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The Henrys

Finding Melissa

Melissa Henry 1846 – 1886

I never knew my grandmother, Melissa Henry. And I had no idea where she came from, who her family was - only that her maiden name was Henry. We knew that she died when my father was only two years old (Death Cert.) and that he was raised by his aunt. (Family conversations)

We found Melissa in the 1880 census living with her husband, Thomas L. Carey (my grandfather) and 6 of her 8 children (pictured at right) in Carey Town, Highland Co., Ohio. Two younger children were yet unborn. She died in childbirth in 1886 with her 9th child, an unnamed daughter. (Death Cert.) This, however, didn't give us the names of her parents but it did tell us that they were both born in Virginia.

Since the 1890 census was unavailable, I searched for my father (David L. Carey) in the 1900 census. I found him living with William and Alcinda Roush and he was listed as a nephew. The name and birthday are correct. He was born Oct 26, 1883 (Family Celebration).

As Alcinda was an unusual name, I did a search for her with no surname and found an Alcinda Henry and her brother, Joseph, in the 1860 census living with a John and Cynthia Henry in Wayne Township, Clinton, Ohio.

Since Alcinda and Joseph were older and listed below the younger children, I felt that John and Cynthia Henry were probably not the parents (no relationship was indicated in the 1860 census) so I did a search in the 1850 census and found them living with their parents, William and Nancy Henry (both born in Virginia). Alcinda's age is right and she has a brother Joseph that is also the right age. There is a younger sister, Maria M. Henry, age 4 and that would make her born in 1846 when Melissa was born. I have suspected all along that perhaps Melissa was using her middle name because she didn't like her first name. I am reasonably sure that this is Melissa as the birth dates are correct and she has a sister, Alcinda who is listed in the 1900 Census as having a nephew that is my father. Melissa's marriage certificate from Clinton Co. does not give her parents name.

William (b. 1803) and Nancy Henry (b. 1804) are both listed as being born in Virginia. Unfortunately, the early censuses do not list family members, just numbers so I searched the OneWorldTree on Ancestry.com and found 5 User Family Trees. I downloaded some of the GED files and imported them into Legacy and found William and Nancy (Doctor) Henry listed with their children that matches the 1850 census and indeed, Alcinda marries William Roush. Alcinda has been the key to this research. Also, in the 1850 census there was a Lafayette Baldwin living with the Henrys. The oldest daughter, Martha E. later married a Baldwin.

In the GED file, William Henry's parents were listed as Moses Henry and Martha Maneary. He had three brothers: Michael, Enoch and John (This could be the John Henry that Alcinda and Joseph were living with in the 1860 census). It's interesting that three of the Henry brothers married three of the Doctor sisters.

So now, I have William and Nancy's parents and siblings from this GED file. However, no sources - so no verification that this file is correct but it is a strong lead. I need to find a definite Connection between William Henry and Moses Henry. In the meantime I am trying to track Moses Henry and Martin Doctor & Amelia Cain back in time.