My Genealogy Hound

HENRY C. HENDRICK, M. D., the oldest and by far the longest resident physician of the village of McGrawville since its settlement over 100 years ago, and one of the best known and most highly esteemed members of his profession in Cortland County, was born in the town of Guilford, N. Y., September 11, 1827, being one of seven children born to Leontes and Zilpha (Farnham) Hendrick.

The Hendrick family came from Holland, “the land of dykes and ditches,” whence came the ancestors of many of the best families of the Empire State, whose influence on the development and growth of New York can not be over estimated. The ancestry, from which sprang the subject of this sketch, accompanied William Henry, Prince of Orange (William III) with his army from Holland to England, and there is in the family, generations back, a legend of kinship in the line of the prince, the probability of which perhaps is not lessened by the following : — In Appleton’s Journal, September 28, 1872, page 354, in an article entitled “The Old Fort in New York,” written by John D. Champlin, Jr., occurs this passage, “In 1673 the fortress again fell under Dutch domination, Captain Manning, its commander, having surrendered it almost without a shot in the absence of Governor Lovelace, who was on a visit in Connecticut, to Governor Winthrop. The town was re-christened New
Orange, and the fort William Hendrick, in honor of the Prince of Orange.”

William Hendrick, the Doctor’s great-great-grandfather, was born in England in 1710; early emigrated to this country, and is supposed to have first settled in Rhode Island. He married and resided in Southington, Conn., raised there a family of children. His wife dying, he removed to Pownal, Vt., married again, raised another family from which the many Vermont Hendricks mostly descended. He was a pioneer in Pownal, was a surveyor, filled various civil offices, and served, though sixty-five years old or over, as an officer in Vermont militia, in the Revolutionary War. He died about 1790. His children by first marriage continued to reside in Connecticut.

His son William, great-grandfather of our subject, was born in Southington, Conn., 1737, and died therein March, 1 775, at thirty-eight years of age, one month before the battle of Lexington, so that, though of military age and tendency and in thorough sympathy with the colonial cause, he was not permitted to bear a part, as did his aged father, in the great struggle of independence. He left five children: Anna; Rebecca; Henry; Joel: and William.

Joel Hendrick, the grandfather of the Doctor, was born in Southington, Conn., in 1772, and was joined in marriage with Esther Lewis in 1795. He came to Guilford, Chenango County, on his bridal tour, an ox team and lumber wagon furnishing the means of transportation. He engaged in general farming, and ran a blacksmith shop, in which he made the first plow, manufactured in the town. He was a loyal and devoted Whig in his political sympathies. He was a member of and deacon in the Baptist Church. His family consisted of six children, four boys and two girls, namely: Leontes, who was the second male child born in Guilford; William; Jesse; Alonzo; Eliza; and Abigail.

Leontes Hendrick, the father of our subject, engaged in agricultural pursuits in Guilford until his son, Henry C., was four years old, when he took up his residence in the town of Coventry, where he became one of the leading citizens, respected for his thrift and enterprising spirit. In his youth he learned the mason’s trade, and sometimes occupied himself in masonry work during the slack season. He was a good workman, his reputation being such that he had to refuse many contracts for lack of time in which to accomplish them. He was a Whig and later a Republican in his political views. He early united with the Baptist Church, and was an earnest and consistent worker in that organization. He enlisted in the army in the 1812 War, but did not see any active service, as peace was declared soon after his enlistment He was united in hymeneal bonds with Zilpha Farnham of Sidney, N. Y., and their union was blessed with a family of seven children: Julia A., the wife of William Lyon; Joel; Eli F.; Edward; Henry C., our subject; Flora E.; and Esther E. All are deceased except Henry C., and Joel, who the past ten years has been pastor of the Baptist Church at Angelica, N. Y. Leontes Hendrick was a man of liberal educational ideas, and gave to each of his five children, who survived childhood, an academic education, chiefly at Oxford Academy and Delaware Literary Institute. In his old age, he made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Lyon, in Coudersport, Fa., where he died in 1876, and there buried. His wife was called to her long home in 1855.

Dr. Hendrick, after attending the district school and after receiving an academic education at Oxford Academy, studied his profession with his brother, the late Dr. E. F. Hendrick of Danbury, Conn., who as a surgeon of the 15th Reg. Conn. Vol. Inf. rendered distinguished service in the late war. Our subject entered the University of Michigan, and was graduated from the Medical Department of that institution in 1853. He has ever since practiced in Cortland County; four years in Willet, and the balance of the time in McGrawville, with the exception of three years that he spent in defence of the Union, as surgeon, with the rank of major, of the 157th Reg. N. Y. Vol. Inf., his enlistment being effected in August, 1862. He served on detached and extra service at various times, in highly responsible positions — as division surgeon on the staff of Gen. Carl Schurz, in charge of division hospital, in the Army of the Potomac, 1862-3, and as brigade surgeon or post surgeon or chief medical officer at nearly all points occupied by his regiment in the Department of the South. He was post surgeon at Jacksonville and Fernandina, Fla., and chief medical officer of the district embracing the combined military territory of Hilton Head, Beaufort and St. Helena Islands, S. C., with Fort Pulaski, Cockspur and Tybee Islands, Ga. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel at the close of the war for “distinguished services,” and his muster-out papers were endorsed with these words “Honest, capable, brave.” Returning to McGrawville, he resumed his practice, and secured the general esteem of the community and his professional brethren, being honored with public office along the lines that are so familiar to him. He has been on the board of U. S. Medical Examiners for pensions at Cortland, N. Y. continuously for the past fifteen years, and is now serving as president of the board. In his early life he taught many terms in district and “select ” schools, and since he was twenty-five years of age has almost uninterruptedly served as a member of the board of education; he is now its president. His political ideas are those set forth in the platform of the Republican party.

Dr. Hendrick has been twice married. His first matrimonial alliance was effected in 1854, the bride being Miss Eliza J. Mooney of Willet, N. Y., who died in McGrawville, June 12, 1858. He was again united in marriage September 5, 1860, with Miss Miranda McGraw, daughter of the late Hon. Harry McGraw, and sister of Hon. P. H. McGraw and Hon. D. McGraw of McGrawville, N. Y. Mrs. Hendrick still accompanies her husband in the journey of life, and adds no small amount to his comfort and pleasure by her cheerful presence and wifely care. Their church relations are Presbyterian, in which church the doctor has been an elder for the past thirty years. They have one child, Henry D. Our subject is considered a self-reliant, safe and successful practitioner, is frequently called in consultation with neighboring physicians, and merits the large practice that his long residence and prominent position in the community implies. His patrons extend over a large territory, and his practice includes the best class. He is a member of the following medical societies: State Medical Association, American Medical Association, of which he is a life member; and Cortland County Medical Society, of which he is now president.