My Genealogy Hound

Henry Debery, farmer, was born in Carroll County, Ohio, December 5, 1847, being a son of Thomas and Emma (Johnson) Debery, who were born in Maryland and New Jersey, respectively. They both became residents of Ohio when very young, and were reared and married in Carroll County. When about eighteen years of age the father was crippled by falling from an apple tree, and he afterward learned the shoemaker’s trade, following this occupation until he came to Missouri in 1861. He then resided on the farm in Glaize Township until his death, in 1875, at the age of sixty-six years. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church while residing in Ohio, but after coming to Missouri united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he was an active member. He was also an active politician, and a strong Union man during the war, and furnished the Government with valuable information regarding the people and country. His wife is still living, and resides on the home farm in Camden County. Their eight children are named as follows: Henry, Alexander, John, George; Mary, wife of D. E. Miller; Albert, Isaac and Thomas C. Henry Debery attained his majority in Camden County, and received a fair education in the common schools. At the early age of sixteen years he enlisted in the Second Missouri Light Artillery, at Lebanon, Battery K, serving mostly at St. Louis and along the Mississippi River. In 1865 his company was transferred to the plains and Montana to fight the Indians, and he participated in the battle fought on Powder River in Montana, which lasted about fifteen days. During this siege the troops suffered severely from hunger, and were finally obliged to eat their own horses and mules to keep from starving to death. From this point they returned to St. Louis and were disbanded. Mr. Debery farmed the home place for two years, but since his marriage, which occurred in 1867, he has been engaged in farming for himself, and has been a resident of his present farm since 1878. He has held the office of county assessor since 1886, having also held a number of minor offices. His wife, whose maiden name was Samantha Shaha, was born in Ohio, and when a child was brought to Missouri by her parents, Jackson and Elizabeth Shaha, who were also natives of the “ Buckeye State.” Mrs. Debery is the eldest of their eight children, and is the mother of the following children: Ella; Effie, wife of Joseph Evans; Charles, Vallie, Emma, Lilburn, Virgil, Atha and Montez. Mr. Debery is a stanch Republican in politics, a member of the G. A. R. Post of Montreal, the A. O. U. W., and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.