Notes |
- Andrew Henry was born in 1771 in County Londonderry, Ireland, into a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian family. He emigrated to the United States in the early 1790s, settling in Pawlet, Rutland County, Vermont. There he managed a 137-acre farm that Albany merchant Robert Henry Jr.(unknown close relation) had recently purchased and quickly became a fixture in the community. He opened a country store, served on the Pawlet Board of Selectmen from 1803 through 1812, and married Mary (Evans) Akin, widow of Abel Akin. Through this marriage he became stepfather to Mary Akin (born 1794, wife of his nephew, Robert Henry) and had several children of his own. Orchardists credited him with originating the locally prized 'Henry Apple.'
In 1813 Andrew temporarily took title to 109 acres on Lot 12 in Hector, New York, for a token ten dollars, acting as trustee for his brother John Henry. When John relocated to Hector in 1815, Andrew reconveyed the land to him for one thousand dollars. Shortly thereafter Andrew followed his brother west, settling near family in Hector, where he continued to act as family agent. After John’s death about 1820, Andrew served as attorney-in-fact for John’s widow, Lydia, who was living in County Londonderry (Ireland), overseeing the sale of the remaining Lot 12 acreage in 1826-27. Census place Andrew still in the Hector area in the 1830s. Andrew Henry’s life thus spanned Ulster, Vermont, and New York, linking the management of frontier property with local civic service and family trusteeship.
- Additional Notes: Settled in Pawlet, VT about 1790, where it is said he came from Ireland, and settled where Albert A. Boynton was residing in 1886. Andrew was a man of note and influence in his day. He removed to Hector, NY about 1815. He left one memento, the "Henry" apple of most exquisite flavor. In 1813 Andrew bought part of Lot 12 consisting of 109 acres of land in Hector for $10 from John Henry, both John and Andrew were listed as "of Pawlet, VT." Two years later Andrew sold the same land back to John for $1,000, the transaction list John Henry, late of Vermont. (In the 1810 census he has five daughters, 3 under10, and 2 between 10 and 16)
- 1821 given power of attorney by Lydia Henry, widow of John Henry (dont have actual record, only index for Tompkins County). In December 1826, Lydia, widow of John Henry, of Dundoar (Dundooan), County of Londonderry, Ireland sold 100 acres of land in Hector (NY) to Walter Woods, of Sempronius (NY), for the sum of $1,200. In the presence of Robert Henry and E. Burnham, by Andrew Henry her attorney.
- There is a newspaper article published in the Rutland Weekly Herald, Monday, November 13, 1797 title: ROBERT HENRY JUN'S ESTATE --- "The subscribers being appointed by the Honorable William Ward, esquire, Judge Probate for the district of Fairhaven commissioners to receive and examine the claims of the creditors to the estate of Robert Henry Jr, merchant of the city of Albany, deceased, represented involvement- Hereby give notice, that they will attend to the business of their appointment on the second Tuesday of November, and the first Tuesday of December next; and the last Tuesday of January 1798, at the dwelling house of Andrew Henry, in Pawlet, in the county of Rutland, and state of Vermont, from the nine to six o'clock, on each of said days. No accounts will be allowed unless properly attested. Commissioners: Samual Lattrop, Gideon Adams, Benoni Smith. Pawlet, 2d October, 1797"
- An advertisement repeated in the Albany Centinel between 1798 and 1799 regarding land for sale posted by John V. Henry and Robert R. Henry, apparently acting as land agents: "4000 acres Lands, in township No.7, sixth range, in the county of Steuben, Adjoining the settlement of Mr. Daniel Faulkner, at Danville, and near Willliamsburgh" -- "That valuable estate, called Vley, at Stillwater, in the county of Saratoga, late the property of James Vernor, deceased." "A farm at Pawlet, with buildings in possession of Andrew Henry - 137 acres." among a few others.
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