Russell W. Henry
Russell W. Henry, of Ripley Township, was born in Holmes County, Ohio, in 1853, a son of David and Emily (Segafoos) Henry, and grandson of James and Charlotte (Dance) Henry. James Henry was a native of Ireland, and came to Amedrica when a child. He was twice married, his first wife being Charlotte Dance, a native of Connecticut, who bore him two children. His second wife was Nancy Campbell, a native of Vermont, and their children were William, John, Moses, Robert and Margaret. James Henry lived in New York until 1836, when he moved to Knox Township, Holmes Co., Ohio, and bought 200 acres of land, on which he lived until his death, which occurred when he was sixty-five years of age.
David Henry was born in Cayuga County, N. Y., January 25, 1819, and was seventeen years old when he accompanied his father to Holmes County, and here he has since lived. He was married September 10, 1848, to Emily, daughter of Solomon and Sarah (Dodds) Segafoos. Mr. Segafoos was an early settler of Holmes County, coming from Bedford County, Penn., in 1812, and locating in Ripley Township, when Mount Vernon was the nearest town. Mr. and Mrs. Henry have seven children: Alice, Russell W., E. D., V. V., Cora, Dora and Curtis B. Mr. Henry was at one time a prosperous farmer, but has been compelled to relinquish considerable of his property on account of misplaced confidence in supposed friends.
Russell W. Henry, whose name heads this sketch, spent his early life on his father's farm, and with the exception of two years in Illinois, has made this county his home. He was given a good education, attending first the common schools and later Hayesville and Smithville Academies, and then for two years studied law with Judge Henry, of Danville, Ill. He has taught several terms of school, but with this exception has devoted his attention to farming. He is numbered among the most enterprising young men of Ripley Township, is public spirited and has held many important official positions; he has been justice of the peace three years. In 1877 he married Kate E., daughter of Jacob Miller, of Holmes County, and they have five children: Carl S., Bessie E., Fannie M., Howard A. and Charles C. In politics Mr. Henry is a Democrat.
From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Wayne and Holmes, Ohio, J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1889