Eli Henshaw (1789 - 1870)

Born 9 Nov 1789 in West Brookfield, Worcester, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1870 at about age 80 in Bethany, Wayne, Pennsylvania

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Biography

Eli was born November 9, 1789 in Brookfield, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States of America. He is the son of Josiah Henshaw (1752-1840) and Sarah Phipps (1757-1844).

He married Abigail Sanford on May 17, 1815 in Brookfield, Massachusetts.^[1][2]

In 1816 Eli Henshaw went to Bethany, (from Brookfield, Massachusetts), then the county-seat of Wayne County, Pennsylvania, where his elder brother Increase had preceded him and had started a weekly newspaper. At that time there were only two or three small settlements in that whole region of virgin forest. He cleared a lot and built a log house with two small rooms. Between this and the village there was only a footpath, and in returning from his work after dark, he carried a firebrand to protect himself from wolves and bears. His wife and child came to Bethany in March, 1817, and barely escaped drowning while crossing the Hudson on the ice between Fishkill and Newburg.^[3]

"Eli Henshaw settled upon the farm now owned by Joseph Arthur. At what particular time he and his brother, Increase Henshaw, were first in the county is uncertain, but we know that they were here in 1816, Increase was a painter and an ingenious man. Some- times he lived in Bethany and then in Dyberry. Dwight Henshaw is a son of Eli."^[4]

Eli was shown in the 1850 census, Diberry Township, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, living in the household of his son Dwight (who evidently inherited the farm).

Eli Henshaw died Jun 15 1868, Bethany, Wayne County, Pennsylvania. He is buried behind the old Presbyterian Church, Bethany, Pennsylvania.^[5]Abigail is also buried with Eli behind the old Presbyterian Church in Bethany.^[6]

"A descendant of Eli's had a copy of Pilgrims Progress in 1996, that was found in his mother's house. The book is inscribed 'The property of Eli Hinshaw Presented to him by his father Josiah Hinshaw Brookfield Worcester Co. Mass. Dec. 24th 1800.' On the last page of this book it says 'Eli Hinshaws book Bethany'"^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Vital Records of Brookfield, Massachusetts, To the end of the year 1849. Worcester, Massachusetts: Franklin P. Price, Trustee. 1909. Page 404.
2. ↑ Records of L. A. McCall, Jr.
3. ↑ Tilton, G. H. A Memorial of Marshall Henshaw. University Press: 1901.
4. ↑ Goodrich, P.G. History of Wayne County. Honesdale, Penn: Haines & Beardsley, 1880, page 299.
5. ↑ <FindAGrave.com
6. ↑ FindaGrave.com
7. ↑ <FindAGrave.com