Some Henden / Hendon Biographies and Papers
WILLIAM HENDEN OF MAIDSTONE
by Graham P. Steer
(transcriber’s note: This William Henden was the grandfather
of Richard & Josias Hendon and migrated to America c1695)
William Henden (bapt.1640 at Hothfield)
was the son of William Henden and his second wife, Mary Covert, and was born
at Hothfield where his parents lived from the late 1630s. The years of William’s
childhood were marred by the Civil War between the autocratic high-church
King and his democratic Puritan Parliament under the leadership of Oliver
Cromwell. The Hendens, who had relatives at Court, were probably sympathizers
with the King, but lived in an area which was pro-Parliament. Whether they
moved away from Kent as this time to avoid conflict is not known. The King
made his capital at Oxford, and the west country including Cornwall, Devon
and the southwestern counties rallied around him. Did William’s parents take
the family there for safety, or did they move elsewhere in order to be more
anonymous? Sometime at the beginning of the Civil War, young William’s half-sister,
Mary Henden, married Robert Blanchard of Wiltshire, which suggests that the
family may indeed have gone to the west country.
When the hostilities were over and Parliament triumphed, the Hendens were no doubt distressed at the outcome: the King was tried and executed, the Puritan religion was enforced. Henceforth, there were to be no celebrations at Easter or Christmas, which were regarded as normal working days, there were no more “celebrations” in church, no more baptisms or Christian burials, and marriage was reduced to a mere civil contract. Taverns, which provoked lewd entertainment, were shut down too. This continued until the late 1650s, when Oliver Cromwell gave up his position as Protector of the Realm.
By the 1650s, William Henden had become a young man and possibly a headstrong one, if we read between the lines of the Will of his older (half)-brother, John, who was an apothecary at Maidstone. Interestingly, this John Henden occupied property belonging to Sir John Henden of Biddenden, a staunch royalist, and this suggests that the family of Hendens at Hothfield were also royalists, otherwise Sir John would not have leased them the shoppe and house in the High Street at Maidstone. Apothecary John died in 1659 leaving a long complicated Will in which he mentions his married sister, Mary Blanchard and his younger unmarried sister, Anne Henden, as well as his younger half-brother William, whom it seems benefits from the inheritance of properties in three places. This inheritance enabled him to become a “Gentleman”, and as such he went in search of a wife.
His sister, Mary Blanchard, lived in or around Bath in the 1660s, and when her husband died and she remarried at Batheaston in 1666, no doubt William was there to wish her well and possibly ‘give her away’, as eldest surviving brother. It has been surmised that William Henden might well have met his future wife, Dinah Counsell, through his sister Mary, as she was a resident in an area and in social circles which would have brought them into contact.
However they met, William married Dinah at Marksbury in 1669. Dinah’s father was the Rector of Marksbury and came from an old family established at Barrow Gurney which had acquired property from the monastic lands after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. The ancestor’s name was Richard Counsell. Amongst his great-grandchildren was William Counsell (born 1610), Dinah’s father, who together with his cousin, John Counsell, went up to Oxford University to study at Gloucester Hall (which is now Worcester College). Another cousin was Josias Counsell, who was certainly acquainted with the Rector of Marksbury and his family. It can be no coincidence that some of the children of Dinah and William Henden bore names traditional in the Counsell family: Jane (born 1670) named after Dinah’s mother, and Solomon (born 1671) named after her late teenaged brother. Surrounded by their Counsell relatives at Barrow Gurney and ever-conscious of family history, the children of Dinah and William Henden would have known more about their mother’s family than their father’s. Ancestral Counsell names were therefore preferred to traditional Henden names, when it came to the choice of names for their grandchildren. Richard and Josias would have been logical names to commemorate the founder of the family at Barrow Gurney and a favorite kinsman.
William and Dinah most likely lived at the Rectory at Marksbury to look after Dinah’s aged and widowed father, who no doubt had great pleasure in performing the baptisms of his grandchildren; Jane in 1670 and Solomon in 1671. His remaining grandchildren were not born during his lifetime. The records of Solomon’s entrance to Cambridge University state that he was indeed born at Marksbury and that his father was “baliff”, probably to the Lord of the Manor at the present-day Barrow Gurney.
The Rev. William Counsell died in 1674 and was buried at his church, being commemorated on a large wall monument in Latin. The monument lists the Rector and his wife and their son, Solomon, but there is no mention of Dinah and William Henden although the blank marble suggests a space was reserved for their details. If they were in the country one would have expected the details to have been provided, but the entire Henden family seems to have disappeared without a trace.
After the death of her father, Dinah gave birth to two further sons: William in 1676 and John in 1679, both born and baptized at Marksbury. As far as we have been able to research in both Kent and Somerset, none of William and Dinah’s family have had a marriage or burial recorded in the records.
When the hostilities were over and Parliament triumphed, the Hendens were no doubt distressed at the outcome: the King was tried and executed, the Puritan religion was enforced. Henceforth, there were to be no celebrations at Easter or Christmas, which were regarded as normal working days, there were no more “celebrations” in church, no more baptisms or Christian burials, and marriage was reduced to a mere civil contract. Taverns, which provoked lewd entertainment, were shut down too. This continued until the late 1650s, when Oliver Cromwell gave up his position as Protector of the Realm.
By the 1650s, William Henden had become a young man and possibly a headstrong one, if we read between the lines of the Will of his older (half)-brother, John, who was an apothecary at Maidstone. Interestingly, this John Henden occupied property belonging to Sir John Henden of Biddenden, a staunch royalist, and this suggests that the family of Hendens at Hothfield were also royalists, otherwise Sir John would not have leased them the shoppe and house in the High Street at Maidstone. Apothecary John died in 1659 leaving a long complicated Will in which he mentions his married sister, Mary Blanchard and his younger unmarried sister, Anne Henden, as well as his younger half-brother William, whom it seems benefits from the inheritance of properties in three places. This inheritance enabled him to become a “Gentleman”, and as such he went in search of a wife.
His sister, Mary Blanchard, lived in or around Bath in the 1660s, and when her husband died and she remarried at Batheaston in 1666, no doubt William was there to wish her well and possibly ‘give her away’, as eldest surviving brother. It has been surmised that William Henden might well have met his future wife, Dinah Counsell, through his sister Mary, as she was a resident in an area and in social circles which would have brought them into contact.
However they met, William married Dinah at Marksbury in 1669. Dinah’s father was the Rector of Marksbury and came from an old family established at Barrow Gurney which had acquired property from the monastic lands after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. The ancestor’s name was Richard Counsell. Amongst his great-grandchildren was William Counsell (born 1610), Dinah’s father, who together with his cousin, John Counsell, went up to Oxford University to study at Gloucester Hall (which is now Worcester College). Another cousin was Josias Counsell, who was certainly acquainted with the Rector of Marksbury and his family. It can be no coincidence that some of the children of Dinah and William Henden bore names traditional in the Counsell family: Jane (born 1670) named after Dinah’s mother, and Solomon (born 1671) named after her late teenaged brother. Surrounded by their Counsell relatives at Barrow Gurney and ever-conscious of family history, the children of Dinah and William Henden would have known more about their mother’s family than their father’s. Ancestral Counsell names were therefore preferred to traditional Henden names, when it came to the choice of names for their grandchildren. Richard and Josias would have been logical names to commemorate the founder of the family at Barrow Gurney and a favorite kinsman.
William and Dinah most likely lived at the Rectory at Marksbury to look after Dinah’s aged and widowed father, who no doubt had great pleasure in performing the baptisms of his grandchildren; Jane in 1670 and Solomon in 1671. His remaining grandchildren were not born during his lifetime. The records of Solomon’s entrance to Cambridge University state that he was indeed born at Marksbury and that his father was “baliff”, probably to the Lord of the Manor at the present-day Barrow Gurney.
The Rev. William Counsell died in 1674 and was buried at his church, being commemorated on a large wall monument in Latin. The monument lists the Rector and his wife and their son, Solomon, but there is no mention of Dinah and William Henden although the blank marble suggests a space was reserved for their details. If they were in the country one would have expected the details to have been provided, but the entire Henden family seems to have disappeared without a trace.
After the death of her father, Dinah gave birth to two further sons: William in 1676 and John in 1679, both born and baptized at Marksbury. As far as we have been able to research in both Kent and Somerset, none of William and Dinah’s family have had a marriage or burial recorded in the records.
From: "Baltimore County Families, 1659-1759" (page 319 & 320)
The HENDON FAMILY is discussed more
fully on; Grace H. Chancey's " The Hendons from Gunpowder River," typescript
at the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore.
HENDON, JOSIAS (1), brother of Richard, was in Baltimore County, by Feb. 8, 1719 when he was named in the will of Nicholas Rogers; in 1722 he was granted 100 acres called "Hab Nab at a Venture"; married circa 1723 Hannah, daughter of William and Elizabeth Robinson; on Feb. 15, 1730 Simon Pierson, "for love, good will, and affection," conveyed to Josias Hendon the land he had purchased from Thomas Ramsey; JosiasHannah) and "all his children" including sons Isham and William; administrative bond was posted by extx. Hannah Hendon on June 26, 1738 with John Elliott and Thomas Hutchings; estate administered by Hannah Hendon on July 22, 1740; her will, Jan. 29, 1748 - Mar. 8, 1748; children of Josias and Hannah: WILLIAM, b. Dec.1, 1723; ELIZABETH, married Jacob Johnson on Feb. 25, 1749; ISHAM, born 1725; HANNAH, born Oct. 31, 1727; *JAMES* died 1791 in Wake County N. Carolina, having married Hannah Norris on Feb. 7, 1754; JOSIAS (Jr.), married in Baltimore County, then moved to Anson County, N. Carolina. *James* ....unproven. DNA tests indicate James was not a son of Josias!
HENDON, RICHARD (2), brother of Josias (1), married Sarah, daughter of Robert Gardner, on June 8, 1723; August of 1740 was indicted for begetting a child on the body of Ann Brogden; in 1750 owned 50 acres (Cherry Garden) and 100 acres ( Avarilla's Garden); in 1766 he sold the land his wife had inheirated from her father to Edmund Stansbury; his will, April 25, 1768 - June 6, 1768, named wife Sarah, daughter Lydia,
sons Richard and Henry, two children (Benjamin and Dinah) of son Joseph; administration bond was posted June 6, 1768 by Richard and Henry Hendon, with George Crudgington and George Counselman; estate was administered on April 5, 1769; Richard and Sarah had issue (children) : LYDIA, born Aug. 7, 1725, married her first cousin William Hendon on Nov. 11, 1749; JOSEPH, born Mar. 7, 1728; SARAH, born May 27, 1730, married Mark Guishard; PRUDENCE, born Oct. 27, 1732, married Sutton Sickelmore on July 29, 1762; RICHARD, born Nov. 30, 1734: JOSIAS, born June 7, 1739; HENRY, married Mary Westfield on Aug. 1, 1773; JEMIMA, married John Wright on May 4, 1762. died leaving a will. May 1, 1738 - June 7, 1738, naming his wife.
HENDON, WILLIAM (3) son of Josias (1), was born Dec. 1, 1723, married his cousin Lydia Hendon, daughter of Richard, on Nov. 11, 1749; in 1750 owned 170 acres (Isham's Garden); in 1757 moved to Bladen County, North Carolina, where he died.
HENDON, ISHAM (4), son of Josias (1), was born circa 1725, married Keziah Johnson on Feb. 27, 1749; on June 7, 1753 Isham and Keziah conveyed his interest in "Leafe's Chance" and "William the Conqueror" to Stephen Onion; moved to Bladen County and then to Wake County, North Carolina, where he died in 1804.
HENDON, JOSEPH (5), son of Richard (2), was born March 7, 1728; died by March 10, 1760 having married Mary Crudgents or Crudgington on July 31, 1753; his will, Jan. 31, 1760 - March 10, 1760, named wife, Mary and children, Benjamin and Dinah; administrator's bond was posted April 28, 1760 by Mary Hendon with Henry Bennett, Darnall and Thomas Gittings; Estate was administered June 8, 1761 by wife, Mary, now married to William Lynch; had issue (children): DINAH, born circa 1754; BENJAMIN, born circa 1756.
From:
"Gone to Georgia" (page 290)
HENDON: From Wake County, N. Carolina came a Hendon family--Isham, Thomas, and Robinson Hendon being heads of families who took land in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, in the 1790's-- who intermarried with the Olive, Hartsfield and Murray families. Robinson Hendon, (incorrect) a Revolutionary War veteran, and Thomas Hendon were in Wilkes County by 1785. In 1820, Isham and others were in Oglethorpe County, and in 1827, Hartsfield was listed in the Oglethorpe (land) lottery; Elijah and James in Clarke County; and Elisha, Henry and Thomas in DeKalb County, among others. Some of this family moved to Walker County, Alabama. Johnson Hendon married in Oglethorpe County on April 15, 1800 to Sally Scroggins. The Hendons were in St. Clair County, Alabama by 1820; in Morgan County, Alabama by 1834; and James A. Hendon entered land in Walker County, Alabama on Nov. 16, 1833. Johnson Hendon entered land there on March 13, 1835. In the 1850 census of Walker County, Alabama, Johnson Hendon was shown as age 71, born in North Carolina and Sally,67, also born in N. Carolina; in their home, perhaps a daughter, was Elizabeth, 36, born in Georgia. Also in Walker County in 1850 was Wiley, 29, born in Georgia; Andrew, 27, born in Alabama; Alexander, 38, born in Georgia, with a son, Johnson; and William Hendon, 50, born in Georgia, as heads of families.
HENDON, JOSIAS (1), brother of Richard, was in Baltimore County, by Feb. 8, 1719 when he was named in the will of Nicholas Rogers; in 1722 he was granted 100 acres called "Hab Nab at a Venture"; married circa 1723 Hannah, daughter of William and Elizabeth Robinson; on Feb. 15, 1730 Simon Pierson, "for love, good will, and affection," conveyed to Josias Hendon the land he had purchased from Thomas Ramsey; JosiasHannah) and "all his children" including sons Isham and William; administrative bond was posted by extx. Hannah Hendon on June 26, 1738 with John Elliott and Thomas Hutchings; estate administered by Hannah Hendon on July 22, 1740; her will, Jan. 29, 1748 - Mar. 8, 1748; children of Josias and Hannah: WILLIAM, b. Dec.1, 1723; ELIZABETH, married Jacob Johnson on Feb. 25, 1749; ISHAM, born 1725; HANNAH, born Oct. 31, 1727; *JAMES* died 1791 in Wake County N. Carolina, having married Hannah Norris on Feb. 7, 1754; JOSIAS (Jr.), married in Baltimore County, then moved to Anson County, N. Carolina. *James* ....unproven. DNA tests indicate James was not a son of Josias!
HENDON, RICHARD (2), brother of Josias (1), married Sarah, daughter of Robert Gardner, on June 8, 1723; August of 1740 was indicted for begetting a child on the body of Ann Brogden; in 1750 owned 50 acres (Cherry Garden) and 100 acres ( Avarilla's Garden); in 1766 he sold the land his wife had inheirated from her father to Edmund Stansbury; his will, April 25, 1768 - June 6, 1768, named wife Sarah, daughter Lydia,
sons Richard and Henry, two children (Benjamin and Dinah) of son Joseph; administration bond was posted June 6, 1768 by Richard and Henry Hendon, with George Crudgington and George Counselman; estate was administered on April 5, 1769; Richard and Sarah had issue (children) : LYDIA, born Aug. 7, 1725, married her first cousin William Hendon on Nov. 11, 1749; JOSEPH, born Mar. 7, 1728; SARAH, born May 27, 1730, married Mark Guishard; PRUDENCE, born Oct. 27, 1732, married Sutton Sickelmore on July 29, 1762; RICHARD, born Nov. 30, 1734: JOSIAS, born June 7, 1739; HENRY, married Mary Westfield on Aug. 1, 1773; JEMIMA, married John Wright on May 4, 1762. died leaving a will. May 1, 1738 - June 7, 1738, naming his wife.
HENDON, WILLIAM (3) son of Josias (1), was born Dec. 1, 1723, married his cousin Lydia Hendon, daughter of Richard, on Nov. 11, 1749; in 1750 owned 170 acres (Isham's Garden); in 1757 moved to Bladen County, North Carolina, where he died.
HENDON, ISHAM (4), son of Josias (1), was born circa 1725, married Keziah Johnson on Feb. 27, 1749; on June 7, 1753 Isham and Keziah conveyed his interest in "Leafe's Chance" and "William the Conqueror" to Stephen Onion; moved to Bladen County and then to Wake County, North Carolina, where he died in 1804.
HENDON, JOSEPH (5), son of Richard (2), was born March 7, 1728; died by March 10, 1760 having married Mary Crudgents or Crudgington on July 31, 1753; his will, Jan. 31, 1760 - March 10, 1760, named wife, Mary and children, Benjamin and Dinah; administrator's bond was posted April 28, 1760 by Mary Hendon with Henry Bennett, Darnall and Thomas Gittings; Estate was administered June 8, 1761 by wife, Mary, now married to William Lynch; had issue (children): DINAH, born circa 1754; BENJAMIN, born circa 1756.
HENDON: From Wake County, N. Carolina came a Hendon family--Isham, Thomas, and Robinson Hendon being heads of families who took land in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, in the 1790's-- who intermarried with the Olive, Hartsfield and Murray families. Robinson Hendon, (incorrect) a Revolutionary War veteran, and Thomas Hendon were in Wilkes County by 1785. In 1820, Isham and others were in Oglethorpe County, and in 1827, Hartsfield was listed in the Oglethorpe (land) lottery; Elijah and James in Clarke County; and Elisha, Henry and Thomas in DeKalb County, among others. Some of this family moved to Walker County, Alabama. Johnson Hendon married in Oglethorpe County on April 15, 1800 to Sally Scroggins. The Hendons were in St. Clair County, Alabama by 1820; in Morgan County, Alabama by 1834; and James A. Hendon entered land in Walker County, Alabama on Nov. 16, 1833. Johnson Hendon entered land there on March 13, 1835. In the 1850 census of Walker County, Alabama, Johnson Hendon was shown as age 71, born in North Carolina and Sally,67, also born in N. Carolina; in their home, perhaps a daughter, was Elizabeth, 36, born in Georgia. Also in Walker County in 1850 was Wiley, 29, born in Georgia; Andrew, 27, born in Alabama; Alexander, 38, born in Georgia, with a son, Johnson; and William Hendon, 50, born in Georgia, as heads of families.
RANDAL ROBERT HENDON
R. R. Hendon, president of the Maud State Bank, and the proprietor of Fairview Farm, one of the beautiful estates of Pottawatomie County,
has been very successful in his business career in Oklahoma and has clearkly demonstrated what it is possible to accomplish in this state of
many resources. He came here poor in August, 1892, and located on the farm that has ever since been his home, coming from Fannin County, Texas. He was born in Cleburne County, Alabama, February 25, 1860, a son of R. R. Hendon, Sr., who was reared in Georgia and was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. Emily (McPherson) Hendon, his wife, was a native of Georgia and of an old Virginia family of
Scotch- Irish descent, he death occurring in 1882. The husband and
father was sixty-four years of age at the time of his death, a farmer,
Democrat, and believer in the Calvinistic doctrine. Of the seven
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hendon, three are now living; Missouri Gilmore, Oak Level, Alabama, and Henry, whose home is in Polk County, Georgia.
R. R. Hendon, the youngest of the three surviving, attained to mature years on the old Alabama homestead, and when he reached the age of twenty he married Mary Belle Nabors, and they have become the parents of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters: the eldest died in infancy and the others are Wheeler, Lillie, Scott, Emily, Claude, Robert, William J., Sallie, Gordon, Esther Belle, Lottie Bess, and one daughter born July 30, 1908, and not yet named. Five of the children are successful teachers, Wheeler, Scott, Emily, Lillie and Claude.
Six years after their marriage in 1886, Mr. and Mrs. Hendon went to Lamar County, Texas, but after one year there, re-moved to Fannin County, and in 1889 they came to the Chickasaw Nation and from the dense timberland which they selected as a home and farm they have since evolved one of the most splendid tracts in Earlsboro township. Eighty acres of the farm are under cultivation and are especially adapted to the raising of corn, cotton, and fruit, while their first dwelling, a little log cabin now used as a tenant house, has since given place a splendid and commodious residence. Fairview Farm is a beautiful rural home in which to enjoy the comforts and pleasures of life. Mr. Hendon is an active Democratic worker, and on the 22nd of February, 1908, he was its representative to the state convention at Muskogee. He is a member of Odd Fellows, Earlsboro Lodge No. 77, and both he and his wife and two of their children have membership relations with the Christian church.
BACK TO MAIN PAGEhas been very successful in his business career in Oklahoma and has clearkly demonstrated what it is possible to accomplish in this state of
many resources. He came here poor in August, 1892, and located on the farm that has ever since been his home, coming from Fannin County, Texas. He was born in Cleburne County, Alabama, February 25, 1860, a son of R. R. Hendon, Sr., who was reared in Georgia and was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. Emily (McPherson) Hendon, his wife, was a native of Georgia and of an old Virginia family of
Scotch- Irish descent, he death occurring in 1882. The husband and
father was sixty-four years of age at the time of his death, a farmer,
Democrat, and believer in the Calvinistic doctrine. Of the seven
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hendon, three are now living; Missouri Gilmore, Oak Level, Alabama, and Henry, whose home is in Polk County, Georgia. R. R. Hendon, the youngest of the three surviving, attained to mature years on the old Alabama homestead, and when he reached the age of twenty he married Mary Belle Nabors, and they have become the parents of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters: the eldest died in infancy and the others are Wheeler, Lillie, Scott, Emily, Claude, Robert, William J., Sallie, Gordon, Esther Belle, Lottie Bess, and one daughter born July 30, 1908, and not yet named. Five of the children are successful teachers, Wheeler, Scott, Emily, Lillie and Claude.
Six years after their marriage in 1886, Mr. and Mrs. Hendon went to Lamar County, Texas, but after one year there, re-moved to Fannin County, and in 1889 they came to the Chickasaw Nation and from the dense timberland which they selected as a home and farm they have since evolved one of the most splendid tracts in Earlsboro township. Eighty acres of the farm are under cultivation and are especially adapted to the raising of corn, cotton, and fruit, while their first dwelling, a little log cabin now used as a tenant house, has since given place a splendid and commodious residence. Fairview Farm is a beautiful rural home in which to enjoy the comforts and pleasures of life. Mr. Hendon is an active Democratic worker, and on the 22nd of February, 1908, he was its representative to the state convention at Muskogee. He is a member of Odd Fellows, Earlsboro Lodge No. 77, and both he and his wife and two of their children have membership relations with the Christian church.