Letter: Edward to John on Simon's Death

This letter, dated March 30, 1888, Springfield, Ohio, was written by Capt. Henry’s (Charley) youngest brother, Edward, to another brother, Newton, on the occasion of reporting the death of their eldest brother Simon.  I downloaded this from a shirt-tail Henry relative who had posted it on Ancestry.com.  It’s interesting especially because it answers the question of whether Capt. Henry attended the hanging of Charles Guiteau, a question raised by Grandpa Chuck in a letter he sent out to Hiram Alumni. I’ll attach both here.

The Edward – Newton letter is challenging to read but full of interesting reminisces and well worth the effort. Download – Edward-Newton_Letter.compressed PDF

March 22, 2017 Linda Download – Edward-Newton_Letter.compressed PDFLetter

Edward Henry writing to John Henry about their brother Simon Henry

This is page one of a six-page handwritten letter from Edward Henry to his brother John Newton Henry dated March 30, 1888, and sent from Springfield, Ohio.

UNITED STATES EXPRESS CO.

Springfield, O. Mar. 30 1888

Good Friday Brother Newton, You have heard of the death of our brother Simon and his body buried by mother's at the center of Bainbridge. It occurs to me that the youngest should say a few words of the oldest—of our old family—now broken and scattered. Simon was born in the wilderness, schooled in log school houses with wooden benches, and hickory and beech whips. He was a carpenter, a builder of barns and houses, a teacher, a musician, a follower of Lowell M. and Wm. B. Bradbury, the great promoter of song of praise. He was a man of personal habits of cleanliness. I never heard utter an oath, his influence was always for good. His marches on Sunday were towards the church, or like Thoreau to the old hemlock swamp near the big pond or around the quiet Chagrin River hills. He reared a large family and educated them at Hillsdale, Mich. He was a deputy marshal under brother Charley (Captain Henry of Geauga) at Washington. In youth, with you, I believe, he witnessed the hanging of Miss Ravenna West during the war. He visited me in the Kanawha Valley and saw a bad murderer hang at Wheeling. The last time I saw Simon—he gave me a graphic account of the hanging of Charles J. Guiteau as he and Charley were near the gallows. Simon delighted to skip for bass on the pond (skipping method to cast a fishing lure in a way that the lure bounces or "skips" across the surface of the water) or to give forth uncontrollable laughter at the quaint sayings of old Mr. Giles in his remarkable exegesis of the gospels. He was well informed on our political history, and although a free soiler that harmonized with the broad Jeffersonian views of Dr. Shepherd. He liked to hear such preachers as Rev. Edmund B. Fairfield, President of Hillsdale College, or the rhetoric. He never liked [Winthrop] in Bangor for music, but the smooth music of Bradbury. The tune he heard there is "A Stream," etc.; "Old Boyleston," by Mason, or "Ithania's of a Body." He might feel badly at his death, but he has left a good record. When boys Charley and I thought someday we would have a silk flag hat like Simons, and shiny rubber shoes to wear to church. At the end he has as much for more worth than Nese in the church yard beside mother. Let him sleep in peace and wake into the songs of praise he lived and loved to sing. My wife sends love to you all. We have (unreadable text) you when out there two years ago. Gives a long letter where to direct I know not but sister Ann in Cleveland gave me the Richardson card some time ago so I'll send to his care. Truly, Edward E Henry,

Warden's Office D. C. Jail, Washington, D. C. Mr. C.E. Henry: U. S. Marshal + Deputies, You are respectfully invited to witness the execution of Charles J. Guiteau, at this jail Friday June 30, 1882; between the hours of 12 M., and 2 o'clock P. M. John S. Crocker Warden.

To the Alumni of Hiram College: Charles Guiteau was the man who shot James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States. I found the invitation addressed to my grandfather who was then Marshal of the District of Columbia among my father's papers a few years ago.
Since Hiram alumni everywhere will always be interested in anything connected with the illustrious career of their fellow Hiram alumnus, James A. Garfield, I thought that you would like to see this replica of the invitation, gruesome as it may be. Did my grandfather accept the invitation? I never have known the answer to that question. Somehow, I hope that he did not.

This letter, dated March 30, 1888, Springfield, Ohio, was written by Capt. Henry’s (Charley) youngest brother, Edward, to another brother, Newton, on the occasion of reporting the death of their eldest brother Simon.  I downloaded this from a shirt-tail Henry relative who had posted it on Ancestry.com.  It’s interesting especially because it answers the question of whether Capt. Henry attended the hanging of Charles Guiteau, a question raised by Grandpa Chuck in a letter he sent out to Hiram Alumni. I’ll attach both here.

The Edward – Newton letter is challenging to read but full of interesting reminisces and well worth the effort. Download – Edward-Newton_Letter.compressed PDF

March 22, 2017 Linda Download – Edward-Newton_Letter.compressed PDFLetter