John
'Henry' Minor
(1830-1886?)
John 'Henry' Minor was born in Pickaway County, OH, the son of John and Lucretia (Morris) Minor. He was a pioneer settler of Indiana and Missouri.
On Oct. 29, 1854, he married Malinda Six (1837- ? ) in Hocking County, OH. They had at least three children -- John Miner, Minerva Jane 'Jennie' Lame and Clara Miner.
In 1858, the Minors bought a four-acre farm along the "Maysville and Zanesville Turnpike" in Pickaway. They sold this farm in 1860. They also acquired a 14-acre farm along the turnpike, in Pickaway, and sold it in 1864. When his father died unexpectedly in 1866, Henry was chosen to administer the estate, a task completed in 1868.
By 1870, Henry and Malinda and their three children had left Ohio, and moved to Indiana, where he worked as a farm laborer. They resided in Wea Township, near the town of Lafayette, when the federal census was taken in 1870.
Later, Henry moved to Missouri, becoming a pioneer settler of Butler, Bates County. He is thought to have worked there as "a professional house renovator." Malinda's fate is not yet known.
His sister Eliza (Minor) Swearingen also settled at Butler, in about 1884.
Little else is known about Henry's life. In 1886, it's thought that he died at Butler, and apparently was buried there. If so, at his death, the Butler Weekly Times said he had a "familiar face … known and liked by everybody in town…." The Times added that his "valuable [home renovation] services will be sadly missed by a score of good housewives this spring."
Copyright © 2000, 2005-2006 Mark A. Miner