Joseph Henderson Hendricks Family Sheet

Family Group Sheet

Husband: Joseph Henderson Hendricks
Born: July 26, 1814
Married: April 18, 1840
Died: February 19, 1872
Father: Abraham Hendricks
Mother: Sarah Elizabeth "Eliza" Henderson
in: Li onier, Westmoreland Co., PA
in: Madison, Jefferson Co, IN
in: Kankakee, Kankakee Co., IL
Wife: Sarah Ann Hendricks
Born: March 21,1818
Died: Aft. 1900
Father: William Hendricks
Mother: Anne Parker Paul
in: Ligonier, Westmoreland Co., PA

CHILDREN
1 Name: Sarah Ann Hendricks
F Born: Abt. 1841 in: Madison, Jefferson Co, IN
Died: July 1847 in: Madison, Jefferson Co, IN
2 Name: Eliza Mary Hendricks
F
Born: Abt. 1843 in: Madison, Jefferson Co, IN
Married: in: Kankakee, Kankakee Co., [L
Spouse: Charles T Hurd
3 Name: John Joseph Hendricks
M Born: Abt. 1846 in: Madison, Jefferson Co, IN
Died: in: lA
4 Name: Eliza Mary Hendricks
F Born: Abt. 1849 in: Madison, Jefferson Co, IN
Died: in: Madison, Jefferson Co, IN
5 Name: Sarah Dickson Hendricks
Born: Abt. 1852 in: Madison, Jefferson Co, IN
F Died: May 01, 1932
Married: in: [indianapolis, Marion Co., IN
Spouse: Henry Ketcham
6 Name: William Abram Hendricks
M Born: Abt. 1854 in: Madison, Jefferson Co, IN
7 Name: Virginia Fitch Hendricks I
F Born: November 1858 in: Madison, Jefferson Co, IN
Died: September 02, 1940 in: Excelcior, MN
8 Name: Walter Lowrie Hendricks
M Born: Abt. 1860 in: [Madison, Jefferson Co, IN

Write a Letter!

You are probably asking yourselves, why is he saying that? The answer is real simple; they are a slice or just a small tid-bit of history that you are making. They give historians a small glimpse of life at the time the letter is written. I''m sure the next question would be; with all this technological media around why send a letter? Let me ask you, when was the last time you saved a text message with all the abbreviated spelling.

I am a writer and there is something about the motion of writing a letter or in a journal long hand. It not only brings what life is like at the moment but it gets the creative juices flowing and you leave behind a small amount of emotion - or a large amount if you would like. For us genealogists they are very important. Why don't we leave something behind for our great-grandchildren. For some reason, paper seems to last longer than electronic media.

Let me give you a snippet of why letters are import. I am going to quote a letter from former Madison, Jefferson County, IN resident William Chalmers Hendricks to his wife Susan Elizabeth "Lizzie" (Glass) Hendricks dated at Fort Bridger Sunday, July 17, 1881.

----------------------------------------------------------

"My dearest Lizzie

As Jones had (illegible word) in my letter from Salt Lake the Major conducted under invitaion of Genl George Crook, to stop over a day or so here. I was the less reluctant for the reason that I found myself improving in heart & health & was willing to loose tim to that end, and also that the extreme hot wave may have passed away east before we reached it.

After finishing my letter to you from Salt Lake day before yesterday, we accepted the invitation of Genl Bain & son Doctor Bain, for a drive over the city and out to Camp Douglas. After whic with a larger party we took the train at 5 p.m. acrossabout 20 miles to the sotherly point of Salt Lake for a bath & swim. Found the water a little cold, but wonderfully bouyant, being at least 0/5 salt -- jsut the opposite of Lake Bridger. There the water is so light that a person can scarcely swim in it & if they drown go to the bottom & never rise. But in Salt Lake a person can scarcely sink themselves; the principle danger being of strangling from the excessively salt water. I could gloat without the least difficulty on exertion on my back with my head, hands & feet - in fact all the upper surfaces of my body out of water. Had a delightful trip; only sorr that you & the boys were not along. After returning at 8 p.m. with a small party of gentlemen including Gov Murry (one of the easiest pleasantest gentlemen I ever met) We were taken by Genl Bain to his residence for a coffee cake & ice cream lunch. The next morning (yesterday) we returned to Ogden and on to Cantin's Station where a govt ambulance was waiting to tak us over to Fort Bridger about 10 miles. There was an army officer along who introduced us to three lady passengers from the Fort -- One the wife of Captain stationed here -- another a married lady vistor at the Fort, & her sister.

They were dispenced to be very lively & social. I had not entirley recovered my natural health & life; and while the Major was in his glory I felt that I was a restraining element & determined that I would banish the clouds for a while at least & join them. On the principle that one extreme is apt to succeed while in the opposite direction an inspiration of funny anecdote & thought took possession of me & effected them the more because they had obsessed me as a serious old codger, in front of whom neither wished to sit. It not only lasted me through the ride to the fort, but during the evening & at the supper table full of army officers & strangers.

It seemed to me that every funny thing that I had ever heard came up accompanied by plenty of new. I could hover on the edge of the vulgar & profane without pentrating either. Had them all convulsed. For once I took a social bulge on the Major, who remarked when we retired to our room, that he was astonished at the development of a new man.

Excuse the above little egotism, but it is only to give hope that the changed feeling may at least partially last & mark the permanent breaking up of a depressed feeling that cannot possibly be productive of any good. I will try & am (illeible word) I can succeed, not withstanding my stomac trouble & draw back. Find Genl Crook very interesting in converstaion though dignified and quiet. He (illegible work) all as very pleasant & cordial & determined to keep the Major several days -- I will try however to get him off tomorrow. He id off with Capt Bisby for a ride & fidh & i am putting in the day alone peacebly, reading & writing you --

Denver Col July 21st

Monday the 18th in company with Genl Crook & Captain Bisby (commandent of the fort) we drove eight or ten miles over onto a tributary of Green River fishing, caught in all 127 trout. Tuesday 19th spent about trout until about when we drove back to tthe station. The Captain's wife put us up a very nice little lunch (Sage hen, Saratoga potatoes & ) and she and her lady visiting friend Mrs Miller accompanied us (over)to the station. Was much surprised to meet Luce on train -- we traveled together until about 2 pm next day when the Major & I left that train at Cheyenne for his place, where we arrived about 11 last night.

The first person I met this morning when I got up was Prof W F Stewart. We were both glad to meet so unexpectedly.

I have spent today very pleasantly with the Major and Proffessor & a Mr Hale of this place looking over thid Young City of 40,000 or 50,000 inhabitants. Even here at an altitude fo over 9000 fee the themometer was yesterday and day before over 100. Today is cooler & I am in hopes tht extreme hot spell has past. We go on tomorrow. Am getting anxious to get to Indianpolis & get letter from you.

Affectionately, Will Iam"

-------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, it doesn't matter if you spell everything correctly or have perfect grammar, the thoughts get through. How about we all write a letter to our wives, husbands or children and ask that they keep them and then to pass them on later in life. This really gives me important information about my great-grandparents relationship.

Labor Intensive Process

For those of you Hendricks researchers, there is a labor intensive process called entering names in your database. This is important enough to take your time and to do it right the first time. Entering the names dates, spouses, children and on down the line for as many generations and children you have is time consuming.

As much as you would like to cut that time down, I warn you don't do it. Making sure the dates, places and names are correct is very important and will stand the test of time. Then you can compare what you have with other researchers. The other part that you really need to add is the documentation.

You may ask why this is important? It's important because you'll want your research and information to withstand any scrutiny by others who challenge your claim. By keeping copies of all the letters and information from my great-grandfather, William Chalmers Hendricks I have been able to prove that the research that I and another member of the family of Abraham Hendricks and Sarah Elizabeth Henderson is correct.

How correct is your data? Checking, double checking and triple checking does not hurt your cause. It improves it. So do the labor and enjoy the results for a long, long time.

Persistence and Patience Pays Dividends

I want to share with all other Hendricks researchers what I just posted my Jefferson County Indiana Genealogy blog at WordPress; which is linked to the Indiana GenWeb Project for Jefferson County of the US GenWeb Project:

I have mentioned this before and will mention it time and time again in the future; having bulldog persistence and the patience of Job pays off when pursuing your family genealogy. This week I have been the recipient of both. I have been trying diligently to develop the ancestry of Jefferson County resident, Sarah Elizabeth "Eliza" (Henderson) Hendricks. I have been working on this off and on over the last 20 years. I think that satisfies both categories. I have been very patient and putting the words of Winston Churchill into action, I never, never gave up!

This week, I hit the mother lode! And, yes I want to shout it from the roof tops so the whole world can hear. I have found the family of Eliza's father, Joseph Henderson. First, I have confirmed that he was a Presbyterian minister and that he attended Princeton College in New Jersey. I have confirmed that he was married to Mary Breckenridge. I have confirmed he was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. I have confirmed where he was ordained as a minister, where he began his ministry and where he went from there to end up in the home county, where Eliza was born. I have learned his father's name and that of his siblings and his roots back to the "Old World". I have found out not only that; but the family and roots to the "Old World" for his wife, Mary. Now that we have found that out, we are working on proving it.

Now that I have crowed; I'd like to hear what successes have you enjoyed?

We may hide for a whie but never go away

Good morning, all. I haven't posted out here for a long time. For that, I am sorry. I have not been far away - I just haven't been doing that much research lately. I have been writing and getting our photography business off the ground. Those two activities tend to take up a lot of my time. I promise to try to post more often during 2009.

I have started a group out at Facebook where we can share successes, failures and frustrations. I welcome all to join Facebook and stop by here's the link to the group - I am listed under Dry Fly Photography:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sioux-Falls-SD/Dry-Fly-Photography/28981057726?ref=ts#/group.php?gid=98039610187

There is the availability to conduct live chats out there also.

Scott

It is always difficult to admit that your research led you to wrong conclusions. Every genealogist makes a leap of faith from time to time and then backtracks to prove that assumption from the other direction. From the beginning I not only knew who my grandparents were and when and where they were born. I also knew the names of all my great-grandparents and their children. You see my mother was a high school history teacher and her home was just an extension of her classroom; with one exception, she was more demanding on us than them when it came to personal history. My mother, Beatrice (Brundage) Hendricks made huge leaps of faith and then went about proving those leaps. Unfortunately, she died before she was done with the proving stage.

I inherited her love of history and all the documentation that she had done. She was short on maintaining documentary evidence, but she was good at documenting the sources of that inormation. The biggest inigma of her search was my fathers family. They were not knowledgable about their family history and his paternal grandparents died before he was born or not long after. His mother, Georgia Kenney (Hammon) Hendricks died seven months after George (my father) was born. His father was ill-equiped to raise a child on his own and his father was already dead and his mother quite elderly, with little resourses to raise a child. George ended up being raised by a nanny (at that time a nanny was referred to as a governess) in the home of his maternal grandparents, Wendell Philucious "WP" Hammon and Augusta Mary "Gussie" or "Mur to family members" (Kenney) Hammon. George rarely saw or associated with his father, who had become somewhat of a west coast playboy. George knew his paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Susan "Lizzie" (Glass) Hendricks. She died when he was still a young boy. George's education was at various military academies: mainly, Black Fox Military Academy in Hollywood, CA and New Mexico Military Academy in Roswell, New Mexico. He didn't know his paternal cousins until later in life. So my mother pursued that avenue because she knew it was important.

My mother was able to get George's line back to Abram Hendricks m. Sarah Elizabeth "Eliza" Henderson. She found out that they moved from Westmoreland County (Or around Pittsburgh), PA. She was unable to get any further than that. She also knew that George's grandfather, William Chalmers Hendricks was related to V.P. Thomas Andrews Hendricks. She never shared with her children how she knew that. It wasn't until my father donated WC's files to the California Historical Society and he photocopied those files for the writer of this blog, that I found out they were first cousins.

I started to trace the line past Abram Hendricks of Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana. I found that he was fourth son of Col. Abraham "Abram" Hendricks and Ann Jamison. It wasn't long there after I was able to make the connection to Daniel, Sr. After searching for ten years I ran across a book call the Frontier Hendricks by Dr. John Scott Davenport. I obtained both copies of the book and found that he touched on the ancestry of Thomas Andrews Hendricks. I knew that by tracing backwards on TA was going to be easier than Abram's. Dr. Davenport made a leap of faith when he made an assumption that Daniel, Sr. was a part of the Henry Hendricks line son of James (first son of Albertus Hendrickson) because of the proximity of where he found land records and where he lived.

We pursued that angle and became convinced that was the family from whom we descended. With the advent of Y-DNA testing we found that our family was no match for that of Albertus Hendrickson. Since I was the only male with irrefutable evidence of the family connection to TA, we decided to have the 37 marker Y-DNA test done. That test is now back. I was surprised to find out that all the research over the last ten years ended with the wrong conclusions. It is clear that my line of family belongs to the line of Daniel Henry Hendrick b. Oct 16, 1610, d. Jul 1663 Ipswich, Essex Co. MA. m. approximately 1642 Haverhill, Essex Co., MA Dorothy M Pike daughter of John Pike and Dorothy Day b. Abt. 1617 Bridgewater, Landford, Wiltshire, England d. June 5, 1659 Havehill, Essex Co., MA.

This has caused me to question all of my research to date. At first, I was in a state of consternation. But then, Carol Wilson, who I met on line over the years sent me an e-mail welcoming me to her line. I had found out years ago of two additional children for Daniel Sr., Absolem and Daniel Jr. Carol's family is descended from Absolem.

My point of this whole essay is: Always question what you do and don't hesitate to go back and make sure all your documentation is in place. Y-DNA testing only gives you direction; it does not provide the answers to you questions. We still need to do our due diligence when it comes to documenting the lines we come from. It does not mean we cannot share information and collaberate with other. What we need to do is to make sure when we have tenuous connections is to keep going back and question who, what, where and why.

Please share your comments and bring other Hendricks/Hendrix/Hendrick researcher over to lend their opinions, frustrations, comments and recent finds.

Family Secrets


My branch of the Hendricks family was – I should say is – a family of secrets. Part of this came from being gold miners and politicians – “always lie about what gold you found” – “Don’t tell your neighbor” – Marry into a family to extract their secrets but tell none of your own”. I could go on forever. These were prevalent attitudes in the California gold fields and the Halls of Congress in the latter half of the 19th Century. From what I wrote yesterday and posted today, I feel there may have been other agendas at work. This reminds me to look at my pas (Hendricks Family History) with passion but not unbridled excitement; with hope but not predetermined expectations; with the thrill of discovery and to let the facts fall as they may and then get excited about the find!

I just got through reading an online article at the American Jewish History Society titled “Guide to the Hendricks – Tobias Business Correspondence, undated, 1802 – 1889. This documents the metal business of Uriah Hendricks. The copper rolling mill was located in Soho, Essex County, New Jersey. Since the article relates directly to the business it does not expand upon the family that did not actively participate in the family business. The name Washington as a first name shows up in the article. It is interesting to note that in the footnotes it references “Subject names to access: Judah, David, Pollack, Edward.

It is interesting in that the name Pollack is integrally connected with the Hendricks family. The descendants of Abraham Hendricks and Ann Jamison (my line) have names and marriages to the Pollack family. One of William Chalmers Hendricks, my Great-Grandfather, close brothers was named Thomas Pollack Hendricks. I’d say there is a very strong family connection between the Pollacks and Hendricks.

The online biographies of both William Hendricks, first governor of Indiana and Thomas Andrews Hendricks, VP/Grover Cleveland (William Chalmers Uncle William and first cousin T.A.) reference their ancestry back to the State of New Jersey. Now let’s consider their more immediate ancestors – Williams father and TA’s grandfather – Abraham Hendricks married Ann Jamison in the Fairview Presbyterian Church in Westmoreland County, PA. All of their children were born in that community. I go back to the point made yesterday – why did TA tell the Congressional Record he didn’t know who his grandparents were? What scared him so much that divulging that information may have convince him that it would be political suicide?

While studying information about the Hendricks family, I read the synopsis of the Democrat National Convention:

Thomas' career as a politician in Indiana started before it became a State. He married Eliza Morgan 25 Sep 1845. They had one child, Morgan, three years later, who died before reaching adulthood. Thomas was a very popular political figure in Indiana. He was a congressional representative and then Senator for the young State. His political career spanned through the Civil War and ended with his death 25 Nov 1885, the same year he was inaugurated 21st Vice President of the United States of America. His influence on presidential politics started in earnest in 1868, at the first Democratic convention he was nominated for the presidency. He ran unsuccessfully as Samuel Tilden's running mate in the scandal-ridden election of 1868.

The Democrats arrived in Chicago, Illinois on July 8, 1884, shortly after the Republicans nominated James G. Blaine. One of the most prominent presences was that of the legions of Tammany Hall, some 600 strong, led by Boss John Kelly. It was no secret that he brought his army with the intent to stop the nomination of his long-time political foe, Grover Cleveland. Kelly stated that he would be damned if the party was going to nominate a man who openly scorned the traditional spoils system and was unreservedly dedicated to reform politics at every level. Most of the Tammany hordes were not delegates to the convention, but minions come to sow seeds of discontent and discord. The convention chairman, Manning, arranged to have Cleveland supporters occupy the prestigious front row of seats. He also packed the gallery with anti-Tammany people.

Grover Cleveland stayed above the fray about to happen by not attending the convention, as was customary. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first Democratic nominee to accept his party's nomination in person. In Cleveland's case, he was still a political unknown to party regulars outside of the influence of Albany New York; a word portrait written by a sympathetic paper was given credence by the convention generals.

John Kelly and his followers tried to delay the nominating process of the convention with the hopes of eroding Cleveland's strength. They went so far as to try to get New York released from the instructions imposed upon the delegation by the State convention in Syracuse. This motion was soundly defeated. With that out of the way, Cleveland's friend, Dan Lockwood, put Cleveland's name in nomination. Wisconsin's political general, Edward Stuyvesant Bragg, seconded the nomination and gave the party its rallying cry "They love Cleveland for his character, but they love him also for the enemies he made."

The first ballot left Cleveland short of the two-thirds majority 547 votes he needed for nomination. He amassed 392 votes, the rest going to Bayard of Delaware, Allen Thurman, former House Speaker Samuel Randall of Pennsylvania, Indiana Congressman Joseph E McDonald, and a smattering of favorite sons. Late the night of the first ballot, John Kelly covertly organized a stampede for his friend, Governor Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana. He conspired with the Sergeant-at-Arms to pack the gallery of the next mornings session with men pledged to cry "Hendricks for President" and then have the popular Hoosier appear on the convention floor. Thomas, during his congressional terms in both houses of Congress, was a constant critic of every previous major policy and had been nominated for President at every convention since 1868, except that of 1872. In addition, Thomas was an advocate for machine politics

Chairman Manning learned of the conspiracy and sent his lieutenants to warn every anti-Tammany delegate at the convention. When Thomas walked onto the convention floor, the galleries exploded with shouts and applause; the main convention floor remained quiet. Thus, "The Hendricks Boom" went bust and the influence of Boss Kelly and the Tammany minions waned.

On the second ballot, Cleveland still failed to attain the required two-thirds majority vote, even after Randall and McDonald withdrew. McDonald, being from Indiana, swung his support to Thomas A. Over the vocal disapproval of the Tammany Delegates; all of New York's 72 votes were cast for Cleveland. Though his vote was short, Cleveland was formidable and nearly all of the delegates tripped over each other to switch their vote after the roll call was ended and before the official announcement of the second ballot was made official. The revised vote total gave Cleveland 683 votes, 136 more than was needed. Part of Gov. Bragg's famous line "We love him for the enemies he has made" became the party's slogan for the election of 1884. The ever popular, Thomas A. Hendricks was nominated for Vice President by acclamation.

The main issue of the 1884 National Election was that of integrity and Blaine failed miserably in that department. Hurt by the defeat at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Boss John Kelly threw his support behind Ben Butler and the Greenback Party. He supported The New York Sun's editorial stance, which demanded that Cleveland drop out of the race. Thomas A. Hendricks brought Kelly back into the fold. Thomas, a personal friend of Boss Kelly, convinced him of the political facts of life as it concerned national politics.

Upon his election as Vice-President of the United States, Thomas was asked to provide an autobiography for the Congressional Record. The information provided was starkly deplete of any generations prior to his father. He stated that his father was of unknown origins. Therefore, the conversion to his wife's Presbyterian beliefs left Grandpa Abraham strikingly absent from Thomas' life and ancestry. This absence of previous history led many researchers astray, and left family descendants with the daunting task of, not only making the family connections, but also documenting them.

On a visit to Indiana, ten months after his inauguration, Thomas died of unknown causes. Family stories recount it as hard living. If his cousin, William Chalmers is any measure, he was accustomed to excessive use of spirits. Nevertheless, Thomas Andrews Hendricks remains an icon of Indiana politics.

As you can see they nominated Grover Cleveland and selected TA as VP candidate. It is obvious that TA had very close ties to the big New York City political machine – Tammany Hall. Why did TA associate himself with a big city machine? Why did he pick New York over Chicago? What is that connection?

It has been suggested that our lineage is Scandinavian. I guess I need to ask – what does that mean? The Iberian and European Jewish communities spread across to countries that only persecuted in loss of privilege and not loss of life. They also assimilated into those societies. They became token Christians and intermarried with the populace. The photographs and portraits of the descendants of Abraham Hendricks and Ann Jamison do not show the typical features of typical Scandinavian from the 17th & 18th Centuries. The Spanish Inquisition began on Friday the 13th of October 1307 when the French monarchy with the assistance of the Roman Catholic Church sought to annihilate the Knights Templar. The Spanish Church used it to rid their society of any unwanted elements, such as the Sephardic Jewish population from Spain and Portugal. Unlike the English, the Netherlands, and other northern countries the Spanish preferred the punishment used for heretics, burning at the stake. Therefore, it is not surprising that certain genetic markers will show up in other cultures. We need to remember that DNA genetic markers are like any other tool in genealogy and not a definitive answer to all the questions. It will lead us in a general direction. It is up to the genealogist to get the documented proof of who, what and when.

I love this hunt; the suppositions of what may have been, what may be, and then the excitement of being able to prove the who, what, where and when. I like following that slim lead to its ultimate conclusion until such time as I’m proven to be on the wrong path. One thing I’ve found about the search for ancestors is that at best it’s a bumpy road. It took me ten years to find the Senior Abraham Hendricks, due to the family secrecy surrounding him. Once I found that little crack in the armor, I pursued the find like a wolf on scent.

The kink in the armor was when I ran across a census for Westmoreland County with two Abrahams in it of different ages. Then I found that they were members of the same church. They had to be related. I knew my 2nd great-grandfather was Abraham “Abram”. I knew he came out of Western Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County specifically. I knew he was married in the Fairview Presbyterian Church. Then two Mrs. Abraham Hendricks were mentioned as different people in one of the session records. One thing broke, then another. Like dominoes, they kept falling until I hit the next wall.

I hurtled the next wall and began a trip that until recently had led me down the wrong path. I’ve now retreated from that path and I am currently exploring several others. The one that I am currently checking out in more detail is the one where the male children have predominantly Old Testament names.