Miami County, Ohio Genealogical Researchers -- Sponsored by the Computerized Heritage Association


    HENRY TEN EICK

    Henry TenEick, retired farmer; P. O. Tippecanoe City; one of the earliest settlers and prominent citizens of Miami Co.; he comes from a vigorous and long-lived family; his paternal grandparents were Hollanders; he was born in Somerset Co., N. J., Aug. 14,1802, and is the son of Matthew and Cornelia (Post) Ten Eick; the former born May 4,1764, in the same county as our subject; his father, Henry, came from Holland in an early day, and settled in New Jersey; he served as a Captain under Gen. Washington, in the struggle for American Independence, and was a brave man; he participated in the battle of Bunker Hill and others; he survived to the advanced age of 86 years, and had seven sons and one daughter; the daughter married Benjamin J. Hayes, the celebrated New York detective; Matthew was the seventh son, and, according to the old superstitious belief that the seventh son was endowed with extraordinary curative powers, he was educated for the medical profession, and practiced medicine to some extent through life; though quite young, he participated in the war of 1776, and was 1st Lieutenant of a New Jersey company. He married Cornelia Post April 9, 1796, who was born Jan. 4, 1771, in New Jersey; Matthew emigrated to Ohio in the fall of 1812, making the trip by team; he located in Montgomery Co., near the present site of Miamisburg; here he erected his rude log. cabin, and began pioneer life; he soon purchased a farm, and, with unflagging industry and perseverance, established a permanent home, where he passed the remainder of his active life, the latter eight years of his life being passed in Bethel Township, Miami Co., with our subject he died at the age of nearly 90 years, April, 1853, and his wife in May, 1849; he had four sons and one daughter; Matthew, his youngest son, went to Iowa early, and with Gov. Lucas, laid out Iowa City, and his oldest daughter was the first child born in the place. Our subject was the third son, and his early life was that of a pioneer the hardships and privations of which developed a vigorous constitution and a fine physique; in the fall of 1821, he teamed to Ft. Wayne, Ind., where he first met and made the acquaintance of Col. Johnston, with whom he was an intimate friend ever after; in the spring of 1822, he moved to Shelby Co., on a farm, where he began a career as a farmer, land and stock-dealer, and which has been marked with signal success, due to his unusual foresight as a business man, his industry and economy; he remained six years in Shelby Co., and then removed to Bethel Township, Miami Co., and in 1865, came to his present place in Tippecanoe City; while in Shelby Co., he lived a neighbor to Col. Johnston; he began life with small financial means, and, by his unflagging industry and business sagacity, has amassed a large fortune, he has 1,440 acres of land in one tract, lying in the horseshoe bend of Honey Creek, Bethel Township, all under the best of improvement, he also owns "the model" farm of Central Ohio, of 1,000 acres, for which he has been offered $60,000, and a few years ago paid the largest real estate tax in the county; when the Wyandot reservation of Ohio was sold, he purchased 2,700 acres of the land, and afterward disposed of it in two tracts at a great profit; he has been equally successful in stock-dealing, and has established a wide reputation as a dealer in fine horses, his judgment in the selection of horses being regarded as par excellence; while buying horses in Kentucky, he became acquainted with Henry Clay, at whose house he frequently dined, and one time, to convince Clay that the farming implements of the Miami Valley were far ahead of those of Kentucky, expressed him a patent Wilmington plow, which he much appreciated, and afterward sold him what he said was the finest horse he ever owned ; during the late war, he took large Government contracts to furnish mules, and among the many hundreds which he supplied, so well had he selected them, not one was rejected by the Government Inspector; he is now 78 years old, with his mental and physical powers remarkably well preserved ; coming from a stock of "Old-Line Whigs", he naturally became a Republican at the organization of the partly. He was married, May 30, 1821, to Eleanor , daughter of William P. and Mary Barkalow; she was born Nov. 19, 1803; their golden wedding was celebrated May 30, 1871, with many guests and valuable gifts; of the six sons and four daughters born to them, three sons and three daughters have died.

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