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Henry Anderson (abt. 1825 - 1852)

Henry Anderson
Born about in Indiana, United Statesmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 15 Feb 1844 in Boone County, Indianamap
Died at about age 27 in Madison Co., Iowa, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 11 Oct 2014
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Biography

Henry Anderson was born about 1824 - 1825 in Indiana, the son of John and Rebecca (Quillen) Anderson. He had three siblings, Eliza Ann, Mary Ann "Polly", and Nancy.

On Feb. 15, 1844, Henry married Elizabeth Miller, daughter of Emanuel and Rachel (Poindexter) Miller. (Source: 1844 Marriage to Elizabeth Miller; Indiana, Marriage Collection, 1800-1941 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.)

In Boone Co., Indiana, about 1844, Henry and Elizabeth became the parents of their first child, Eli Thomas. Their second child, Eliza was born in Boone Co., Indiana in about 1846 or 1847. The family decided to move to Iowa possibly because others they knew were going to Iowa or because they were seeking land to purchase. Whatever the reason, they migrated to Madison Co, Iowa after the birth of their second child, and were there by 1850. Their third child, Rebecca C. was born in Iowa in Aug. of 1848 near Winterset, Madison Co., Iowa. (Source: 1850; Census Place: , Madison, Iowa; Roll: M432_187; Page: 145B; Image: 159.) (Source: 1851 Census; Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Original data: Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.)

“The decade beginning in 1850 was to witness a migration tide which was to seep over the waste places of the state and to inundate the valleys and hills with more than sufficient human energy to build up a Commonwealth of the first rank.” Why did so many come? The railroad came right up to the Mississippi River. Advertisements by land speculators lured people. Guides for emigrants encouraging people to come for a Iowa was a land of “beauty, advantage, and fertility.”

“These inducements combined with the fatal epidemic of cholera in the middle States and a severe drought throughout the Ohio Valley during the summer of 1854 brought homeseekers to Iowa by the thousands, particularly during the years of 1854 to 1856.” (Source: Iowa Journal of History & Politics “The American Occupation of Iowa 1830 to 1860” Vol. 17 No. 1 (Jan. 1919) pp. 83-102)


Traveling from Boone Co., IN to Madison Co., IA:

The distance from Boone Co., Indiana to Madison Co., Iowa is about four hundred and eighty-nine miles. With today’s mode of travel, it would take a little over seven hours. However, such was not the case in the late 1840s. Henry and Elizabeth probably loaded all their worldly goods into a covered wagon. By the time Henry and Elizabeth migrated to Iowa, horse-powered ferries had been in existence since 1841. Not until 1852 was the first steam ferry operated by John Wilson in Davenport. (Source: Discovering Historic Iowa Transportation Milestones www.iowadot.gov/Chapter 2)

At some point between 1846 and 1848 when upon reaching the Mississippi River, probably at Davenport, it would be logical to assume Henry and Elizabeth perhaps also waited their turn to cross over on the ferry.

The Land Where the Anderson Family Settled:

The source for the following information is from: The State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa Dept. of Cultural Affairs The Annals of Iowa Vol. 39/Number 2 (Fall 1967) pp. 105-133 "The People of Iowa on the Eve of the Civil War” By Morton M. Rosenberg

The land the Anderson Family settled in was much like that of Indiana. There were the same hardwood trees of oak, walnut, and hickory and the land was decent for growing corn, wheat, buckwheat, and barley.

Gold fever hit Iowa. At estimate of 10,000 people left to seek gold that had been found in California. In 1854 practically all the upper half of Iowa was still not settled.

“Up and down the Mississippi in 1850, but especially along the portions adjoining southern Iowa, an epidemic of the dread cholera raged along the water-front towns.” “During the intense heat of mid-July, a newspaper in Burlington report that an average of six to eight persons fell victim to the dreadful scourge daily, and warned those living inland to remain out of town until the intensity of the disease had abated.” p. 109

“If cholera could not deter the settler” nature tried. Heavy rains began in mid-May and continued for two months. Crops washed away and people were depressed by the gloomy days. Flooding came and destroyed many farms, taking buildings, crops, and livestock. p. 110

The railroad brought German and Irish immigrants (p. 124), and southerners and their slaves (p. 125).

Their fourth child, William Henry, was born on Sunday, June 4, 1851, and always stated to his family that he was born near Des Moines in Polk Co., Iowa.

Henry Anderson died sometime between Feb. 26 and before April 2, 1852 in the Winterset area of Madison County, Iowa as evidence by the Probate Records of said County.

The Panic of 1857 hit Iowa, “the miseries of the cruel winter” and “the summer and autumn of 1858” which “brought further distress. Heavy rains and intermittent floods caused crop failures over two-third of the state.” Many families barely survived. Such were the conditions following the Panic of 1857. “Wheat sold for a mere 40 cents a bushel.” With poor crops prices people could not pay their taxes and were forced “to yield their land holdings to tax-title purchasers.” (Source: The State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa Dept. of Cultural Affairs The Annals of Iowa Vol. 39/Number 2 (Fall 1967) pp. 105-133 “The People of Iowa on the Eve of the Civil War” By Morton M. Rosenberg)

Sometime after 1854, but definitely by 1859, Elizabeth left Iowa with her family and relocated to Union Co., TN where she had many relatives. She came by the way of Boone Co., Indiana and left Rebecca Catherine with Henry's parents, John and Rebecca Quillen Anderson as evidenced by the 1860 Census of Boone Co., Indiana.

By July 31, 1860 Elizabeth Anderson in the Census Union Co., Tennessee, is listed as a widow with six children: Eli T. (14), Eliza Jane (11), William H. (7), Henry C. (3), Martha E. (3), and Brockenridge (1/12). All children are listed as born in Tennessee. One twin was listed as boy named Henry, while in reality, the child was a girl named Mary. This was the south and at that time it was not popular to have been born in the North. (Source: Year: 1860; Census Place: District 10, Union, Tennessee; Roll: M653_1276; Page: 485; Image: 293; Family History Library Film: 805276)

Mary, Martha, and Brockenridge are not Henry Anderson's children.


Sources

Sources are inline.





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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Henry by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Henry:

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