Bio-Minor, Henry Clay

Henry Clay Minor was born near Sego, Perry County, OH in April 1831, son of Daniel and Margaret (Fluckey) Miner Sr. The photograph seen here is thought, but not proven, to be him.

Henry likely was named for the great American congressman from Kentucky, Henry Clay, who led the national Whig party and helped design the Missouri Compromise as a temporary solution to the slavery question. Henry also took part in the first land battle of the Civil War and became a captain of his regiment, with his name on display today on a war memorial in Cardington, Ohio.

As a boy, Henry moved with his parents to Cardington, Morrow County, OH. He learned the trade of carpentry and lived with his married sister Margaret (Miner) Sloan Maxwell before the Civil War. As a young man, he stood 6 feet tall with brown hair and grey eyes.

Henry enlisted in the Company C of the 16th Ohio Infantry on April 23, 1861 and was discharged four months later, on Aug. 28, 1861. He re-enlisted in Co. M of the 3rd Ohio Cavalry on Sept. 8, 1861 at Upper Sandusky, OH and was appointed first lieutenant of the regiment.

In 1861, Henry fought at a number of early battles in West Virginia, notably at Philippi, Laurel Hill and Carricks Ford. The battle scene at right shows the artillery bombardment at the Battle of Philippi in June 1861, acknowledged as the first land battle of the Civil War.

Afterward, Henry and his regiment guarded the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. In the winter of 1862 he came down with hemorrhoids, caused by "almost constant riding on horse-back for three ... years."

At Shiloh in 1862 Henry became ill of digestive disorder. At Nashville, he contracted pneumonia which caused pleurisy. He was promoted to captain in January 1863. In August 1863 and October 1863 he was sent from Tennessee to Ohio on recruiting missions, and contracted pneumonia which caused adhesions to his left lung. In February 1864 he was furloughed home to attend his mother's funeral. He was discharged at Louisville, KY, on Nov. 22, 1864.

Harper's Weekly sketch of the battle of Laurel Hill, WV, where Confederate General Garnet was killed

Henry married his first wife, Maria L. Doty, on July 24, 1865 at Cardington. Unfortunately, they separated soon after, with Henry suspecting her of having had love affairs while he was away at war. They divorced in 1871, without having any children. Their explicit divorce papers are still on file at the Morrow County Courthouse.

In December 1865, Henry moved to Knoxville, Knox County, TN, working as a messenger for the Southern Express Company. He married Mattie Hunt Phillips (1851- ? ), a native of Rockfish Depot, VA, on Dec. 23, 1875 at Knoxville. They were 17 years apart in age.

Their seven children were Henry "Harry" C. Miner Jr., Ernest B. Miner, Wilkie J. Miner, John Elmore Minor, Laura "Louise" Van Kenzie and Helen M. Wilkins, and Mattie J. Minor.

At the time Henry first came to Knoxville, two of his presumed cousins -- Civil War veterans Samuel Dawson Miner and Robert Sanford Miner, sons of Henry and Matilda (Morton) Miner, also were residing there, and had formed a pottery at the foot of Gay Street near the Tennessee River. The pottery produced stoneware under the inscribed name "Bowlus, Miner & French, Manufacturers, Knoxville, Tenn."

Some years later, Henry and Mattie moved to Bristol, Sullivan County, TN for 13 years before returning to Knoxville. Henry injured his left arm in a railroad wreck in 1899, but the details are not known. He was a member of the Coeur de Lion Commandery of the Knights of Templar, and of the McKinley Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR).

In 1876, Henry's brother Eli B. Miner and wife Mary Louvenna and daughter Maud moved to Knoxville from Warsaw, IN, where they remained for three decades.

The federal census of 1900 shows Henry and Mattie and their six children making their home on Asylum Street in Knoxville. He and his son Harry C. Minor worked as express messengers, while son Ernest B. Minor was a cabinet maker.

Henry passed away in Knoxville at the age of 75 on April 12, 1906. The Knoxville Journal and Tribune reported that he died "at midnight at his home at 507 Richards Street." The funeral was conducted by the Knights of Templar, and attended by members of the GAR post.

Henry is buried at the National Cemetery in Knoxville, in plot B-3372. His grave is not marked. The photo at left shows the site of his grave, in the center of the photo, just to the right of the gravestone in the foreground.

Seen at right is a rare old photographic postcard showing the Civil War soldiers monument at the cemetery.

Mattie's final fate is unknown, but she migrated eastward to Massachusetts after her husband's death. The rationale for this move has not yet been learned.

When the federal census was taken in 1910, she was enumerated with her children on Calder Street in the city of Boston, Suffolk County, MA. Residing in her home in 1910 were her children Mattie (age 27), John (age 24), Louise (21) and Helen (14). She later migrated to New York State, settling in Syracuse, Onondaga County. According to the Syracuse City Directory, in 1925 and '26 she resided at 476 South Salina Street, where she also worked as a waitress. After that, her story is lost to history.

Old Boston, circa 1915

Son Harry C. Minor (1878- ? ) was an express messenger in Knoxville at age 22, circa 1900.

Son Ernest B. Minor (1881- ? ) was a cabinet maker in Knoxville in 1900 at age 19.

Daughter Mattie J. Minor (1883- ? ) is lost to history. In 1910, she was employed as a stenographer in a Boston dry goods store.

Son Wilkie J. Minor (1887- ? ) is shrouded by the hazy mists of the past. His fate is unknown.

Daughter Laura "Louise" Minor (1889-1981) worked as a stenographer in a store in Boston in 1910. She married Ohio native Guy F. Von Kenzie (1889- ? ) in about 1908. (The name also has been spelled "Van" Kenzie.) They had at least three children -- Virginia Collier, Richard Von Kenzie and M. Jean Pettifer. The Von Kenzie's lived in Michigan circa 1920 when their daughter Virginia was born. The census of 1930 shows the family living on Linn Drive in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH. That year, Guy worked as a caretaker of an apartment building. They were in Cleveland Heights circa 1944. By the early 1980s, Louise was widowed and living in Willoughby, Lake County, OH. Louise passed away at the age of 91 on Dec. 6, 1981, in Painesville, Lake County. Guy's fate is unknown.

Daughter Helen Minor (1896- ? ) married Carl D. Wilkins (1895- ? ), a native of New York, in about 1919. When the federal census was taken in 1930, the Wilkinses had been married for 11 years, but had no children. They made their home that year on Catherine Street in Syracuse, Onondaga County, NY, where Carl was a foreman with an oil refinery, and Helen was a saleslady in a dry goods store. Circa 1944, they resided in Elmira, Chemung County, NY.

Philippi battle sketch by H. Lovie. Laurel Hill battle sketch originally published in Harper's Weekly, Aug. 3, 1861. Cemetery grave photo by Eric S. Head.