James Boyd McHenry

James Boyd McHenry
And the Origins of the McHenry Family of Sullivan County

Compiled by Bob Sweeney

In George Streby's First Settlers of Dushore Borough (1903), we can read about William McHenry, the first Sullivan County McHenry as follows:

William McHENRY, was born in Fishing Creek township, Columbia county, in 1818. He came to Dushore in 1859.
Mr. McHENRY belongs to a family which located in America before the Revolutionary war.
The pioneer, Daniel McHENRY, was born in Scotland in 1736, and on coming to America, located in Columbia county.
He was a sergeant of a company in the Revolutionary war. He married Mary STEVENS, who was the mother of
eight children. A son, Daniel McHENRY, Jr., married Polly COLEMAN, and to them were born ten children; of these,
William, the subject of this sketch, was twice married, his first wife being Charity A. ALBERSON, a
daughter of William ALBERSON, of Columbia County. Of this union two children were born.
In 1850 he married Priscilla KINSLEY, a daughter of Dr.
Charles KINSLEY, of Dushore, and to them seven children were born.
His children were:
George L., of Dushore.
Angeline, married Seth JOHNSON.
Frank, of Waverly.
Rush J., of Dushore.
William, of Pittsburg, Pa.
John S., of Mahaffay, Pa.
Sarah, widow of Henry BALLARD.
Ellen, married Josiah SMITH, of Dushore.
Maude, of Dushore.
Keep an eye on this information as you read on. You will discover that James Boyd McHenry was a nephew of William McHenry, the original Sullivan County McHenry. It should therefore come as no surprise that the Sullivan County Historical Society and Museum should, in 2005, find an old picture of the McHenry Hotel, owner James Boyd McHenry, in its collection.

The biography of James Boyd McHenry printed below was originally published in 1889 in Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District (Biographical Publishing Company,
Chicago, IL and Buffalo, NY. This biography ties the McHenry family
of Columbia County directly to the McHenry family that came to Sullivan County, just to the north, in 1859.

JAMES BOYD McHENRY, ex-sheriff of Columbia County and one of the valued citizens

  of Benton, who is highly respected for his many sterling qualities, was born in

  Greenwood township, Columbia County, Pa., February 8, 1851, and is a son of

  Benjamin and Lovinia (Conner) Mc-Henry, grandson of Daniel and Mary (Coleman)

  McHenry, and great-grandson of Daniel and Mary (Stephen) McHenry.

    Daniel McHenry, great-grandfather of our subject, was of sturdy Scotch-Irish

  descent and was one of the pioneer settlers of Columbia County. With an ax and

  provisions for six months he left his home and came to the county and took up a

  claim of several hundred acres of land in Fishing Creek township, which is now

  the property of his grandson, Daniel McHenry. He felled trees and built a log

  cabin, and then returned to his former residence and brought his family to their

  new home. He cleared a part of the farm and then engaged in the tilling of the

  soil. He was married to Mary Stephen, who bore him the following children:

  Benjamin; Mattie; Daniel; John, who was the first male child born in his section

  of the county; Moses; and Elias.

    Daniel McHenry, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Chillisquaque,

  Pa., and when he grew to manhood he purchased of his father one hundred acres of

  the original homestead and there carried on farming the rest of his active days.

  He passed from this life on his birthday, aged seventy-nine years, and was the

  grand-and great-grandfather of seventy-two children. He was wedded to Mary

  Coleman, a daughter of Benjamin Cole-man, a native of New York State. Eleven

  children blessed their home, who were named as follows: Betsey; Sally; Benjamin;

  Polly; William; Adeline; Mary; Moses; Uriah; Joseph; and Charlotte. Mrs. McHenry

  died at the advanced age of seventy-nine years.

    Benjamin McHenry, father of our subject, was born in Fishing Creek township,

  May 13, 1812, and is-the oldest McHenry living today. He has been a farmer by

  occupation, and has spent his whole life on the farm engaged in agricultural

  labors. He was very successful in his chosen occupation and was always

  considered to be one of the leading men of his community. He acquired a liberal

  education in the common schools and then purchased a farm in Greenwood township

  consisting of sixty acres of well-improved land, which he still owns. He also

  operated a threshing machine for twenty-six years in which he was very

  successful. A man of iron constitution, it is said that he has whip-sawed more

  timber than any one man who ever resided in Columbia County. He chose for his

  life-companion Lovinia Conner, a daughter of Thomas Conner, a well-to-do farmer

  of Greenwood township. She passed from this life February 14, 1885, aged seventy

  years. To Mr. and Mrs. McHenry were born the following children: Montville, a

  practicing physician of Exchange, Pa.; Alfred, a blacksmith, residing in

  Cambria, Pa.; Norman, a prominent farmer residing in Columbia County; Thomas C.,

  deceased, who was a physician; Mary, deceased, who was the wife of M. Smith,

  also deceased; James Boyd, whose name heads the above lines; Lloyd, deceased;

  and Alveretta, deceased. Our subject's father is grand-and great-grandfather of

  fifty children, all of whom are still living. Mr. McHenry, to whom an

  exceedingly old age has come, and yet who lives with as bright an eye and with

  faculties as clear and unimpaired as in the days of yore, is one of the most

  widely-known and highly-respected residents of Greenwood township. He is now on

  the sunny western slope of life, surrounded by friends of the present and the

  dear memories of the past, and is filling out a life that has been of use and

  advantage to himself and everyone who has come within the circle of his good

  influence.

    James Boyd McHenry was educated in the Greenwood Seminary and at the age of

  eighteen years he went to Cambria, where he learned the trade of a blacksmith.

  He then located in Roaring Creek; later in Benton, where he continued to follow

  his trade until 1894, when he was elected sheriff of Columbia County, serving

  until 1898. For eleven years our subject was associated with William Appleman in

  the manufacture of wagons. Later, with his brother Thomas C., he built the

  McHenry hotel, which was destroyed by fire in 1896. Our subject immediately

  rebuilt the hotel into a handsome three-story structure, 42 by 80 feet; he also

  built two large dwellings, which he rents. He owns a farm of one hundred and

  five acres near the town of Benton.

    Mr. McHenry formed a matrimonial alliance with Maria Moore, a daughter of

  George Moore, a resident of Sugarloaf township, Columbia County. Four children

  have been born to our subject and his wife, as follows: Annetta, wife of W. N.

  Kline, and having one child, Boyd; Rebecca and Lloyd C., who are attending

  school; and T. C., who died aged six and one-half years. Socially our subject is

a member of the I. O. O. F. of Benton.

Another biographical article, this time from J. H. Battle's The History of Columbia and Montour Counties (1887), tells us more about the background of the McHenry family:

M. W. McHENRY, one of the proprietors of the Beaver Valley mill, was born in Fishingcreek Township, Columbia Co., Penn., June 4, 1826, a
son of Daniel and Mary (COLEMAN) McHENRY. His grandfather was one of the pioneer settlers of Stillwater, Fishingcreek Township, was a
farmer by occupation and at one time the owner of immense tracts of land in the Fishing creek country. Daniel McHENRY was born
in Fishingcreek Township, followed farming and also had two or three saw-mills in the locality; he cut a great deal of
lumber, and was a very active man, retaining his vigor to the last; it may be related of him that he was elected assessor
at the age of seventy and went his rounds on foot; was also supervisor and held other local and township offices. He died in
March, in the eightieth year of his age, his widow surviving him some three years; both are buried at Stillwater, Fishingcreek
Township. They were the parents of eleven children, nine of whom are living: Benjamin, residing at Benton, this county; Mary, widow
of Elisha OLVERSON; William, in Sullivan County, Penn.; Adaline, wife of Thomas PEELER; Martha K., wife of Jacob CAREY, residing in
Cambria; M. W., our subject; U. P., residing at Millville; Joseph, at Stillwater; Elizabeth, wife of George LAUBAUCH, who died at the
age of about seventy; Charlotte, wife of George LAUBAUCH, residing at Orangeville, this county, and Sarah, wife of James EDGAR, who
died at the age of about seventy. Our subject was reared in Fishingcreek Township and made his home with his parents until he had
reached the age of about eighteen years, when he went to Huntington Township, Luzerne County, to learn the miller's trade at
the Dodson mill. He remained there three years and after learning his trade moved to Greenwood Township,
this county, and took charge of the Iola mills of that place, remaining one year. He was then employed at Jones'
mill, Fishingcreek Township, over one year; Lingtrell's mill, Luzerne County, three years, and Dodson's mill, Luzerne County,
over three years. He then bought a house and lot at Town Hill, Luzerne County, and lived there while he worked at different
mills at Huntsville, Luzerne County, three years and six months. He then farmed for two years in Sugarloaf Township, Columbia County,
but his house and barn were destroyed by fire, and he resumed the milling business at Swortnort's mill, Benton Township, where he
remained seven years; worked at Franklin mill, Roaring creek, twelve years, the last two years and a half renting the mill; then
at Eyer's Grove mill, Greenwood township, six years. He then bought a lot in that place and built on it, and for one year
and a half engaged at Fowlersville mill. After that he went to Helm's mill, Benton Township, and was there engaged
until coming to take charge of the mill of which he is now one of the partners. He was married in this county on the
18th of April, 1850, to Miss Sarah Ann MONTGOMERY, a native of Washingtonville, now in Montour county, and daughter of Samuel and Mary
Ann MONTGOMERY. Her father was born at Lewisburg, Penn., and both her parents are buried at Beech Grove, Luzerne County. Mr.
and Mrs. McHENRY were the parents of ten children, seven of whom are living: Ruggles, in Franklin Township; Alice, wife of George WILLIAMS,
in Catawissa; Margaret Adaline, wife of Charles HAZLETON, in Dallas Township, Luzerne County; H. G., miller at Iola mills; Lizzie, wife
of George J. MUNSON, merchant at Beaver Valley; Blanche B., wife of Sherman HELLER, her father's partner, and Charles W.,
miller at Miner's mill, Luzerne County; the deceased are Minnie, Annie and Nettie. Mr. McHENRY has a house and a lot of
six acres at Eyer's Grove. He and his wife are an old family of the county, and is a miller of wide practical experience, having followed
the business for forty-four consecutive years. He is constantly improving and remodeling his present enterprise.