The following was written by Dr. George Earle Henton in the history that he wrote of his Henton ancestors and relatives entitled, "My Henton Lineage".
Thomas Henton was born in 1718 in Berks County, Pennsylvania; son of George H. Henton and Persis Boone Henton, residents of Berks County, Pennsylvania. Thomas married in 1747 Ann Yarnall, born 1721 Berks County, daughter of Peter and Alice Worrilow Yarnall. In 1751 Thomas and Ann Henton emigrated to the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, in a company composed of relatives and neighbors conducted by Squire Boone. The Hentons and Boones first located in the vicinity of the present town of New Market, Shenandoah County, Virginia. The Boones remained about two years and then the majority continued south down the valley and settled on the Yadkin River in western North Carolina; but the Hentons and most of the emigrants remained permanently in this vicinity. From Pennsylvania to the valley this emigrant party had traveled on the ancient and historically famous "Long Gray Trail." It started in central New York, the home of the Iroquois Indian Tribes, and extended south along the eastern branch of the Susquehannah River to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; then followed the Cumberland Valley southwest crossing the Potomac River at Hagerstown, Maryland, entering Virginia north of Winchester and isouth down the entire length of the Shenandoah Valley into western North Carolina.
The Iroquois Indians of New York used this trail when warring the Catawba Tribes on North Carolina.
The Fairfax Grant covered the northwestern neck of Virginia; (at that date West Virginia was a part of Virginia); it comprised an area of five million acres, with dimensions of seventy-six miles east and west and seventy-five miles north and south. Baron Lord Fairfax of Kent, England, inherited "The Grant" from his mother who was a daughter of Lord Thomas Culpepper, an early English governor of Virginia. The Shenandoah Valley occupies the west boundry area of Virginia, extending from the Pennsylvania south line on the north to the North Carolina state line on the south. It averages about fifty miles in width; is bounded on the west by the Alleghany Mountains and by the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east. The Shenandoah River flows about one hundred miles through the north-central part of the valley and empties into the Potomac River near Harper's Ferry, Maryland. The word "Shenandoah" is of American Indian origin signifying "Daughter of the Stars."
The Thomas Henton Plantation: In 1760 Thomas Henton Sr. purchased from the owners, John and Priscilla Thompson, eight hundred acres. ("The Thompsons" had purchased this
land directly from Lord Fairfax). Its location was central of the valley and about three miles north of the south boundry line of the Fairfax Grant. The east plantation line followed the west bank of the Shenandoah River for approximately one mile— Holman Creek flows through the southern one-third, east into the Shenandoah River, and Third Hill is near the center of the west boundary. The present-day Rockingham County line is about three miles south and corresponds to the southern boundary line of the Fairfax Grant. At present date the main line of the Southern Railroad and North-South Valley Highway follows the east plantation line near the Shenandoah River. This plantation is now owned by United States Senator Harry Bird (formerly governor of Virginia) as a part of his residential holdings. He is reputed to be the leading apple grower in America. It was the home of Thomas and Ann Henton the remainder of their lives. Thomas died in 1796, age 78 years; Ann died in 1806, age 85 years.
Originally the Fairfax Grant was in Spotsylvania County, which included all of northwest Virginia; subsequent county sub-divisions located "Henton-Plantation" in the following counties:
Orange County 1734; Frederick County 1738, with the county seat at Winchester. In 1772 the south half of Frederick was formed into a separate county and named Dunmore to honor John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, a Scottish nobleman appointed governor of New York by George the Third and later transferred to be governor of Virginia. Dunmore was a good governor and well liked; he resided on his home plantation near Winchester where he died shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War. Following the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown the county name was changed from Dunmore to Shenandoah. The county seat and courthouse remained at Woodstock where are found the Old Minute Books, in which all official transactions affecting the county and its residents are on file.
These Minute Books reveal that Thomas Henton Sr. was a highly esteemed and trusted patriotic citizen and was appointed to many official positions where ability and integrity were prerequisites. This applies likewise to his sons Thomas Jr. and George. Throughout the regime of Lord Dunmore, Thomas Henton Sr. was a member of the Surveying Commission for this area. During the War of the American Revolution Thomas Henton Sr. and his son Thomas Henton Jr. served with the Virginia troops from Shenandoah County in the company of Captain Holman. Later Thomas Henton Sr. was commissioned a captain; his younger son, George H. Henton, was commissioned a first lieutenant and also served with the Shenandoah troops.
During the Civil War, the northern section of the valley was almost continually occupied by troops of both armies. Confederate troops under General Jubal A. Early and Union troops commanded by General Phil Sheridan. The Battle of Winchester was fought in southern Frederick County; the battles of Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek in northern Shenandoah County. "Sheridan's Ride" had its scene in Winchester, county seat of Frederick County; he heard cannon fire when General Early made his break-of-day attack at Cedar Creek in northern Shenandoah County. The Thomas Henton Plantation was almost continually occupied or traversed by troops throughout the Civil War; the town of New Market, General Early's Headquarters, was only three miles southeast.
Three brothers of Thomas, namely George, William and John, had plantations a few miles south in Rockingham County; two sisters also resided there, namely Ruth, who married Dr. Michael Warren, and Hannah who married Josiah Boone Sr.
The children of Thomas and Ann Yarnall Henton were:
1. Thomas Jr. m. Christine Branner (daughter of Casper Branner), both died in Woodford County, Kentucky, where their descendants reside.
2. Ann Jr. m. Jacob Copeland (son of Andrew Copeland) emigrated to Kentucky; later to Orange County, Indiana.
3. Alice m. First, John Henton (counsin), son of John Henton; he was killed by Indians in 1781 in Logan County, Kentucky. Second, John Samples, 1785, Lincoln County, Kentucky.
4. Persis m. Josiah Boone Jr. (cousin), son of Josiah Sr. and Hannah Henton Boone; both families emigrated to Kentucky and all died in Shelby County.
5. George H. m. Mary Rigney, 1785, daughter of Johnathan Rigney, Pittsylvania County, Virginia; emigrated to Kentucky and Orange County, Indiana. (Continued in Section 3.)
6. Ruth m. David Radar (son of Michael Rader) emigrated to Kentucky.
7. Hannah m. David Cauldwell (son of Samuel Cauldwell); Hanna was the only child of Thomas and Ann that remained permanently in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Her descendants still reside there and United States Senator I. S. Pennypacker was a direct descendant of Hannah Henton.
All the above children, with the exception of Alice, were married in Shenandoah County, Virginia; the parents of their chosen mates (exception was Mary Rigney) had been neighborhood residents many years. Alice and John were married in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now in West Virginia) while members of an emigrant train near Cumberland Gap on the way to Kentucky.
Records from the archives of the Kentucky Historical Society located at Frankfort, Kentucky, show that numerous members of the Henton Clan emigrated to Kentucky before the Revolutionary War. Thomas Henton Jr. has a Land Grant recorded there of one thousand acres on December 21, 1784; this was in Woodford County, near the present town of Versailles, and many of the descendants of Thomas and Christine Branner Henton reside in that vicinity at the present date.
In 1955 Dr. and Mrs. George Earle Henton of Portland, Oregon, and daughter Barbara visited the following: James Dudley Henton, Wade Hampton Henton, Mary Henton, and Nellie Henton (Edwards). They conducted us to the thousand-acre Thomas Henton Plantation and through its impressive old southern mansion—it is one of the memory pictures never to be forgotten.
In the Shenandoah County courthouse at Woodstock, Virginia, the following is recorded:
Thomas Henton, Will Book E, Page 61:
I, Thomas Henton, of Shenandoah County, State of Virginia, do hereby make my last Will and Testament in manner and form following—that is to say:.
FIRST—I desire that my wife, Ann, have her bed and all her clothes; two pots and all the pewter belonging to the house at present, and one third of all The Lands, whereon I now live, during her natural life; then to be left to my son, George Henton, his heirs and assigns forever; I also desire that my wife, Ann, have four milch cows, the soil horse, all the sheep and half the hogs belonging to The Plantation at present.
SECONDLY: I give to my son Thomas, his heirs and assigns, forever, one hundred and fifty acres of land, being the part whereon he now lives, running with the division fence between the grain-field and the meadow; by paying my daughter, Hannah, thirty pounds, Virginia money, after my decease and my wife Ann's decease.
I give the remainder of my land to my son, George Henton, his heirs and assigns, forever, by his paying to each of my daughters in Kentucky the sum of thirty pounds, Virginia money; that is to say, Ann Copeman, Alice Samples, Persis Boone [the spouse of Josiah Boone Jr.and Ruth Rader. And lastly I do hereby constitute and appoint my beloved wife, Ann Henton, my son, George Henton, and Michael Warren Executors of this, my last Will and Testament. I desire that the remainder of the movable property not yet mentioned be divided between my wife, Ann Henton, and my son, George Henton, as they may see proper. Hereby revoking all other Wills and Testaments by me here-to-fore made. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 27th day of November, in The Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-six.
Thomas (His X Mark) Henton
Sealed, signed, published and declared as for the Last Will and Testament of the above Thomas Henton in the presence of
Joseph Young
Evan Jones
Daniel (X) Watters, Senr
(Mark)
Ordered to Probate following the oaths of above witnesses and oaths and bonds of Ann Henton and Michael Warren two of the Executors Wednesday, December 14, 1796.
Test P. Williams, Clerk County Court.
____________________________________________
In Harrodsburg, Kentucky, exists a large granite marker with the following inscription engraved thereon:
In the Year Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-four, on this site, Daniel Boone and Evan Henton built a double log cabin. It was occupied by them when in this locality and
was burned by Indians (Shawnee) March 1st, Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-Seven. Both Daniel and Evan assisted Captain Harrod in the laying out of Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
The Henton and Boone families were related both through ancestry and marriage. Both families settled in Pennsylvania and emigrated from England at about the same period. They were close neighbors in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and in the Shenandoah and Rockingham counties, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. The younger generation migrated to Kentucky together and settled in neighboring localities. Evan Henton was a son of William Henton of Berks County, Pennsylvania, and Rockingham County, Virginia; William was a brother of Thomas Henton of Berks (our line) and Shenandoah County, Virginia. Evan was conducting a supply train of wagons from the Falls of the Ohio (now Louisville) from the military supply depot to troops in the field, combating Indians. He was captured by a group of Shawnee Indians under the direction of Simon Girty, the white renegade, and burned at the stake. Thomas Henton, Jr. (brother of our George H. and son of Thomas of Shenandoah County) was serving in Louisville when Evan was killed; they had come to Kentucky together. Joseph Henton, brother of Evan, was also killed by Indians in Kentucky two years later and John Henton Jr., son of John Henton, Sr. resident of Rockingham County (John Jr. married Alice Henton, daughter of Thomas and Ann) was killed in Logan County, Kentucky, by Indians in 1781.
Thomas Henton was born in 1718 in Berks County, Pennsylvania; son of George H. Henton and Persis Boone Henton, residents of Berks County, Pennsylvania. Thomas married in 1747 Ann Yarnall, born 1721 Berks County, daughter of Peter and Alice Worrilow Yarnall. In 1751 Thomas and Ann Henton emigrated to the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, in a company composed of relatives and neighbors conducted by Squire Boone. The Hentons and Boones first located in the vicinity of the present town of New Market, Shenandoah County, Virginia. The Boones remained about two years and then the majority continued south down the valley and settled on the Yadkin River in western North Carolina; but the Hentons and most of the emigrants remained permanently in this vicinity. From Pennsylvania to the valley this emigrant party had traveled on the ancient and historically famous "Long Gray Trail." It started in central New York, the home of the Iroquois Indian Tribes, and extended south along the eastern branch of the Susquehannah River to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; then followed the Cumberland Valley southwest crossing the Potomac River at Hagerstown, Maryland, entering Virginia north of Winchester and isouth down the entire length of the Shenandoah Valley into western North Carolina.
The Iroquois Indians of New York used this trail when warring the Catawba Tribes on North Carolina.
The Fairfax Grant covered the northwestern neck of Virginia; (at that date West Virginia was a part of Virginia); it comprised an area of five million acres, with dimensions of seventy-six miles east and west and seventy-five miles north and south. Baron Lord Fairfax of Kent, England, inherited "The Grant" from his mother who was a daughter of Lord Thomas Culpepper, an early English governor of Virginia. The Shenandoah Valley occupies the west boundry area of Virginia, extending from the Pennsylvania south line on the north to the North Carolina state line on the south. It averages about fifty miles in width; is bounded on the west by the Alleghany Mountains and by the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east. The Shenandoah River flows about one hundred miles through the north-central part of the valley and empties into the Potomac River near Harper's Ferry, Maryland. The word "Shenandoah" is of American Indian origin signifying "Daughter of the Stars."
The Thomas Henton Plantation: In 1760 Thomas Henton Sr. purchased from the owners, John and Priscilla Thompson, eight hundred acres. ("The Thompsons" had purchased this
land directly from Lord Fairfax). Its location was central of the valley and about three miles north of the south boundry line of the Fairfax Grant. The east plantation line followed the west bank of the Shenandoah River for approximately one mile— Holman Creek flows through the southern one-third, east into the Shenandoah River, and Third Hill is near the center of the west boundary. The present-day Rockingham County line is about three miles south and corresponds to the southern boundary line of the Fairfax Grant. At present date the main line of the Southern Railroad and North-South Valley Highway follows the east plantation line near the Shenandoah River. This plantation is now owned by United States Senator Harry Bird (formerly governor of Virginia) as a part of his residential holdings. He is reputed to be the leading apple grower in America. It was the home of Thomas and Ann Henton the remainder of their lives. Thomas died in 1796, age 78 years; Ann died in 1806, age 85 years.
Originally the Fairfax Grant was in Spotsylvania County, which included all of northwest Virginia; subsequent county sub-divisions located "Henton-Plantation" in the following counties:
Orange County 1734; Frederick County 1738, with the county seat at Winchester. In 1772 the south half of Frederick was formed into a separate county and named Dunmore to honor John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, a Scottish nobleman appointed governor of New York by George the Third and later transferred to be governor of Virginia. Dunmore was a good governor and well liked; he resided on his home plantation near Winchester where he died shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War. Following the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown the county name was changed from Dunmore to Shenandoah. The county seat and courthouse remained at Woodstock where are found the Old Minute Books, in which all official transactions affecting the county and its residents are on file.
These Minute Books reveal that Thomas Henton Sr. was a highly esteemed and trusted patriotic citizen and was appointed to many official positions where ability and integrity were prerequisites. This applies likewise to his sons Thomas Jr. and George. Throughout the regime of Lord Dunmore, Thomas Henton Sr. was a member of the Surveying Commission for this area. During the War of the American Revolution Thomas Henton Sr. and his son Thomas Henton Jr. served with the Virginia troops from Shenandoah County in the company of Captain Holman. Later Thomas Henton Sr. was commissioned a captain; his younger son, George H. Henton, was commissioned a first lieutenant and also served with the Shenandoah troops.
During the Civil War, the northern section of the valley was almost continually occupied by troops of both armies. Confederate troops under General Jubal A. Early and Union troops commanded by General Phil Sheridan. The Battle of Winchester was fought in southern Frederick County; the battles of Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek in northern Shenandoah County. "Sheridan's Ride" had its scene in Winchester, county seat of Frederick County; he heard cannon fire when General Early made his break-of-day attack at Cedar Creek in northern Shenandoah County. The Thomas Henton Plantation was almost continually occupied or traversed by troops throughout the Civil War; the town of New Market, General Early's Headquarters, was only three miles southeast.
Three brothers of Thomas, namely George, William and John, had plantations a few miles south in Rockingham County; two sisters also resided there, namely Ruth, who married Dr. Michael Warren, and Hannah who married Josiah Boone Sr.
The children of Thomas and Ann Yarnall Henton were:
1. Thomas Jr. m. Christine Branner (daughter of Casper Branner), both died in Woodford County, Kentucky, where their descendants reside.
2. Ann Jr. m. Jacob Copeland (son of Andrew Copeland) emigrated to Kentucky; later to Orange County, Indiana.
3. Alice m. First, John Henton (counsin), son of John Henton; he was killed by Indians in 1781 in Logan County, Kentucky. Second, John Samples, 1785, Lincoln County, Kentucky.
4. Persis m. Josiah Boone Jr. (cousin), son of Josiah Sr. and Hannah Henton Boone; both families emigrated to Kentucky and all died in Shelby County.
5. George H. m. Mary Rigney, 1785, daughter of Johnathan Rigney, Pittsylvania County, Virginia; emigrated to Kentucky and Orange County, Indiana. (Continued in Section 3.)
6. Ruth m. David Radar (son of Michael Rader) emigrated to Kentucky.
7. Hannah m. David Cauldwell (son of Samuel Cauldwell); Hanna was the only child of Thomas and Ann that remained permanently in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Her descendants still reside there and United States Senator I. S. Pennypacker was a direct descendant of Hannah Henton.
All the above children, with the exception of Alice, were married in Shenandoah County, Virginia; the parents of their chosen mates (exception was Mary Rigney) had been neighborhood residents many years. Alice and John were married in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now in West Virginia) while members of an emigrant train near Cumberland Gap on the way to Kentucky.
Records from the archives of the Kentucky Historical Society located at Frankfort, Kentucky, show that numerous members of the Henton Clan emigrated to Kentucky before the Revolutionary War. Thomas Henton Jr. has a Land Grant recorded there of one thousand acres on December 21, 1784; this was in Woodford County, near the present town of Versailles, and many of the descendants of Thomas and Christine Branner Henton reside in that vicinity at the present date.
In 1955 Dr. and Mrs. George Earle Henton of Portland, Oregon, and daughter Barbara visited the following: James Dudley Henton, Wade Hampton Henton, Mary Henton, and Nellie Henton (Edwards). They conducted us to the thousand-acre Thomas Henton Plantation and through its impressive old southern mansion—it is one of the memory pictures never to be forgotten.
In the Shenandoah County courthouse at Woodstock, Virginia, the following is recorded:
Thomas Henton, Will Book E, Page 61:
I, Thomas Henton, of Shenandoah County, State of Virginia, do hereby make my last Will and Testament in manner and form following—that is to say:.
FIRST—I desire that my wife, Ann, have her bed and all her clothes; two pots and all the pewter belonging to the house at present, and one third of all The Lands, whereon I now live, during her natural life; then to be left to my son, George Henton, his heirs and assigns forever; I also desire that my wife, Ann, have four milch cows, the soil horse, all the sheep and half the hogs belonging to The Plantation at present.
SECONDLY: I give to my son Thomas, his heirs and assigns, forever, one hundred and fifty acres of land, being the part whereon he now lives, running with the division fence between the grain-field and the meadow; by paying my daughter, Hannah, thirty pounds, Virginia money, after my decease and my wife Ann's decease.
I give the remainder of my land to my son, George Henton, his heirs and assigns, forever, by his paying to each of my daughters in Kentucky the sum of thirty pounds, Virginia money; that is to say, Ann Copeman, Alice Samples, Persis Boone [the spouse of Josiah Boone Jr.and Ruth Rader. And lastly I do hereby constitute and appoint my beloved wife, Ann Henton, my son, George Henton, and Michael Warren Executors of this, my last Will and Testament. I desire that the remainder of the movable property not yet mentioned be divided between my wife, Ann Henton, and my son, George Henton, as they may see proper. Hereby revoking all other Wills and Testaments by me here-to-fore made. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 27th day of November, in The Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-six.
Thomas (His X Mark) Henton
Sealed, signed, published and declared as for the Last Will and Testament of the above Thomas Henton in the presence of
Joseph Young
Evan Jones
Daniel (X) Watters, Senr
(Mark)
Ordered to Probate following the oaths of above witnesses and oaths and bonds of Ann Henton and Michael Warren two of the Executors Wednesday, December 14, 1796.
Test P. Williams, Clerk County Court.
____________________________________________
In Harrodsburg, Kentucky, exists a large granite marker with the following inscription engraved thereon:
In the Year Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-four, on this site, Daniel Boone and Evan Henton built a double log cabin. It was occupied by them when in this locality and
was burned by Indians (Shawnee) March 1st, Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-Seven. Both Daniel and Evan assisted Captain Harrod in the laying out of Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
The Henton and Boone families were related both through ancestry and marriage. Both families settled in Pennsylvania and emigrated from England at about the same period. They were close neighbors in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and in the Shenandoah and Rockingham counties, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. The younger generation migrated to Kentucky together and settled in neighboring localities. Evan Henton was a son of William Henton of Berks County, Pennsylvania, and Rockingham County, Virginia; William was a brother of Thomas Henton of Berks (our line) and Shenandoah County, Virginia. Evan was conducting a supply train of wagons from the Falls of the Ohio (now Louisville) from the military supply depot to troops in the field, combating Indians. He was captured by a group of Shawnee Indians under the direction of Simon Girty, the white renegade, and burned at the stake. Thomas Henton, Jr. (brother of our George H. and son of Thomas of Shenandoah County) was serving in Louisville when Evan was killed; they had come to Kentucky together. Joseph Henton, brother of Evan, was also killed by Indians in Kentucky two years later and John Henton Jr., son of John Henton, Sr. resident of Rockingham County (John Jr. married Alice Henton, daughter of Thomas and Ann) was killed in Logan County, Kentucky, by Indians in 1781.
The following was written by Dr. George Earle Henton in the history that he wrote of his Henton ancestors and relatives entitled, "My Henton Lineage".
Thomas Henton was born in 1718 in Berks County, Pennsylvania; son of George H. Henton and Persis Boone Henton, residents of Berks County, Pennsylvania. Thomas married in 1747 Ann Yarnall, born 1721 Berks County, daughter of Peter and Alice Worrilow Yarnall. In 1751 Thomas and Ann Henton emigrated to the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, in a company composed of relatives and neighbors conducted by Squire Boone. The Hentons and Boones first located in the vicinity of the present town of New Market, Shenandoah County, Virginia. The Boones remained about two years and then the majority continued south down the valley and settled on the Yadkin River in western North Carolina; but the Hentons and most of the emigrants remained permanently in this vicinity. From Pennsylvania to the valley this emigrant party had traveled on the ancient and historically famous "Long Gray Trail." It started in central New York, the home of the Iroquois Indian Tribes, and extended south along the eastern branch of the Susquehannah River to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; then followed the Cumberland Valley southwest crossing the Potomac River at Hagerstown, Maryland, entering Virginia north of Winchester and isouth down the entire length of the Shenandoah Valley into western North Carolina.
The Iroquois Indians of New York used this trail when warring the Catawba Tribes on North Carolina.
The Fairfax Grant covered the northwestern neck of Virginia; (at that date West Virginia was a part of Virginia); it comprised an area of five million acres, with dimensions of seventy-six miles east and west and seventy-five miles north and south. Baron Lord Fairfax of Kent, England, inherited "The Grant" from his mother who was a daughter of Lord Thomas Culpepper, an early English governor of Virginia. The Shenandoah Valley occupies the west boundry area of Virginia, extending from the Pennsylvania south line on the north to the North Carolina state line on the south. It averages about fifty miles in width; is bounded on the west by the Alleghany Mountains and by the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east. The Shenandoah River flows about one hundred miles through the north-central part of the valley and empties into the Potomac River near Harper's Ferry, Maryland. The word "Shenandoah" is of American Indian origin signifying "Daughter of the Stars."
The Thomas Henton Plantation: In 1760 Thomas Henton Sr. purchased from the owners, John and Priscilla Thompson, eight hundred acres. ("The Thompsons" had purchased this
land directly from Lord Fairfax). Its location was central of the valley and about three miles north of the south boundry line of the Fairfax Grant. The east plantation line followed the west bank of the Shenandoah River for approximately one mile— Holman Creek flows through the southern one-third, east into the Shenandoah River, and Third Hill is near the center of the west boundary. The present-day Rockingham County line is about three miles south and corresponds to the southern boundary line of the Fairfax Grant. At present date the main line of the Southern Railroad and North-South Valley Highway follows the east plantation line near the Shenandoah River. This plantation is now owned by United States Senator Harry Bird (formerly governor of Virginia) as a part of his residential holdings. He is reputed to be the leading apple grower in America. It was the home of Thomas and Ann Henton the remainder of their lives. Thomas died in 1796, age 78 years; Ann died in 1806, age 85 years.
Originally the Fairfax Grant was in Spotsylvania County, which included all of northwest Virginia; subsequent county sub-divisions located "Henton-Plantation" in the following counties:
Orange County 1734; Frederick County 1738, with the county seat at Winchester. In 1772 the south half of Frederick was formed into a separate county and named Dunmore to honor John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, a Scottish nobleman appointed governor of New York by George the Third and later transferred to be governor of Virginia. Dunmore was a good governor and well liked; he resided on his home plantation near Winchester where he died shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War. Following the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown the county name was changed from Dunmore to Shenandoah. The county seat and courthouse remained at Woodstock where are found the Old Minute Books, in which all official transactions affecting the county and its residents are on file.
These Minute Books reveal that Thomas Henton Sr. was a highly esteemed and trusted patriotic citizen and was appointed to many official positions where ability and integrity were prerequisites. This applies likewise to his sons Thomas Jr. and George. Throughout the regime of Lord Dunmore, Thomas Henton Sr. was a member of the Surveying Commission for this area. During the War of the American Revolution Thomas Henton Sr. and his son Thomas Henton Jr. served with the Virginia troops from Shenandoah County in the company of Captain Holman. Later Thomas Henton Sr. was commissioned a captain; his younger son, George H. Henton, was commissioned a first lieutenant and also served with the Shenandoah troops.
During the Civil War, the northern section of the valley was almost continually occupied by troops of both armies. Confederate troops under General Jubal A. Early and Union troops commanded by General Phil Sheridan. The Battle of Winchester was fought in southern Frederick County; the battles of Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek in northern Shenandoah County. "Sheridan's Ride" had its scene in Winchester, county seat of Frederick County; he heard cannon fire when General Early made his break-of-day attack at Cedar Creek in northern Shenandoah County. The Thomas Henton Plantation was almost continually occupied or traversed by troops throughout the Civil War; the town of New Market, General Early's Headquarters, was only three miles southeast.
Three brothers of Thomas, namely George, William and John, had plantations a few miles south in Rockingham County; two sisters also resided there, namely Ruth, who married Dr. Michael Warren, and Hannah who married Josiah Boone Sr.
The children of Thomas and Ann Yarnall Henton were:
1. Thomas Jr. m. Christine Branner (daughter of Casper Branner), both died in Woodford County, Kentucky, where their descendants reside.
2. Ann Jr. m. Jacob Copeland (son of Andrew Copeland) emigrated to Kentucky; later to Orange County, Indiana.
3. Alice m. First, John Henton (counsin), son of John Henton; he was killed by Indians in 1781 in Logan County, Kentucky. Second, John Samples, 1785, Lincoln County, Kentucky.
4. Persis m. Josiah Boone Jr. (cousin), son of Josiah Sr. and Hannah Henton Boone; both families emigrated to Kentucky and all died in Shelby County.
5. George H. m. Mary Rigney, 1785, daughter of Johnathan Rigney, Pittsylvania County, Virginia; emigrated to Kentucky and Orange County, Indiana. (Continued in Section 3.)
6. Ruth m. David Radar (son of Michael Rader) emigrated to Kentucky.
7. Hannah m. David Cauldwell (son of Samuel Cauldwell); Hanna was the only child of Thomas and Ann that remained permanently in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Her descendants still reside there and United States Senator I. S. Pennypacker was a direct descendant of Hannah Henton.
All the above children, with the exception of Alice, were married in Shenandoah County, Virginia; the parents of their chosen mates (exception was Mary Rigney) had been neighborhood residents many years. Alice and John were married in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now in West Virginia) while members of an emigrant train near Cumberland Gap on the way to Kentucky.
Records from the archives of the Kentucky Historical Society located at Frankfort, Kentucky, show that numerous members of the Henton Clan emigrated to Kentucky before the Revolutionary War. Thomas Henton Jr. has a Land Grant recorded there of one thousand acres on December 21, 1784; this was in Woodford County, near the present town of Versailles, and many of the descendants of Thomas and Christine Branner Henton reside in that vicinity at the present date.
In 1955 Dr. and Mrs. George Earle Henton of Portland, Oregon, and daughter Barbara visited the following: James Dudley Henton, Wade Hampton Henton, Mary Henton, and Nellie Henton (Edwards). They conducted us to the thousand-acre Thomas Henton Plantation and through its impressive old southern mansion—it is one of the memory pictures never to be forgotten.
In the Shenandoah County courthouse at Woodstock, Virginia, the following is recorded:
Thomas Henton, Will Book E, Page 61:
I, Thomas Henton, of Shenandoah County, State of Virginia, do hereby make my last Will and Testament in manner and form following—that is to say:.
FIRST—I desire that my wife, Ann, have her bed and all her clothes; two pots and all the pewter belonging to the house at present, and one third of all The Lands, whereon I now live, during her natural life; then to be left to my son, George Henton, his heirs and assigns forever; I also desire that my wife, Ann, have four milch cows, the soil horse, all the sheep and half the hogs belonging to The Plantation at present.
SECONDLY: I give to my son Thomas, his heirs and assigns, forever, one hundred and fifty acres of land, being the part whereon he now lives, running with the division fence between the grain-field and the meadow; by paying my daughter, Hannah, thirty pounds, Virginia money, after my decease and my wife Ann's decease.
I give the remainder of my land to my son, George Henton, his heirs and assigns, forever, by his paying to each of my daughters in Kentucky the sum of thirty pounds, Virginia money; that is to say, Ann Copeman, Alice Samples, Persis Boone [the spouse of Josiah Boone Jr.and Ruth Rader. And lastly I do hereby constitute and appoint my beloved wife, Ann Henton, my son, George Henton, and Michael Warren Executors of this, my last Will and Testament. I desire that the remainder of the movable property not yet mentioned be divided between my wife, Ann Henton, and my son, George Henton, as they may see proper. Hereby revoking all other Wills and Testaments by me here-to-fore made. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 27th day of November, in The Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-six.
Thomas (His X Mark) Henton
Sealed, signed, published and declared as for the Last Will and Testament of the above Thomas Henton in the presence of
Joseph Young
Evan Jones
Daniel (X) Watters, Senr
(Mark)
Ordered to Probate following the oaths of above witnesses and oaths and bonds of Ann Henton and Michael Warren two of the Executors Wednesday, December 14, 1796.
Test P. Williams, Clerk County Court.
____________________________________________
In Harrodsburg, Kentucky, exists a large granite marker with the following inscription engraved thereon:
In the Year Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-four, on this site, Daniel Boone and Evan Henton built a double log cabin. It was occupied by them when in this locality and
was burned by Indians (Shawnee) March 1st, Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-Seven. Both Daniel and Evan assisted Captain Harrod in the laying out of Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
The Henton and Boone families were related both through ancestry and marriage. Both families settled in Pennsylvania and emigrated from England at about the same period. They were close neighbors in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and in the Shenandoah and Rockingham counties, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. The younger generation migrated to Kentucky together and settled in neighboring localities. Evan Henton was a son of William Henton of Berks County, Pennsylvania, and Rockingham County, Virginia; William was a brother of Thomas Henton of Berks (our line) and Shenandoah County, Virginia. Evan was conducting a supply train of wagons from the Falls of the Ohio (now Louisville) from the military supply depot to troops in the field, combating Indians. He was captured by a group of Shawnee Indians under the direction of Simon Girty, the white renegade, and burned at the stake. Thomas Henton, Jr. (brother of our George H. and son of Thomas of Shenandoah County) was serving in Louisville when Evan was killed; they had come to Kentucky together. Joseph Henton, brother of Evan, was also killed by Indians in Kentucky two years later and John Henton Jr., son of John Henton, Sr. resident of Rockingham County (John Jr. married Alice Henton, daughter of Thomas and Ann) was killed in Logan County, Kentucky, by Indians in 1781.
Thomas Henton was born in 1718 in Berks County, Pennsylvania; son of George H. Henton and Persis Boone Henton, residents of Berks County, Pennsylvania. Thomas married in 1747 Ann Yarnall, born 1721 Berks County, daughter of Peter and Alice Worrilow Yarnall. In 1751 Thomas and Ann Henton emigrated to the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, in a company composed of relatives and neighbors conducted by Squire Boone. The Hentons and Boones first located in the vicinity of the present town of New Market, Shenandoah County, Virginia. The Boones remained about two years and then the majority continued south down the valley and settled on the Yadkin River in western North Carolina; but the Hentons and most of the emigrants remained permanently in this vicinity. From Pennsylvania to the valley this emigrant party had traveled on the ancient and historically famous "Long Gray Trail." It started in central New York, the home of the Iroquois Indian Tribes, and extended south along the eastern branch of the Susquehannah River to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; then followed the Cumberland Valley southwest crossing the Potomac River at Hagerstown, Maryland, entering Virginia north of Winchester and isouth down the entire length of the Shenandoah Valley into western North Carolina.
The Iroquois Indians of New York used this trail when warring the Catawba Tribes on North Carolina.
The Fairfax Grant covered the northwestern neck of Virginia; (at that date West Virginia was a part of Virginia); it comprised an area of five million acres, with dimensions of seventy-six miles east and west and seventy-five miles north and south. Baron Lord Fairfax of Kent, England, inherited "The Grant" from his mother who was a daughter of Lord Thomas Culpepper, an early English governor of Virginia. The Shenandoah Valley occupies the west boundry area of Virginia, extending from the Pennsylvania south line on the north to the North Carolina state line on the south. It averages about fifty miles in width; is bounded on the west by the Alleghany Mountains and by the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east. The Shenandoah River flows about one hundred miles through the north-central part of the valley and empties into the Potomac River near Harper's Ferry, Maryland. The word "Shenandoah" is of American Indian origin signifying "Daughter of the Stars."
The Thomas Henton Plantation: In 1760 Thomas Henton Sr. purchased from the owners, John and Priscilla Thompson, eight hundred acres. ("The Thompsons" had purchased this
land directly from Lord Fairfax). Its location was central of the valley and about three miles north of the south boundry line of the Fairfax Grant. The east plantation line followed the west bank of the Shenandoah River for approximately one mile— Holman Creek flows through the southern one-third, east into the Shenandoah River, and Third Hill is near the center of the west boundary. The present-day Rockingham County line is about three miles south and corresponds to the southern boundary line of the Fairfax Grant. At present date the main line of the Southern Railroad and North-South Valley Highway follows the east plantation line near the Shenandoah River. This plantation is now owned by United States Senator Harry Bird (formerly governor of Virginia) as a part of his residential holdings. He is reputed to be the leading apple grower in America. It was the home of Thomas and Ann Henton the remainder of their lives. Thomas died in 1796, age 78 years; Ann died in 1806, age 85 years.
Originally the Fairfax Grant was in Spotsylvania County, which included all of northwest Virginia; subsequent county sub-divisions located "Henton-Plantation" in the following counties:
Orange County 1734; Frederick County 1738, with the county seat at Winchester. In 1772 the south half of Frederick was formed into a separate county and named Dunmore to honor John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, a Scottish nobleman appointed governor of New York by George the Third and later transferred to be governor of Virginia. Dunmore was a good governor and well liked; he resided on his home plantation near Winchester where he died shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War. Following the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown the county name was changed from Dunmore to Shenandoah. The county seat and courthouse remained at Woodstock where are found the Old Minute Books, in which all official transactions affecting the county and its residents are on file.
These Minute Books reveal that Thomas Henton Sr. was a highly esteemed and trusted patriotic citizen and was appointed to many official positions where ability and integrity were prerequisites. This applies likewise to his sons Thomas Jr. and George. Throughout the regime of Lord Dunmore, Thomas Henton Sr. was a member of the Surveying Commission for this area. During the War of the American Revolution Thomas Henton Sr. and his son Thomas Henton Jr. served with the Virginia troops from Shenandoah County in the company of Captain Holman. Later Thomas Henton Sr. was commissioned a captain; his younger son, George H. Henton, was commissioned a first lieutenant and also served with the Shenandoah troops.
During the Civil War, the northern section of the valley was almost continually occupied by troops of both armies. Confederate troops under General Jubal A. Early and Union troops commanded by General Phil Sheridan. The Battle of Winchester was fought in southern Frederick County; the battles of Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek in northern Shenandoah County. "Sheridan's Ride" had its scene in Winchester, county seat of Frederick County; he heard cannon fire when General Early made his break-of-day attack at Cedar Creek in northern Shenandoah County. The Thomas Henton Plantation was almost continually occupied or traversed by troops throughout the Civil War; the town of New Market, General Early's Headquarters, was only three miles southeast.
Three brothers of Thomas, namely George, William and John, had plantations a few miles south in Rockingham County; two sisters also resided there, namely Ruth, who married Dr. Michael Warren, and Hannah who married Josiah Boone Sr.
The children of Thomas and Ann Yarnall Henton were:
1. Thomas Jr. m. Christine Branner (daughter of Casper Branner), both died in Woodford County, Kentucky, where their descendants reside.
2. Ann Jr. m. Jacob Copeland (son of Andrew Copeland) emigrated to Kentucky; later to Orange County, Indiana.
3. Alice m. First, John Henton (counsin), son of John Henton; he was killed by Indians in 1781 in Logan County, Kentucky. Second, John Samples, 1785, Lincoln County, Kentucky.
4. Persis m. Josiah Boone Jr. (cousin), son of Josiah Sr. and Hannah Henton Boone; both families emigrated to Kentucky and all died in Shelby County.
5. George H. m. Mary Rigney, 1785, daughter of Johnathan Rigney, Pittsylvania County, Virginia; emigrated to Kentucky and Orange County, Indiana. (Continued in Section 3.)
6. Ruth m. David Radar (son of Michael Rader) emigrated to Kentucky.
7. Hannah m. David Cauldwell (son of Samuel Cauldwell); Hanna was the only child of Thomas and Ann that remained permanently in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Her descendants still reside there and United States Senator I. S. Pennypacker was a direct descendant of Hannah Henton.
All the above children, with the exception of Alice, were married in Shenandoah County, Virginia; the parents of their chosen mates (exception was Mary Rigney) had been neighborhood residents many years. Alice and John were married in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now in West Virginia) while members of an emigrant train near Cumberland Gap on the way to Kentucky.
Records from the archives of the Kentucky Historical Society located at Frankfort, Kentucky, show that numerous members of the Henton Clan emigrated to Kentucky before the Revolutionary War. Thomas Henton Jr. has a Land Grant recorded there of one thousand acres on December 21, 1784; this was in Woodford County, near the present town of Versailles, and many of the descendants of Thomas and Christine Branner Henton reside in that vicinity at the present date.
In 1955 Dr. and Mrs. George Earle Henton of Portland, Oregon, and daughter Barbara visited the following: James Dudley Henton, Wade Hampton Henton, Mary Henton, and Nellie Henton (Edwards). They conducted us to the thousand-acre Thomas Henton Plantation and through its impressive old southern mansion—it is one of the memory pictures never to be forgotten.
In the Shenandoah County courthouse at Woodstock, Virginia, the following is recorded:
Thomas Henton, Will Book E, Page 61:
I, Thomas Henton, of Shenandoah County, State of Virginia, do hereby make my last Will and Testament in manner and form following—that is to say:.
FIRST—I desire that my wife, Ann, have her bed and all her clothes; two pots and all the pewter belonging to the house at present, and one third of all The Lands, whereon I now live, during her natural life; then to be left to my son, George Henton, his heirs and assigns forever; I also desire that my wife, Ann, have four milch cows, the soil horse, all the sheep and half the hogs belonging to The Plantation at present.
SECONDLY: I give to my son Thomas, his heirs and assigns, forever, one hundred and fifty acres of land, being the part whereon he now lives, running with the division fence between the grain-field and the meadow; by paying my daughter, Hannah, thirty pounds, Virginia money, after my decease and my wife Ann's decease.
I give the remainder of my land to my son, George Henton, his heirs and assigns, forever, by his paying to each of my daughters in Kentucky the sum of thirty pounds, Virginia money; that is to say, Ann Copeman, Alice Samples, Persis Boone [the spouse of Josiah Boone Jr.and Ruth Rader. And lastly I do hereby constitute and appoint my beloved wife, Ann Henton, my son, George Henton, and Michael Warren Executors of this, my last Will and Testament. I desire that the remainder of the movable property not yet mentioned be divided between my wife, Ann Henton, and my son, George Henton, as they may see proper. Hereby revoking all other Wills and Testaments by me here-to-fore made. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 27th day of November, in The Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-six.
Thomas (His X Mark) Henton
Sealed, signed, published and declared as for the Last Will and Testament of the above Thomas Henton in the presence of
Joseph Young
Evan Jones
Daniel (X) Watters, Senr
(Mark)
Ordered to Probate following the oaths of above witnesses and oaths and bonds of Ann Henton and Michael Warren two of the Executors Wednesday, December 14, 1796.
Test P. Williams, Clerk County Court.
____________________________________________
In Harrodsburg, Kentucky, exists a large granite marker with the following inscription engraved thereon:
In the Year Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-four, on this site, Daniel Boone and Evan Henton built a double log cabin. It was occupied by them when in this locality and
was burned by Indians (Shawnee) March 1st, Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-Seven. Both Daniel and Evan assisted Captain Harrod in the laying out of Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
The Henton and Boone families were related both through ancestry and marriage. Both families settled in Pennsylvania and emigrated from England at about the same period. They were close neighbors in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and in the Shenandoah and Rockingham counties, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. The younger generation migrated to Kentucky together and settled in neighboring localities. Evan Henton was a son of William Henton of Berks County, Pennsylvania, and Rockingham County, Virginia; William was a brother of Thomas Henton of Berks (our line) and Shenandoah County, Virginia. Evan was conducting a supply train of wagons from the Falls of the Ohio (now Louisville) from the military supply depot to troops in the field, combating Indians. He was captured by a group of Shawnee Indians under the direction of Simon Girty, the white renegade, and burned at the stake. Thomas Henton, Jr. (brother of our George H. and son of Thomas of Shenandoah County) was serving in Louisville when Evan was killed; they had come to Kentucky together. Joseph Henton, brother of Evan, was also killed by Indians in Kentucky two years later and John Henton Jr., son of John Henton, Sr. resident of Rockingham County (John Jr. married Alice Henton, daughter of Thomas and Ann) was killed in Logan County, Kentucky, by Indians in 1781.
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