What the Second Wife Said: Death of “Elcy” A. (Reynolds) Henry

 

What the Second Wife Said: Death of “Elcy” A. (Reynolds) Henry

Jean M. Hoffman, CG

 Alcey (or Elcy, see post about her name) was left in Gallia County, Ohio, with small children when her husband enlisted in the Union Army. James M. Henry enlisted across the river at Point Pleasant in Company H, 13th Virginia Infantry, later West Virginia, on 20 September 1862. At enlistment he was 35, a carpenter, 5’ 6” tall, with gray eyes, dark hair and a dark complexion. He reported his birth was in Columbiana [County], Ohio.[1]

 During his service Alcey gave birth to their last child, James A. Henry, on 5 June 1863.[2] Her husband mustered out on 25 May 1865 having remarried two months earlier on 19 March 1865.[3] His second wife was Mrs. Alvira S. Lyons who had received a divorce two days before from her husband, James H. Lyons.[4] Alcey apparently died between the birth of her son in 1863 and the remarriage of James M. Henry but no record of the death or gravestone was initially found.

 James M. Henry was hospitalized a few times during his service, but never applied for a pension before his death 27 December 1883 in Carroll County, Missouri.[5] He and his family moved to Missouri by September 1865 when he bought land there as a resident.[6] His widow, Alvira, applied for a widow’s pension in 1890 and needed to prove their earlier marriages had ended.[7] While Alvira obtained copies of her marriage record to James M. Henry and her divorce decree, there was no official record of Alcey’s death.

Alvira had no civil or church record of Alcey’s death, but she did have the James M. Henry family bible published by the American Bible Society in 1844. In 1891 a Notary Public transcribed from it the entries for the marriage of Elsy A. Reynolds and James M. Henry and the further entry “E. A. Henry wife of James M. Henry died October 5^th 1863.”[8] Alvira S. Henry also gave her own statement that “she was personally acquainted with said Elcy A. Henry during her life and has visited her grave since her death.”[9] And thus, the second wife revealed the death date of the first wife.

 Alvira said she had visited the grave of the first wife, so perhaps a gravestone was placed there. No record of it has been recorded by the Gallia County Genealogical Society in either Morgan Township where the Henry family lived in 1860 or Cheshire Township where their daughter Mary E. Henry was buried.[10] There are gaps between stones for Reynolds family members in Van Zant Cemetery, so perhaps Alcey was buried among them but with a stone no longer standing.[11]

 Also unknown is what the surviving Henry children did between their mother’s death and their father’s remarriage. They did move with their father to Missouri.[12] The two who survived their parents were Perry B. Henry (born ca. 1856) and James A. Henry (1863–1949).[13] Both inherited from their maternal grandfather, James Reynolds, and their father in the 1880s.

 In 1904, Alvira married another Union veteran, Henry McNelly, who died in 1909. Alvira’s information was recorded again.

 

Endnotes:

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[1] Volunteer Service, 15 September 1909, Alvira S. Henry, widow's pension application no. 463,317, W.C. no. 334,980, service of James M. Henry (Pvt., Co. H, 13th West Virginia Inf., Civil War); Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861–1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Record Group 15: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

 [2] “Missouri Death Certificates, 1910 – 1973,” database with images, Missouri Digital Heritage (https://s1.sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesmvc/deathcertificates : viewed 28 September 2024), 1949, certificate no. 29573, James Allen Henry, Carroll County; citing Missouri State Archives.

 [3] ”Ohio Marriages, 1800-1958,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRMD-SK5G?i=51&cc=1614804 : viewed 30 September 2024), image group number 4016312, image 52 of 276, Gallia County Marriage Record No. 3 (1862-1874), p. 88, James M. Henry and Alvira S. Lyons, 1865.

 [4] Certified Copy of Journal Entry, Divorce Decree, Gallia County, Ohio, 18 May 1891, Alvira S. Henry, W.C. no. 334,980, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861–1934; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

 [5] “Missouri Birth & Death Records Database, Pre-1910,” database, Missouri Digital Heritage (https://s1.sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesdb/BirthDeath/ : viewed 29 September 2024), Jas. M. Henry, 1883; citing Carroll County, roll no. C 1368, page 15.  And, Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71960118 : viewed 19 June 2024), “James Madison Henry” (1827–1883) memorial and tombstone image created by Patt Ricketts: citing Big Creek Cemetery, Bosworth, Carroll County, Missouri. Only middle initial engraved on stone, has death date and age.

 [6] 1870 U.S. census, Carroll County, Missouri, population schedule, Hurricane Township, sheet 295A, dwelling 189 family 196, James M Henry household; imaged, “1870 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4273845_00129  : viewed 19 June 2024). And, Carroll County, Missouri, Deed Record V (1865), page 207; imaged, “Deed records (Carroll County, Missouri), 1819-1929,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39Y-6SHT-T?mode=g&cat=214042 : viewed 28 September 2024) image group no. 8487885,  image 111 of 685, quit claim Lewis B. Ely to James M. Henry, 6 September 1865; citing Recorder of Deeds.

 [7] Declaration for Widow's Pension, 1 September 1890, Alvira S. Henry, W.C. no. 334,980, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861–1934; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

 [8] General Affidavit of J. H. McCombs, 12 March 1891, Alvira S. Henry, W.C. no. 334,980, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861–1934; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

 [9] Inability Affidavit, 3 June 1891, Alvira S. Henry, W.C. no. 334,980, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861–1934; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

 [10] “Gallia County Cemetery Records,” database, Gallia County Genealogical Society OGS Chapter, Inc. (https://www.galliagenealogy.org/cem_records.htm : viewed 30 September 2024), search of all entries for surname Henry.

 [11] Van Zant Cemetery (Cheshire Township, Gallia County, Ohio, section 35), Reynolds and related gravestones viewed and photographed by the author, 24 October 2000. There were gaps in the row and the standing stones were not in the best condition.

 [12] 1870 U.S. census, Carroll Co., Mo., pop. sch., Hurricane Twp., sheet 295A, dwell. 189, fam. 196, Henry.

 [13] Gallia County, Ohio, Gallia Probate Case File 197, James Reynolds, Power of Attorney of Perry B. Henry and James A. Henry, 14 February 1882; imaged in “Ohio, Gallia County, probate case files, 1803–1943,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS2Q-GQSJ-Y?i=484&cat=2827731 : viewed 25 June 2024), image group no, 103741784 > images 485–87 of 2055. Also, “Missouri, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1766-1988,” database with images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/3527875:9071 : viewed 30 September 2024), image 205 of 606, Carroll County Will Record D, page 330, will of James M. Henry, 25 December 1883.