Biography - Henry Houdashelt
Henry Houdashelt, Esq., one of the early settlers of township 9, range 13,
Greene county, Illinois, first saw the light of day in Simpson county, Ky.,
April 23, 1817. He is the fourth of a family of five children of Isaac and
Nancy Houdashelt. Isaac Houdashelt was born in the "Keystone State," and was
of German parentage. After he was educated and grown to manhood he removed
to Kentucky, to seek his fortune in that genial and delightful climate. Soon
after taking up his residence there he became acquainted with and married
Miss Nancy Cummings, daughter of John Cummings, who was of English descent,
and by occupation a farmer and blacksmith. Mr. Houdashelt, while stopping at
Natchez, Miss., for a brief period on biusines,s died, in or about the 1819.
Mrs. Houdashelt remained a widow until 1824, when she married Andrew M.
Sturmon, and soon after moved with her husband and family to Harrison
county, Indiana. They remained there about seven years, engaged in farming,
after which they moved to Wabaswh county, Ill.; there he resumed his former
business for a period of six years, and then removed to Greene county,
locating in Woodville precinct; and it was there that the mother of the
subject of this sketch, Mrs. Sturmon, died, in the year 1853. The latter,
therefore, as will be observed by the reader, was left fatherless when about
two years of age, and in his early boyhood was deprived of paternal counsel
and guidance. His means of getting an education were such meagre facilities
as the district schools of Indiana and Illinois at that early day afforded;
yet he possessed a natural aptness and love for study, and by application
and perseverance has added to his store of knowledge till we now find him
with a good practical education, and well versed in the leading topics of
the day. When about the age of sixteen he left home, with scarcely a dollar
in his pocket, and set out in the world to win for himself an honest and
manly living. He managed to secure a passage on board the steamboat Henry
Clay, and went down the Mississippi to the state of Louisiana, and there
sought employment, which he found in Carroll parish, his first work being to
assist in building cotton-gins. He continued working at that business for
about eight or nine months, and then hired as overseer of a plantation, at
thirty dollars per month and board, which at that time was considered good
wages. Yet the young man was a practical farmer, and turned to such
profitable account the labor of the slaves under his control, that his
employer was both surprised and pleased with the results so quickly brought
about by his ingenious and persevering management; consequently, he
increased his salary to sixty dollars per month, in gold. He continued to
reside in the South about three years, and then returned to Greene county,
Illinois, where he turned his attention to farming.
In October, 1837, he was married to Miss Permelia Franklin, by whom he had
four children, three of whom died in infancy. After remaining a few years in
Greene county he again longed to change his scene of labors, and
accordingly, in 1844, removed with his family to New Madrid, Mo., continuing
there his farming operations; and it was at that place, in March 1845, that
his wife died. Mr. Houdashelt remained a widower until January 4, 1846, when
he married Mrs. Louisa J. Montgomery (daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth
Strain), who was born in Princeton, Indiana, February 27, 1819. By that
union they had eight children, two of whom are deceased; two daughter and
four sons are yet living. Their eldest daughter, Mary J., is the wife of Dr.
John Darby, and they are residing in Sedalia, Mo. Their son Henry M. is
married and residing in Crawford county, Kansas. Miss Laura and her three
younger brothers are single and living with their parents. Mr. H. continued
to live in Missouri until 1855, when he purchased the farm where he now
resides, in township 9, range 13, Greene county, Illinois. As a stock-grower
and farmer, he has been successful, and is one of the leading agriculturists
in the township where he resides. In politics there seemed to be a kind of
natural affinity existing between him and the whig party. Even a residence
in the South for a number of years, where he came in contact with the
influences of slavery, which would have moulded most young minds in its
favor, had not the effect of shaking his political principles. He was proof
against all the influence of the slave power, and during his life, through
whatever vicissitudes he has been called to pass, his principles have
remained unshaken, and he has been a ready and earnest supporter of what he
conceived to be right. It must be a great satisfaction for him to turn back
and review his past record; he may certainly do it, not with regret, but
with honest pleasure, for he believes that the republican party is the
offspring of the old whig party, and that by the carrying out of its
principles a living reality has been given to our immortal Declaration of
Independence. His first vote for president was cast for Gen. Harrison, and
he has voted at every subsequent presidential election. After the whig party
was disorganized he joined the republicans. He was among those who supported
Bell and Everett, in 1860; otherwise he has voted the straight republican
ticket. During the late civil war, when there was great diversity of opinion
as regards the right or wrong of the means employed in putting down the
rebellion, there was no hesitancy in the mind of Mr. Houdashelt. Coming out
with his usual firmness in favor of the Union, he remained the friend of the
government throughout that long and bloody struggle. It is said that he
never was afraid to speak out his sentiments with the boldness and spirit of
a true Union man. His youngest son by his first wife, John T., enlisted in
the fall of 1861, in the sixty-first regiment Illinois volunteers, and under
the command of that noble veteran, Col. Fry, took part in the battle of
Pittsburg Landing, was there captured, after which he was taken to Mobile,
Alabama, and soon after fell a victim to the malarious diseases infesting
that locality. Thus he gave the life of his son to preserve unsullied the
old flag. The war was concluded, and when its gallant hero, U. S. Grant, was
a candidate for the first office in the gift of the people, the subject of
our sketch came forward promptly and voted for him. He also voted for him
again in the fall of 1872, and says that in reverting to those acts he is
inspired with feelings of pride.
In summing up the career of Mr. H. we find a man who, from almost his
earliest recollections, had to help himself. Hence, he found it as necessary
to be economical as industrious in the affairs of life. His advantages for
education in early life were very limited, though he now ranks among the
more intelligent class of citizens. He is accounted by his neighbors an
honest man, and one who never "goes back on his word." He is one of those
genial, clever gentlemen who will make every one at home who visits at his
house, and his social and manly qualities make him in every way worthy of
his Kentucky ancestry.
Extracted 05 Jan 2017 & 06 Jun 2018 by Norma Hass from Atlas Map of Greene County Illinois, 1873, page 39.
