WILLIAM HENRY, SR. was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, according to his gravestone (another family source says County Down) in 1715 and died at Henry’s Knob, York County, South Carolina, on October 22, 1819, at the advanced age of 104 years. Family tradition has it that he was descended from an excellent family in Ireland who possessed a large (questionable) estate. His mother died while he was young and his father remarried a woman with whom young William disagreed; and he left his father’s house at the age of eighteen, never to return to seek his inheritance.
Sometime after 1733, he sailed from Ireland to America, most likely landing at one of the port cities in Pennsylvania, but soon pushed inland and then, after a time, 300 miles southwest to Augusta County in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with other Scotch-Irish settlers on the move. It was there, about 1747, that he married Margaret Isabella McKeown or McCown (1725-ca. 1781), of Irish birth and daughter of Francis and Margaret Isabella McKeown, natives of Donegal, Ireland. About 1751 in the vanguard of pioneers who were beginning to move from the Virginia frontier into the backcountry of the Carolinas, the couple and their first children traveled down the Great Wagon Road another 300 miles to what was then the lower section of old Anson/Mecklenburg/Tryon County, North Carolina (now Gaston County). Here he received a land grant to property “near Tuckaseegee Ford and the confluence of the [west side of the] South Fork and Catawba” rivers. About ten years later, in 1764, the Henrys moved a few miles further southwest to the headwaters of Allison Creek in present-day York County, South Carolina, a place designated in his land grant as the “little mountain,” but soon known as Henry’s Knob. This location was part of the New Acquisition – that part of York County west of the Catawba River, stretching 11 miles deep and designated a part of South Carolina by the 1772 boundary line adjustment between North Carolina and South Carolina. Various court records show William Henry obtaining several land grants between 1764 and 1773, all situated on Crowder’s and Allison Creeks. It was here that William and Margaret reared their nine children, six sons and three daughters: Mary Henry (Smith), John Henry, William Henry, Jr., Malcolm Henry, Alexander Henry, Josiah Henry, Isabella Henry (Walker), Jane Henry (Campbell) and Francis Henry. It remained the seat of the Henry family for well over a hundred and fifty years.
When the Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, William Henry was a staunch American patriot, but at the age of sixty-one was too old to fight as a soldier. However, four of his sons – John, William, Jr., Malcolm, and Alexander – actively took up the patriot cause espoused by their father. The senior Henry served as a member of the second General Assembly of South Carolina in Charleston during 1776-1778, representing the New Acquisition, which included the northern section of present-day York County and the Henry plantation at Henry’s Knob.
A family tradition, long quoted, says that William Henry, Sr., along with his sons, William, Jr., Malcom, John and Alexander, turned out on July 12, 1780, to capture the marauding Tories under Captain Christian Huck of Banastre Tarleton’s Legion. That was when an American force under General Thomas Sumter attacked Captain Huck at James Williamson’s plantation in southern York County, slaying Huck and driving off his troops with heavy loss. The engagement was known as Huck’s Defeat. Years later, in 1839, the Battle of Huck's Defeat was commemorated in a celebration at Brattonsville. The published proceedings of that occasion record that "the 26th toast of the day was drunk (with spring water) to Wm. Henry and his four sons, William, Malcolm, John, and Alexander, true patriots, brave and fearless soldiers." This information is probably the origin of the claim that William Henry, Sr. was a soldier in the Revolution. However, the pamphlet contains a clarifying note that makes it clear that the persons named in this toast did not participate in the Battle of Huck's Defeat, but "were engaged in other battles."
Nonetheless, there is strong recorded evidence (Memoirs of the Honorable Felix Walker) that links William Henry and his family in a crucial way to the Battle of King's Mountain, fought October 7, 1780, only a short distance northwest of Henry's Knob. Two Tories carrying a message from British Major Patrick Ferguson to General Lord Charles Cornwallis, 45 miles away at Charlotte, “stopped on their way at the house of Alexander Henry, disguising their true character and mission and obtaining refreshments. Renewing their journey with undue haste, the suspicions of Mr. Henry's family were excited and his sons immediately set out in pursuit. They followed the suspects closely, but the Tory messengers anticipated this by taking a circuitous route to mislead them.” In so doing, however, the dispatch was unduly delayed and did not reach Cornwallis until the morning of October 7, the day of Ferguson's defeat by patriot militia at Kings Mountain, destroying the left wing of Cornwallis’ army. We must infer that the home visited by the Tory messengers was indeed that of William Henry, Sr., not (as mentioned above) his son Alexander, as the latter’s age makes it impossible that he yet had a family of sons old enough for military service.
William Henry, Sr. lived contentedly and productively at Henry’s Knob (4.5 miles west of present-day Clover, near Bethany Church) until his death sixty-five years later, in 1819. He was recognized as a prosperous farmer, a leader of the community and a true American patriot. His remains are interred in the churchyard at Bethany Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church in York County, of which he was long a leader. There is no tombstone found for Margaret Isabella beside her husband. Census records indicate she died before 1800 and very likely before the founding of the church in 1797. Many of their descendants inhabit the region today.
Contributed by Robert A. Ragan, a descendant, January 1, 2016.
Sometime after 1733, he sailed from Ireland to America, most likely landing at one of the port cities in Pennsylvania, but soon pushed inland and then, after a time, 300 miles southwest to Augusta County in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with other Scotch-Irish settlers on the move. It was there, about 1747, that he married Margaret Isabella McKeown or McCown (1725-ca. 1781), of Irish birth and daughter of Francis and Margaret Isabella McKeown, natives of Donegal, Ireland. About 1751 in the vanguard of pioneers who were beginning to move from the Virginia frontier into the backcountry of the Carolinas, the couple and their first children traveled down the Great Wagon Road another 300 miles to what was then the lower section of old Anson/Mecklenburg/Tryon County, North Carolina (now Gaston County). Here he received a land grant to property “near Tuckaseegee Ford and the confluence of the [west side of the] South Fork and Catawba” rivers. About ten years later, in 1764, the Henrys moved a few miles further southwest to the headwaters of Allison Creek in present-day York County, South Carolina, a place designated in his land grant as the “little mountain,” but soon known as Henry’s Knob. This location was part of the New Acquisition – that part of York County west of the Catawba River, stretching 11 miles deep and designated a part of South Carolina by the 1772 boundary line adjustment between North Carolina and South Carolina. Various court records show William Henry obtaining several land grants between 1764 and 1773, all situated on Crowder’s and Allison Creeks. It was here that William and Margaret reared their nine children, six sons and three daughters: Mary Henry (Smith), John Henry, William Henry, Jr., Malcolm Henry, Alexander Henry, Josiah Henry, Isabella Henry (Walker), Jane Henry (Campbell) and Francis Henry. It remained the seat of the Henry family for well over a hundred and fifty years.
When the Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, William Henry was a staunch American patriot, but at the age of sixty-one was too old to fight as a soldier. However, four of his sons – John, William, Jr., Malcolm, and Alexander – actively took up the patriot cause espoused by their father. The senior Henry served as a member of the second General Assembly of South Carolina in Charleston during 1776-1778, representing the New Acquisition, which included the northern section of present-day York County and the Henry plantation at Henry’s Knob.
A family tradition, long quoted, says that William Henry, Sr., along with his sons, William, Jr., Malcom, John and Alexander, turned out on July 12, 1780, to capture the marauding Tories under Captain Christian Huck of Banastre Tarleton’s Legion. That was when an American force under General Thomas Sumter attacked Captain Huck at James Williamson’s plantation in southern York County, slaying Huck and driving off his troops with heavy loss. The engagement was known as Huck’s Defeat. Years later, in 1839, the Battle of Huck's Defeat was commemorated in a celebration at Brattonsville. The published proceedings of that occasion record that "the 26th toast of the day was drunk (with spring water) to Wm. Henry and his four sons, William, Malcolm, John, and Alexander, true patriots, brave and fearless soldiers." This information is probably the origin of the claim that William Henry, Sr. was a soldier in the Revolution. However, the pamphlet contains a clarifying note that makes it clear that the persons named in this toast did not participate in the Battle of Huck's Defeat, but "were engaged in other battles."
Nonetheless, there is strong recorded evidence (Memoirs of the Honorable Felix Walker) that links William Henry and his family in a crucial way to the Battle of King's Mountain, fought October 7, 1780, only a short distance northwest of Henry's Knob. Two Tories carrying a message from British Major Patrick Ferguson to General Lord Charles Cornwallis, 45 miles away at Charlotte, “stopped on their way at the house of Alexander Henry, disguising their true character and mission and obtaining refreshments. Renewing their journey with undue haste, the suspicions of Mr. Henry's family were excited and his sons immediately set out in pursuit. They followed the suspects closely, but the Tory messengers anticipated this by taking a circuitous route to mislead them.” In so doing, however, the dispatch was unduly delayed and did not reach Cornwallis until the morning of October 7, the day of Ferguson's defeat by patriot militia at Kings Mountain, destroying the left wing of Cornwallis’ army. We must infer that the home visited by the Tory messengers was indeed that of William Henry, Sr., not (as mentioned above) his son Alexander, as the latter’s age makes it impossible that he yet had a family of sons old enough for military service.
William Henry, Sr. lived contentedly and productively at Henry’s Knob (4.5 miles west of present-day Clover, near Bethany Church) until his death sixty-five years later, in 1819. He was recognized as a prosperous farmer, a leader of the community and a true American patriot. His remains are interred in the churchyard at Bethany Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church in York County, of which he was long a leader. There is no tombstone found for Margaret Isabella beside her husband. Census records indicate she died before 1800 and very likely before the founding of the church in 1797. Many of their descendants inhabit the region today.
Contributed by Robert A. Ragan, a descendant, January 1, 2016.
WILLIAM HENRY, SR. was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, according to his gravestone (another family source says County Down) in 1715 and died at Henry’s Knob, York County, South Carolina, on October 22, 1819, at the advanced age of 104 years. Family tradition has it that he was descended from an excellent family in Ireland who possessed a large (questionable) estate. His mother died while he was young and his father remarried a woman with whom young William disagreed; and he left his father’s house at the age of eighteen, never to return to seek his inheritance.
Sometime after 1733, he sailed from Ireland to America, most likely landing at one of the port cities in Pennsylvania, but soon pushed inland and then, after a time, 300 miles southwest to Augusta County in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with other Scotch-Irish settlers on the move. It was there, about 1747, that he married Margaret Isabella McKeown or McCown (1725-ca. 1781), of Irish birth and daughter of Francis and Margaret Isabella McKeown, natives of Donegal, Ireland. About 1751 in the vanguard of pioneers who were beginning to move from the Virginia frontier into the backcountry of the Carolinas, the couple and their first children traveled down the Great Wagon Road another 300 miles to what was then the lower section of old Anson/Mecklenburg/Tryon County, North Carolina (now Gaston County). Here he received a land grant to property “near Tuckaseegee Ford and the confluence of the [west side of the] South Fork and Catawba” rivers. About ten years later, in 1764, the Henrys moved a few miles further southwest to the headwaters of Allison Creek in present-day York County, South Carolina, a place designated in his land grant as the “little mountain,” but soon known as Henry’s Knob. This location was part of the New Acquisition – that part of York County west of the Catawba River, stretching 11 miles deep and designated a part of South Carolina by the 1772 boundary line adjustment between North Carolina and South Carolina. Various court records show William Henry obtaining several land grants between 1764 and 1773, all situated on Crowder’s and Allison Creeks. It was here that William and Margaret reared their nine children, six sons and three daughters: Mary Henry (Smith), John Henry, William Henry, Jr., Malcolm Henry, Alexander Henry, Josiah Henry, Isabella Henry (Walker), Jane Henry (Campbell) and Francis Henry. It remained the seat of the Henry family for well over a hundred and fifty years.
When the Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, William Henry was a staunch American patriot, but at the age of sixty-one was too old to fight as a soldier. However, four of his sons – John, William, Jr., Malcolm, and Alexander – actively took up the patriot cause espoused by their father. The senior Henry served as a member of the second General Assembly of South Carolina in Charleston during 1776-1778, representing the New Acquisition, which included the northern section of present-day York County and the Henry plantation at Henry’s Knob.
A family tradition, long quoted, says that William Henry, Sr., along with his sons, William, Jr., Malcom, John and Alexander, turned out on July 12, 1780, to capture the marauding Tories under Captain Christian Huck of Banastre Tarleton’s Legion. That was when an American force under General Thomas Sumter attacked Captain Huck at James Williamson’s plantation in southern York County, slaying Huck and driving off his troops with heavy loss. The engagement was known as Huck’s Defeat. Years later, in 1839, the Battle of Huck's Defeat was commemorated in a celebration at Brattonsville. The published proceedings of that occasion record that "the 26th toast of the day was drunk (with spring water) to Wm. Henry and his four sons, William, Malcolm, John, and Alexander, true patriots, brave and fearless soldiers." This information is probably the origin of the claim that William Henry, Sr. was a soldier in the Revolution. However, the pamphlet contains a clarifying note that makes it clear that the persons named in this toast did not participate in the Battle of Huck's Defeat, but "were engaged in other battles."
Nonetheless, there is strong recorded evidence (Memoirs of the Honorable Felix Walker) that links William Henry and his family in a crucial way to the Battle of King's Mountain, fought October 7, 1780, only a short distance northwest of Henry's Knob. Two Tories carrying a message from British Major Patrick Ferguson to General Lord Charles Cornwallis, 45 miles away at Charlotte, “stopped on their way at the house of Alexander Henry, disguising their true character and mission and obtaining refreshments. Renewing their journey with undue haste, the suspicions of Mr. Henry's family were excited and his sons immediately set out in pursuit. They followed the suspects closely, but the Tory messengers anticipated this by taking a circuitous route to mislead them.” In so doing, however, the dispatch was unduly delayed and did not reach Cornwallis until the morning of October 7, the day of Ferguson's defeat by patriot militia at Kings Mountain, destroying the left wing of Cornwallis’ army. We must infer that the home visited by the Tory messengers was indeed that of William Henry, Sr., not (as mentioned above) his son Alexander, as the latter’s age makes it impossible that he yet had a family of sons old enough for military service.
William Henry, Sr. lived contentedly and productively at Henry’s Knob (4.5 miles west of present-day Clover, near Bethany Church) until his death sixty-five years later, in 1819. He was recognized as a prosperous farmer, a leader of the community and a true American patriot. His remains are interred in the churchyard at Bethany Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church in York County, of which he was long a leader. There is no tombstone found for Margaret Isabella beside her husband. Census records indicate she died before 1800 and very likely before the founding of the church in 1797. Many of their descendants inhabit the region today.
Contributed by Robert A. Ragan, a descendant, January 1, 2016.
Sometime after 1733, he sailed from Ireland to America, most likely landing at one of the port cities in Pennsylvania, but soon pushed inland and then, after a time, 300 miles southwest to Augusta County in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with other Scotch-Irish settlers on the move. It was there, about 1747, that he married Margaret Isabella McKeown or McCown (1725-ca. 1781), of Irish birth and daughter of Francis and Margaret Isabella McKeown, natives of Donegal, Ireland. About 1751 in the vanguard of pioneers who were beginning to move from the Virginia frontier into the backcountry of the Carolinas, the couple and their first children traveled down the Great Wagon Road another 300 miles to what was then the lower section of old Anson/Mecklenburg/Tryon County, North Carolina (now Gaston County). Here he received a land grant to property “near Tuckaseegee Ford and the confluence of the [west side of the] South Fork and Catawba” rivers. About ten years later, in 1764, the Henrys moved a few miles further southwest to the headwaters of Allison Creek in present-day York County, South Carolina, a place designated in his land grant as the “little mountain,” but soon known as Henry’s Knob. This location was part of the New Acquisition – that part of York County west of the Catawba River, stretching 11 miles deep and designated a part of South Carolina by the 1772 boundary line adjustment between North Carolina and South Carolina. Various court records show William Henry obtaining several land grants between 1764 and 1773, all situated on Crowder’s and Allison Creeks. It was here that William and Margaret reared their nine children, six sons and three daughters: Mary Henry (Smith), John Henry, William Henry, Jr., Malcolm Henry, Alexander Henry, Josiah Henry, Isabella Henry (Walker), Jane Henry (Campbell) and Francis Henry. It remained the seat of the Henry family for well over a hundred and fifty years.
When the Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, William Henry was a staunch American patriot, but at the age of sixty-one was too old to fight as a soldier. However, four of his sons – John, William, Jr., Malcolm, and Alexander – actively took up the patriot cause espoused by their father. The senior Henry served as a member of the second General Assembly of South Carolina in Charleston during 1776-1778, representing the New Acquisition, which included the northern section of present-day York County and the Henry plantation at Henry’s Knob.
A family tradition, long quoted, says that William Henry, Sr., along with his sons, William, Jr., Malcom, John and Alexander, turned out on July 12, 1780, to capture the marauding Tories under Captain Christian Huck of Banastre Tarleton’s Legion. That was when an American force under General Thomas Sumter attacked Captain Huck at James Williamson’s plantation in southern York County, slaying Huck and driving off his troops with heavy loss. The engagement was known as Huck’s Defeat. Years later, in 1839, the Battle of Huck's Defeat was commemorated in a celebration at Brattonsville. The published proceedings of that occasion record that "the 26th toast of the day was drunk (with spring water) to Wm. Henry and his four sons, William, Malcolm, John, and Alexander, true patriots, brave and fearless soldiers." This information is probably the origin of the claim that William Henry, Sr. was a soldier in the Revolution. However, the pamphlet contains a clarifying note that makes it clear that the persons named in this toast did not participate in the Battle of Huck's Defeat, but "were engaged in other battles."
Nonetheless, there is strong recorded evidence (Memoirs of the Honorable Felix Walker) that links William Henry and his family in a crucial way to the Battle of King's Mountain, fought October 7, 1780, only a short distance northwest of Henry's Knob. Two Tories carrying a message from British Major Patrick Ferguson to General Lord Charles Cornwallis, 45 miles away at Charlotte, “stopped on their way at the house of Alexander Henry, disguising their true character and mission and obtaining refreshments. Renewing their journey with undue haste, the suspicions of Mr. Henry's family were excited and his sons immediately set out in pursuit. They followed the suspects closely, but the Tory messengers anticipated this by taking a circuitous route to mislead them.” In so doing, however, the dispatch was unduly delayed and did not reach Cornwallis until the morning of October 7, the day of Ferguson's defeat by patriot militia at Kings Mountain, destroying the left wing of Cornwallis’ army. We must infer that the home visited by the Tory messengers was indeed that of William Henry, Sr., not (as mentioned above) his son Alexander, as the latter’s age makes it impossible that he yet had a family of sons old enough for military service.
William Henry, Sr. lived contentedly and productively at Henry’s Knob (4.5 miles west of present-day Clover, near Bethany Church) until his death sixty-five years later, in 1819. He was recognized as a prosperous farmer, a leader of the community and a true American patriot. His remains are interred in the churchyard at Bethany Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church in York County, of which he was long a leader. There is no tombstone found for Margaret Isabella beside her husband. Census records indicate she died before 1800 and very likely before the founding of the church in 1797. Many of their descendants inhabit the region today.
Contributed by Robert A. Ragan, a descendant, January 1, 2016.
