. 24, 1744 and issued at Fairfax, VA. The Weekly Herald said that the "document was rescued by one of the colonel's sons at the battle of Fairfax court house and was preserved for its antiquity. The warrant was issued in his majesty's name and the paper, writing and spelling is quaint and peculiar to the age in which it was written 141 years ago.
William suffered from sore muscles and senility toward the end. While shoveling snow in the winter of 1887, he received a sprain which left him confined to the house. He died in April 1888 in the home of his married daughter Clara. The Weekly Herald eulogized that:
"Col. Porterfield" has been for many years one of the best-known and best-respected men in this community, where his genial character and integrity were so universally recognized. For a man of his age -- 86 years -- he has benerally been quite rugged, and has always been energetic, being a familiar face upon our streets up to a short time before his final illness. He had recently returned from Colfax Springs, Iowa, where he received considerable benefit for the rheumatism with which he was suffering, but has been quite weak ever since his return. All the members of his family were present during his last hours.
Funeral rites were conducted in the family home, led by Rev. Braden.
Marietta lived for another 16 years as a widow, remaining in their East Fifth Street dwelling. She broke her forearm one day in October 1895 when cleaning her house and accidentally stepping into an open hot air register.
After developing pneumonia, she died at the age of 88 on Jan. 15, 1905. An obituary was printed in the Fremont Evening Tribune. The obituary aid she had been a resident of Fremont for the past three decades. Burial took place in Fremont's Ridge Cemetery.
~ Stepson Samuel "Newton" Porterfield ~
Stepson Samuel "Newton" Porterfield (1825-1897) -- often shortened to "S.N." -- was born on Feb. 19, 1825 in Martinsburg, Knox County, OH. His birth was recorded in the family Bible.
He and his brother James migrated to the West Coast, in the California Gold Rush of 1848-1849, working in 1850 as a merchant in Calaveras County, CA. In young manhood he also went to Wisconsin for a time.
In January 1854, at the age of 27, in Bellevue, NE, he was joined in wedlock with Mary D. Hatch (Jan. 8, 1831-1915), a native of Erie, PA. The pair "had the distinction of being the first white couple to be married in the state of Nebraska," said the Council Bluffs Nonpareil. She had come west in 1850 to teach at Bellevue College, south of Omaha, across the river from Iowa.
Their brood of offspring included Frank W. Porterfield, F. "Paul" Porterfield, Mark Porterfield and Mary Lucille Bullock.
They established a home in Canesville, later renamed Council Bluffs, in April 1854, with Mary joining the Christian Science Church. By 1860, working as a provisions dealer, they dwelled in Council Bluffs, with him continuing in this occupation until the outbreak of the Civil War. In the early 1870s, they moved away from Council Bluffs and ran hotels in Creston and Colfax. In 1870, Newton was listed by the census-taker as a retired miller, and in 1880 as a furniture dealer.
After the Colfax hotel building was destroyed in a fire, they migrated to Atlantic, and after a few years came back to Council Bluffs. He continued in the hotel business, operating the Pacific and Ogden houses. At one point he was the tollkeeper on the bridge between Council Bluffs and Omaha. Their dwelling-place was on the corner of First Avenue and Seventh Street. He served a term as county treasurer and two as a city councilman. Mary received a bequest of $800 from the estate of his sister Clara Henry in 1889. They are known to have traveled to Fremont for the funeral of his brother-in-law John C. Henry in June 1880. Circa 1890, he was a ticket taker on the Council Bluffs and Omaha Bridge, employed by the Omaha and Council Bluffs Railway and Bridge Company. When the automobile became commercially available, he went to work for the local motor company in town.
Sadly, Newton died at their 707 First Avenue home on Aug. 26, 1897. The Nonpareil said in an obituary that "Council Bluffs loses another well known and respected citizen who has made this city his home for many years. Mr. Porterfield has been ailing for the last eight months and his end was not wholly unexpected. He was one of the oldest residents of the city, having come to Council Bluffs in 1854, when it was little more than a mere village."
Mary survived her husband by 18 years. Her final years were spent in the Waterloo residence of her son Frank. There, she died on July 15, 1915. The Nonpareil eulogized that she was a "pioneer resident of Council Bluffs... She was of a very sunny, happy disposition and the family was a favorite with the people of the city."
Stepson Dr. Frank W. Porterfield (1857-1937) was born in about 1857. He married Alice Sigwalt (1861- ? ). Their two offspring were Mrs. Milo Smith and J.S. Portrfield. Frank became a physician and in 1880 practiced in Council Bluffs. By 1899, he had relocated to Atlantic, IA, and was active with the Iowa State Medical Society, chairing the Expert Testimony Committee. He also was active with the Knights of Pythias, and won a hotly contested election for the office of statewide grand chancellor with Frank W. "Vinegar" Smith of Davenport. In connection with this fight, his pen-and-ink portrait was printed in the Cedar Rapids Gazette on Aug. 14, 1901. He won the vote by a margin of 407-225. Then in 1904, he ran for railroad commissioner, but the nomination went instead to Nathaniel S. Ketchum of Marshalltown. When he again moved in 1912, to Waterloo, the Marshalltown Evening Times-Republican called him 'one of the most prominent physicians of southwestern Iowa" and that he "has been quite prominent in Iowa politics. He is at present the Cass county member of the Ninth district congressional committee. He has several times been seriously talked of for congressman in the Ninth district." For 25 years, up to his death, he was employed as division surgeon of the Illinois Central Railroad. As well, he was an examining physician with the Rock Island and Great Western Railroads. With the nation engaged in World War I, he also served as chairman of the local draft board. His home was in the Hotel Ellis in Waterloo. He died in Chicago's Illinois Central Hospital on Dec. 21, 1937. His funeral was led by Rev. Harry J. Moore of the Westminster Presbyterian Church, who said that "It is easy for a minister to speak at this service for one who was a physician. Luke was a great physician. Jesus also was called a great physician for it is said that he went about doing good and tht he healed many. The professional which Dr. Porterfield followed was one of service in relieving pains of men. He had carefully fitted himself in preparation necessary to service.... Beneath his bluff exterior, Dr. Porterfield had a very kindly heart. His long record of continuous service, night and day, to a great host of men on the railroads which he served showed evidence of his constant care and thought." The remains were cremated, and his photo appeared in an obituary in the Waterloo Courier.
Stepson Fred "Paul" Porterfield (1865-1929) was born in about 1865 in Council Bluffs. In 1880, at the age of 15, he earned income as a telegraph messenger in Council Bluffs. He later became a "pioneer business man" of Atlantic. Fred entered into marriage with Nellie W. (1878-1958). One known son was Frank P. Porterfield. Sadly, in the fall of 1929, he made the decision to end his life. Reported the Associated Press in a story printed in the Muscatine Journal and the Lincoln (NE) State Journal, he "was found dead at his home, his head in the oven of a gas stove and the jets turned on. A pillow had been placed inside the oven to rest his head. The body was fully dressed indicating he had just arisen as the bed had been occupied." Burial was in the local Atlantic Cemetery.
- Step-grandson Frank P. Porterfield (1898- ? ) was born in about 1898. During World War I, in June 1917, he joined the U.S. Army as a member of the 168th Infantry, Company M, and performed as a bugler. He was deployed to Europe and took part in fighting around Sergy, France. He and Sgt. Oscar Johnson "made a little raid of their own and captured four German machine guns with their crews, returning to their own lines unharmed," reported the Des Moines Register. Circa 1929, Frank resided in Peoria, IL.
- Stepdaughter Marjorie Porterfield ( ? - ? ) was born in (?). On Oct. 25, 1922, at the age of 19, she was united in matrimony with Arthur Harry Sulhoff ( ? - ? ) of Council Bluffs. In announcing the marriage, the Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil said the pair "were quietly married Wednesday afternoon at the Fifth avenue parsonage, Rev. R.E.Harvey officiating. They were accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. William Page. A dinner was given that evening at 6 o'clock by Mrs. M.E. Sulhoff, 294 Harrison street, in their honor, cover being laid for ten." They relocated to Chicago and were there in 1929.
Stepson Mark Porterfield (1867-1889) was born in 1867. He grew up in Council Bluffs. Grief blanketed the family when he died suddenly at the age of 22 in Council Bluffs, on Jan. 29, 1889. His funeral services were held in the family home, with Rev. Dr. Phelps providing a "touching address," said the Council Bluffs Nonpareil. Burial was in Fairview Cemetery.
Stepdaughter Mary Lucille "Lou" Porterfield ( ? -1952) was born in (?) in Council Bluffs, IA. As a young woman, Lou was employed as supervisor of music in the public schools of Council Bluffs. On Jan. 17, 1906, she wed William Culver Bullock ( ? -1933), with the ceremony held in Atlantic. The young couple dwelled in Lisco, NE in 1915 and put down roots near Oshkosh, NE, where they were longtime ranchers. One known son was William P. Bullock. William died in 1933, and Lou relocated into the town of Oshkosh, where she resumed her work as a private music instructor. In time she went to dwell with her son in Scottsbluff, NE, at the address of 2014 Avenue D. Sadly,, she died at the age of 78, in a local hospital, on Nov. 23, 1952. Rev. W.C. Heidenreich led the funeral rites. Her obituary appeared in the Scottsbluff Star-Herald. Son William went on to serve with the Scotts Bluff County Extension Service.
~ Stepson James Porterfield ~
Stepson James Porterfield (1830-1887) was born on Jan. 10, 1830. A notation of his birth was recorded in the family Bible.
In 1850, he made a home with his father and stepmother in Findlay and earned a living as a clerk.
He was married.
The federal census enumeration of 1860 shows him living next door to his mother and stepfather in Blanchard, Hardin County, OH, and working in the lumber business. He migrated to Nebraska during the 1860s. At one time he lived in Fremont, where in 1871 he announced he was opening his own dry goods business, having withdrawn from his former one, Porterfield & Newman. Later by 1881, he migrated to Council Bluffs. He and his parents are known to have attended the "tournament" in Council Bluffs in June 1881.
At the age of 57, he died in Council Bluffs on Aug. 18, 1887. Funeral rites were conducted in the home of his brother S.N. Porterfield at the Bluffs. News of his demise was published in the Fremont Daily Herald. and Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil, the latter of which said that "a very large concourse of friends of the deceased attended the last sad rites. Rev. G.W. Crofts delivered a touching discourse, and a choir rendered several appropriate selections."
~ Stepdaughter Catherine A. (Porterfield) Willoughby ~
Stepdaughter Catherine A. Porterfield (1834-1892) was born on Nov. 10, 1834 in Ohio.
She married Alfred Parsons Willoughby (May 12, 1827-1916). He was a native of Hartford, CT.
Their home in 1880 was in Davenport, IA. There, he was employed as manager of the Pioneer Relief Association. Then for many years, in the early 1880s and onward, they lived in the Hyde Park section of Chicago, at the address of 4020 Cottage Grove Avenue.
They were the parents of Minnie Willoughby, Clara Fowler, Mollie Willoughby and Maud Willoughby.
The Willoughbys hosted her parents for a visit in the winter of 1885, as noted in the gossip columns of the Fremont Weekly Herald.
Sadly, she became seriously ill in about 1890 and suffered for several years until the end. She died on Feb. 2, 1892, her daughter Clara having traveled from Fremont, NE to be with her. The body was interred in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago.
As a widower, A.P. moved to Sheffield, IL and was there in 1913. At the age of 87, in August 1913, he is known to have traveled by train to Fremont via Omaha, and then when a hotel was not available, convinced a friend to take him on to the Fowler home. Said the Fremont Herald, "Mr. Willoughby seems to take keenest delight in travel and perpetrating happy surprises upon his relatives." A.P. died on Jan. 20, 1916. The funeral was held in the Fowlers' residence on Nye Avenue, with burial in Ridge Cemetery.
Stepdaughter Minnie Willoughby (1860- ? ) was born in about 1860.
Stepdaughter Clara Willoughby (1863-1943) was born on Feb. 1, 1863 in Lacon, IL. On Feb. 8, 1888, at the home of her parents in Chicago, she entered into marriage with Willard Horton "Will" Fowler (1861-1939). Rev. Williams, of the Chicago Congregational Church, led the nuptials. In announcing the union, the Fremont newspaper said the wedding "was a quiet affair, the nuptials being solemnized in the presence of a small number of intimate friends and relatives.... The groom is a young man who was born and raised in this vicinity. He is a "home product" of whom all his friends are proud, and is one of the best young men Fremont has turned out. For several years past he has held responsible positions in Fremont banks and has always distinguished himself for his efficiency and strict liability. He is now secretary of the Western Trust & Security Co. in which position his honor, integrity and ability are most highly appreciated by all connected with the institution. The bride has spent two or three winters in Fremont with her aunt, Mrs. Henry, and has become a general favorite in society here." Two known children of this union were Alfred Fowler and Ruth Clarke. They were members of the Christian Scientist Church, and she belonged to the Lewis and Clark Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was an early member of the Charity Club and served one term as president of the American Legion auxiliary. Their lives were turned upside down when their son Alfred died of pneumonia after serving in Italy during World War I. Sadly, Clara died in the home of her first cousin John "Rex" Henry in Frmeont on April 25, 1943.
Stepdaughter Mary L. "Mollie" Willoughby (1865-1928) was born on May 16, 1865. She grew up in Hyde Park near Chicago. She is known to have spent the late months of 1888 and early weeks of 1889 in Fremont, NE with her married sister Clara Fowler. She appears to have remained single her entire life. In 1914, she lived in Sioux City and made a visit to the Fowler home in Fremont. Death enveloped her at age 62 on Jan. 19, 1928. Burial was in Ridge Cemetery in Fremont.
Stepdaughter Maud Willoughby (1874- ? ) was born in about 1874.
~ Stepson David W. Porterfield ~
Stepson David W. Porterfield (1840- ? ) was born on Sept. 24, 1840. His birth was recorded in the family Bible.
He spent his growing-up years in Findlay, Hancock County, OH. Nothing more of his life is known.
Research by others hints that David may have passed away in 1900 in Vernon, Clinton County, OH, but this is not confirmed.
~ Son Robert Shannon Porterfield ~
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Robert Shannon Porterfield Courtesy William Jones |
In adulthood he stood 5 feet, 6¼ inches tall and sported a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. On Nov. 12, 1861, in Dunkirk, OH, he joined the Union Army during the Civil War. He was placed in the 82nd Ohio Infantry, Company G and attained the rank of corporal. Very little is known of his service, except that in July 1864 he was stationed in Atlanta. There, on July 5, 1864, he claimed to have been stricken with sunstroke and "was never in hospital, but was in ambulance, unable to march." The regimental surgeons prescribed cold compresses. He remained with his regiment for the next six months and received his honorable discharge in Savannah, GA on Jan. 2, 1865 and returned home. Thereafter he claimed that he had contracted heart disease while in the service.
He first lived in Galion, OH for a year and then in 1866 moved to Council Bluffs, IA on the outskirts of Omaha, NE, staying there three years. In 1869 he went to Chicago. His whereabouts in 1870, when the United States Census was taken, have not yet been ascertained. He made another move in 1873 to Fremont, NE. For two more years, he was in Denver and then for the next year in Virginia City, MN, where he worked as a railway clerk for the government. He then accepted employment as a postal clerk with the Wabash Railroad in Indiana and boarded in the home of his future mother-in-law.
On June 3, 1874, in Tippecanoe, Lafayette County, IN, at the age of 31, he was united in the bonds of holy matrimony with 22-year-old Mary Bridgette Flynn (Sept. 20, 1851-1921), a native of Utica, NY who grew to adulthood in Lafayette. Rev. William C. Dickinson officiated the nuptials, held in the residence of David H. Flynn, and May Johnson is among those known to have been present.
Two known sons in this family were David Clarence Porterfield, born in Indiana, and Robert Rex Porterfield, born in Colorado. Robert's cousin Mrs. J.E. Hinkins later recalled that Robert and Mary "lived kindly, loving and helpful to each other; that their two sons ahve been brought up to be a credit and honor to their parents; that they were a kind a loving family."
When the federal census enumeration was made in 1880, the family was living on a farm in Nebraska in Cedar Township, Saunders County. At that time, 20-year-old Henry Schuyler lived under their roof and provided farm labor. Mary is known to have received a bequest of $500 from the estate of Robert's sister Clara Henry in 1889. He was in Denver in 1890 but later that year, on Aug. 8, 1890, in Nebraska, he was awarded a military pension. [Invalid App. #865.467 - Cert. #972.943]
In 1889-1890, after Robert's sister Clara Henry died, Robert's sons received an inheritance and bought a cottage house in Hyde Park near Chicago, which they gave to Robert and Mary. For the next 24 years, up to his death, he was employed as a ticket agent and expressman by the United States Express Company. He also was a postal clerk and worked closely with friend and letter carrier James P. McGrath. In their years in Hyde Park, recalled friends Frank W. and Amy Lane, "Mr. Porterfield worked 'down town' ... and his wife was a person who seldom went down town to the place where her husband worked, nor was she a person who visited her neighbors, as she was wedded to her home & family."
During that time he is known to have received medical treatment at Hahnemann Hospital. But for five years leading up to 1898, he wrote that he had "done no work and have earned nothing towards my support for past 5 years and for the reason over this period I have been continuously entirely disabled from my occupation." Robert was active with army veterans and held a membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, George Meade Post 444. Their address in their early years in Chicago was 5201 Dreel Avenue and in 1907-1914 was at 5530 Ellis Avenue, Chicago. The pair held a membership in the Church of the Redeemer Episcopal Church. They bought their groceries at Emert S. Pfan's store at 941 East 55th Street and where Robert's pension checks were cashed. Their fire insurance was carried by John B. and Clara E. Osborne.
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| Letter by Robert's brother-in-law, on GAR stationery, and a flyer sent by a lawyer to solicit Mary's case in trying to secure a widow's pension. Courtesy National Archives |
As of 1905, he received monthly checks of $8 as his pension. In undergoing regular medical examinations by military surgeons, to remain eligible for his pension, he was checked for disease of the rectum, rheumatism of the left shoulder and two fistulas at the anus. A doctor in 1905 observed "Moderate debility from age. Nutrition fair. Muscular strength somewhat impaired. No apparent loss of memory or mental failure. Special senses well preseerved. Chest symmetrical, no cough, rales or expectoration."
At the death of his mother in Fremont, NE in 1905, he traveled to attend the funeral. Sadly, suffering from kidney disease ("parenchymatous nephritis"), chronic diabetes and bowel abscess, he died at home at the age of 71 on July 11, 1914. A one-paragraph obituary appeared in the Chicago Tribune, which reported that he "came to Chicago twenty-four years ago..." The body was transported back to Lafayette for burial in the Spring Vale Cemetery, with David H. Flynn and John M. and May Johnson in attendance.
The widowed Mary then petitioned to receive her late spouse's pension, and it was granted after some delay. [Widow App. #1.036.188 - Cert. #787.901] Chicago and Lafayette friends Winfield Scott Blocker, John M. Johnson, May Johnson, Frank W. and Amy Lane, and Thomas Stenhouse stepped forward to write letters and give written testimony of support in her claim. Her brother David H. Flynn, self-employed with D.H. Flynn & Company, was an insurance agent in Lafayette for the Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Company and wrote a letter on company stationery. He wrote a similar letter in his role as adjutant of the John A. Logan Post of the GAR. Mary survived her spouse by seven years. She surrendered to the angel of death in her residence at the age of 67 on May 15, 1921. Her obituary in the Lafayette Journal and Courier said she was the "sister of David H. Flynn" and that her "demise was caused by a complication of diseases." Her remains also were laid to rest in Spring Vale.
Son David "Clarence" Porterfield (1877- ? ) was born on March 1, 1877 in Indiana. He grew up in Chicago and was employed as a draftsman at the age of 23 in 1900. As of 1915-1921, he was in New York City. Clarence was in Evanston, IL in 1958 at the death of his brother.
Son Robert "Rex" Porterfield Sr. (1888-1958) was born on April 10, 1888 in Colorado. He married Jeannette Wall ( ? - ? ). Together, they produced two children -- Robert Rex Porterfield Jr. and Marie Zeiler. The Porterfields dwelled in Chicago in 1921. The family was blanketed in grief when son Robert Jr. was killed in a parachute invasion of Germany in the last month of World War II in Europe. Death cleaved Rex away in New Orleans at the age of 70 on Oct. 28, 1958. Following funeral services in the Church of the Redeemer at 56th and Blackstone Avenue, burial was held in Lafayette's Spring Vale Cemetery. An obituary was published in the Chicago Tribune.
- Grandson Robert Rex Porterfield Jr. ( ? -1945) was born on (?). He studied at Purdue University in young manhood and was admitted to membership in the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. During World War II, he joined the U.S. Army and was a member of the 507th Parachute Infantry. On March 24, 1945, he was killed in a jump at Wesel, Germany. His remains were not brought back to the U.S. until 1948 for interment in Lafayette, IN. Services were held in Chicago's Church of the Redeemer, with an obituary published at that time in the Chicago Tribune. Robert is depicted in a painting, "Down to Earth," by watercolor painter Robert Baldwin, published in the World War II Magazine article "The Drop Zone in August 2021 by James M. Fenelon.
- Granddaughter Marie Porterfield ( ? - ? ) wed (?) Zeller.
~ Son Jerome Porterfield ~
Son Jerome Porterfield (1845-1912) was born on July 24, 1845 in Findlay, OH.
He was a lifelong bachelor, In 1867, he accompanied his parents in a move to Council Bluffs, IA and in 1870 to Fremont, NE. At the age of 34, in 1880, he lived with his parents in Fremont and earned a living as a livestock dealer. He also was an implement dealer in partnership with his nephew Rex Henry. Said the Fremont Tri-Weekly Tribune:
Mr. Porterfield possessed exceptionally genial qualities and was a great favorite in certain circles. He was a close student of the markets and for years had been conspicuous at the offices where the daily reports were received. To his associates he was familiarly known as "Jerry."
At the death of his married sister Clara Henry, Jerome in 1889 received a bequest of $3,000 from the estate. He made news in 1893 when traveling to What Cheer, IA to superintend construction of an opera house under contract to Oliver Smith. He often spent his summers at Hot Springs, AR, and held memberships in the local lodge of the Eagles.
Having resided in Fremont for more than four decades, many in the same household as his nephew, he died from the effects ot an "arterial ailment" on April 17, 1912. Funeral services were held in their home, led by Rev. W.H. Frost, with interment in Ridge Cemetery. His brother Robert traveled from Chicago to attend the rites.
~ Daughter Clara I. (Porterfield) Henry ~
Daughter Clara I. Porterfield (1848-1889) was born on April 22, 1848 in Ohio.
She entered into marriage with John C. Henry (1844-1880), son of Andrew Henry and a native of Tompkins County, NY.
They were the parents of an only son, John "Rex" Henry.
John was a cattleman in Fremont, considered the local "cattle king." In addition to his duties herding his stock, he also made business trips in May 1878 to Oregon and Washington Territory. He made news in 1878 when traveling to Chicago via railroad with 14 carloads of cattle, with the Fremont Daily Herald saying "This is only a small per cent of the cattle he will ship this season." Early in 1880, he traveled to Oregon with Lee and Blewett to launch a drive of several thousand head of cattle to Nebraska.
Then in May 1880, he went to their ranch near North Platte, while Clara stopped in Columbus to see relatives. He told friends that he expected to gather together 6,000 head of cattle during the annual spring roundup. The event took place near Finch's Ranche, on the south Loop at the mouth of Ash Canyon, about 50 or 60 miles north of Willow Island.
Grief cascaded over the family when the 36-year-old John was cut away by the angel of death on June 12, 1880. The Columbus Journal reported that, while with his brother Robert cutting out their cattle from a larger herd, with his horse in a gallop on the range:
...his horse stumbled, pitching him over his head, Mr. Henry falling squarely upon his head, as we are informed upon the solid ground. He was not conscious afterwards, and died within three hours. They were at the time eight miles from the ranche and about 55 miles from Plum Creek, the nearest railroad station. A spring wagon was sent for to the nearest ranche, and one of the employes carried water in his hat a distance of five miles, and everything done which could be, under the circumstances, but without avail. His remains were brought to this city on Sunday, and taken on Monday to Fremont, his home, where they were buried yesterday, a very large concourse of friends and acquaintances witnessing the last solemn rites to the generous-hearted and mild-mannered man who was so suddenly precipitated from vigorous life into that unconsciousness which precedes the final dissolution of the spirit from the body. The deceased was a man of very excellent character, whose memory will long be cherished by his hosts of friends.
Funeral services were held at the Occidental Hotel in Fremont. The Weekly Herald eulogized that "In the death of John C. Henry, this community especially, and the State at large, loses on of its most worthy citizens, and a true-hearted and honorable man." Clara published a card of thanks in the Weekly Herald, expressing her "grateful acknowledgement for the universal kindness and sympathy extended by the citizens of Fremont to them in their bereavement."
She outlived her spouse by nine years. Clara supervised the installation of a large, Vermont hurricane granite marker in Ridge Cemetery at her husband's grave. It was said to be a square shaft some six feet in height, with a heavy base and highly polished faces. Produced in Omaha, at a cost of $1,200, it was said to be "one of the handsomeest among several other very fine monuments in Ridge Cemetery, which has been much improved in the past year," noted the Weekly Herald.
In January 1884, her niece Clara Willoughby came from Hyde Park in Chicago to spend the winter. In January 1887, she returned to Findlay for a visit, and in July 1888 went to Hyde Park to see her sister (?) Willoughby. She became dangerously ill in in late 1888 and became somewhat of an invalid, seeking medical relief which never came. She traveled to Chicago in May 1889, with the news printed in the gossip columns of the Fremont newspaper. Thanks to a special act of kindness from local railroad freight agent Morehouse, she came back home in a special car in July 1889, but her health was still poor. She died at the age of 41 years, four months and 29 days on Sept. 20, 1889. Funeral services, by the hand of Rev. N.H.G. Fife of the Presbyterian Church, "were simple but impressive," said the Tri-Weekly Tribune. "A number of beautiful floral tributes were sent in by friends. The procession was a very long and imposing one." Burial was in Fremont's Ridge Cemetery. Among those traveling to attend were Mr. and Mrs. A. Henry of Omaha, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Henry and children of Columbus, NE, Dr. and Mrs. Porterfield from Atlantic, IA, Mary Porter of Council Bluffs, IA, Viola Coffin of Omaha and Mr. and Mrs. K.C. Morehouse, also of Omaha.
Son John "Rex" Henry (1878-1946) was born on Feb. 1, 1878 in Fremont. The baby weighed in at 8 lbs. He was just two years old at his father's tragic death and 11 when his mother died, and his care was entrusted to his grandfather Andrew Henry of Columbus, NE. Rex also may have been raised by his bachelor uncle Jerome Porterfield. As a young man, he was employed by the pioneering real estae firm Richards-Keene and Company. At high noon on March 29, 1906, in Omaha, he tied the marital knot with Lettie Floyd Moulton ( ? - ? ), daughter of W.D. Moulton. Rev. T.J. Mackay officiated at the ceremony held in the home of E.M. Abbott. In announcing the union, the Fremont Tri-Weekly Tribune said the bride "was lovely in a dress of white crepe de chine and was attended by Miss Minnie Bunt of Fremont who wore white net over silk.... Mrs. Henry is a bright and charming young woman who is well known in Fremont where she lived for a number of years and was graduated from the High school. She possesses many lovable virtues and was a favorite in her social circle here. She moved to Omaha with her mother about a year ago where she has made her home since. Mr. Henry is one of Fremont's wealthiest and most popular young men. He attended the colleges at Madison, Wis., and Shattock, Minn., and on returning to Fremont was elected captain of the signal corps, which office he now holds. He has large interests and he has engaged himself in looking after them." The pair honeymooned in Europe with stops in Chicago and New York. They bore one son, J. "Rex' Henry Jr. In 1909, he joined the Fremont Independent Telephone Company and operated his own land and investment business. During World War I, he was an American Red Cross field director at Camp Dodge and Fort DesMoines. Also in 1918, he was named to the Fremont board of public works and elected chairman in 1923, holding that post for decades. Then in 1941, he was tapped to be general manager of the department of utilities in Fremont. Said the local newspaper, he "was an important factor in a move to secure legislation setting up a retirement program for utility and municipal employes. His role with the department of utilities was largely responsible for development of the plant from one with a value of about $500,000 to an institution valued at about $3,000,000 now." He was a longtime president of the Fremont Foundry and Machine Company, was vice president of the Fremont National Bank and treasurer of the Fremont Stock Yards and Land Company. He served on the boards of directors of the Nebraska Children's Home and the Missouri Valley Section of the American Waterworks Association. His other charitable activities included the Fremont Good Fellows, providing Christnas dinners for the neede, a vestryman of the St. James Church, director of the Fremont YMCA, Rotary Club, Masons, Tangier shrine and Elks lodge. He belonged to the Nebraska and American Bankers Associations and was vice president of the board of the Fremont Hotel. He died at the age of 68 on June 20, 1946. He was pictured in his Tribune obituary, which included among his survivors his cousins Alice V. Porterfield of Omaha and Mrs. Paul James of Denver. His funeral was led by Rev. Frederick B. Muller at St. James Episcopal Church.
- Grandson John "Rex" Henry Jr. lived in Plattsmouth, NE in 1946. He was the father of James Rex Henry.
~ Son Edward Porterfield ~
Son Edward Porterfield (1848- ? ) was born in about 1848. Nothing more is known.
~ Son Charles E. Porterfield ~
Son Charles E. Porterfield (1851-1914) was born in Feb. 1851 in Findlay, OH.
A bachelor in 1880, he resided with his parents in Fremont, NE and earned a living as a stock herder.
Charles first entered into marriage with (?). They resided in Norfolk, NE and in June 1887 endured the tragic death of his father-in-law, killed while herding near Rapid City. Charles' parents are known to have traveled from Fremont to Norfolk for the funeral.
In 1889, following the death of his married sister Clara Henry, he received a bequest of $3,000 from the estate. Charles migrated to the Pacific Northwest and in 1892 was in Seattle.
Circa 1894, Charles at the age of 43 wed a second time to 18-year-old Florence M. (Jan. 1876- ? ). They were a quarter century apart in age. The pair put down roots in in Seattle, with him employed as a railroad clerk in 1900. He is known to have returned to Fremont to visit his brother Jerome in June 1905. Their address in 1906 was 3050 First Avenue. Charles is believed to have relocated to Tacoma by 1910.
After contracting pneumonia, he was admitted to Pierce County Hospital in Tacoma, and died there on Nov. 29, 1914, at the age of 64. His death certificate gave his occupation as accountant and birthplace as Ohio but did not name his parents. Burial was in the county's pauper cemetery in Tacoma.
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Research for this page graciously shared by the late Donna (Younkin) Logan |