Isaac Newton Hemry (1828 - 1885)

Born 23 Jul 1828 in Perrysville, Carroll County, Ohio, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Alice (Thompson) Hemry — married 28 Oct 1863 in Hamilton Township, Caldwell, Missouri, United States

Descendants

Died 30 Aug 1885 at age 57 in Caldwell County, Missouri, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Chet Snow [send private message]

Biography

As a Union Army Captain, Isaac Newton Hemry met his bride-to-be, Sarah Thompson, in 1863 when, at only 15 years old, she came to his command to plead for the release of her father, a Confederate Army Captain. Obviously, the bride's family disapproved of their union but her father, Captain David Thompson, reconciled with young Captain Isaac Newton Hemry. Others, however, were less charitable and the newly weds left Missouri for California but returned in the 1870s.

Later, a land and money dispute led to Captain Hemry's untimely death; he was murdered (shot) on August 30, 1885, on the farm he was managing for a local bank that had dispossessed the former owners for non-payment of mortgages. Although the killer(s) were well known locally, no one was ever convicted of the deed. His oldest daughter, Lola Ida, then 19 years old, married Joel Carter Bonine in November 1885 and moved out of Missouri.^[1]

Roberts, Hemry, Dawson, Plant, Capper, Smith, Dew, Vida, Vlaszacs Tree: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=final100&id=I3344 says: "According to Larry H. Hemry in his book, "Hemry Family History Book, pg. 279," Isaac was born in Perrysville, OH learning farming from his father. He went to school & at the age of 18 he started teaching school & did this for a few years. Family lore states that Isaac & Haman went to the goldfields in CA & came to Missouri in 1853 & paid for their land with gold! But this is questionable for in 1860 the US Census states he was a farm laborer. In 1861 paramilitary organizations formed & James Fifth Battalion was formed & Isaac was a Lieutenant. On 9-24-1861 the militia was mustered into the James Battalion of the Missouri Militia for 6 months service. Isaac was an adjuvant in this Union Army militia.

There were lots of Confederate sympathizers in Missouri & apparently Isaac Newton Hemry became a symbol of Union military occupation. He was harsh & considerably repressive against them. On Sunday, 8-30-1885, just as the sun was breaking young Ulysses saddled a horse for his father, Capt. Hemry tied the horse to a sapling, a gunshot rang out & Isaac was dead on the 20th anniversary of his discharge from the Army. Rewards were offered by multiple sources. Later a Walter Kinney told Ulysses Grant Hemry that he would tell him the killer at a later time. Walter went home drunk & later the house burned down & burned up Walter! Apparently he had told the wrong people what he was planning to do or at least that is how this is looked at. I recommend that you read this chapter in Larry Hemry's book to read other fascinating data.

He also has an interesting story regarding David Thompson, who was a Confederate, he befriended before the war. In 1863 Capt. David Thompson was in the Confederate Army & a prisoner in the Union Prison in Richmond, MO. David developed erysipelas (strep infection) of the face & was very ill. Sarah Thompson, his daughter, nursed him back to health but David was going to be executed as a Confederate. Isaac fell in love with Sarah & liked her father & supposedly went to Washington, DC to President Lincoln to beg for David's life. A pardon came through on 3-21-1863. Isaac married Sarah in Sept., 1863, bore him 10 children before his murder in 1885. Isaac was buried in Hamilton, Missouri.^[2]

The Murder of Captain Isaac HEMRY:

Source: http://www.oocities.org/heartland/plains/4897/isaac.html

"On Sunday morning August 30, 1885, Captain Isaac Henry was assassinated on the Kenney farm, about one and a half miles west of Kidder. At the time of his death Capt. Hemry was in charge of the farm as the agent of a banking firm in Gallatin. The farm, a large and valuable one consisting of several hundred acres, had formally been in possession and ownership of Hon. P.S. Kenney but after a long process of litigation, had been sold by a decree of court to the bank. The judgment creditor of Mr. Kenney ( It is proper to say that Judge Kenney and his wife yet claimed the property or a considerable portion of it and that the matter is in process of legal adjudication. (this report was published in 1886). Upon obtaining the farm, the bank dispossessed Kenney and placed Capt. Hemry in charge. In March 1885, a body composed of two brothers, Judge Kenney, his wife, and some other persons made a descent on the fine residence, almost baronial in appearance which Judge Kenney had built on the farm and where Hemry was living at the time, forcibly ejecting him and his family and removed their effects away. Soon after, however, the authorities again placed Hemry in possession. On the morning of the assassination, Capt. Hemry rose at about 6 o'clock, and mounting a horse rode to the back of the farm a half mile west to salt some cattle which he was pasturing. His son Grant Hemry, a lad 16 years of age was engaged near the house in attending to some cows. His wife was about her domestic duties. Suddenly Grant Hemry and his mother heard a gunshot, apparently made near the place where they knew Capt. Henry had gone. In a few seconds another report was heard. Suspicioning what had happened, young Hemry mounted a horse and galloped rapidly to the spot. Arriving at the pasture, the first object that attracted his attention was a man walking in the direction of the timber nearby, carrying a gun, leading his father’s horse. Riding nearer the man turned and stopped presenting his gun in a threatening manner. The lad halted, dismounted, placed the horse between himself and the assassin and remained a few seconds. The man walked to the edge of the timber, fastened the horse and disappeared into the woods. Young Hemry then retraced his route to look for his father and after a little search found him. He was yet alive but died in a few moments. The boy raised the head of his dying father and asked him "O father! Will you die?” The father answered feebly “Yes”. “Who shot you ?" asked the boy. Capt. Hemry made a motion with his hand in the direction which the assassin had gone and almost immediately afterward, expired. The boy then mounted his horse and rode rapidly to Kidder and gave the alarm. In a few hours, scores of men were at the scene and there was great excitement...."

Sources

1. ↑ Personal knowledge of descendant, Chet Snow based on unpublished family genealogy research of Prof. C. A. Bonine, his grandson.
2. ↑ http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=final100&id=I3344

• "Descendants of John Hemry, Sr.," at www.perrycofamilies.org

Acknowledgments

• Thanks to Chet Snow for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Chet and others.