Marshall-Washington County KS Archives Biographies.....Henry, Ira Edmond 1883 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 16, 2007, 3:27 am Author: Emma E. Forter IRA EDMOND HENRY. Ira Edmond Henry, a well-known druggist, business man and city clerk of Summerfield, Marshall county, was born in Hanover, Kansas, on September 10, 1883, and is the son of Ed. S. and Sadie Eveline (Holbert) Henry. Ed. S. Henry was born in the state of Illinois in 1861 and received his education in the public schools and grew to manhood. He later married Sadie Eveline. Holbert, who was born in 1863 and was the daughter of Perry Holbert, who was a native of Ohio and one of the first settlers of Washington county, Kansas. The town of Washington is now located on a part of what was then his farm. As a young man Perry Holbert was united in marriage to a Miss Avard, a native of West Virginia. She had a number of her people who were in sympathy with the cause of the South and her nephew, David Clevenger, was a soldier of note in the Confederate army, yet three of her nephews, Greenberry, John and Minor Clevenger were soldiers in the Union army and won distinction in the cause of the Union. The ancestors of Ed. S. Henry were originally from Ohio and in an early day settled in the states of Illinois and Missouri, and thence to Elsworth, Kansas. Ed. S. and his brother, Ira, when young men engaged in farming in Washington county, and there Ira is still engaged in the work. Ed. S. later located at Kansas City, where he engaged in the commission and produce business for a number of years, when he established himself in the business in Chicago, Illinois, and was one of the first to use the candling process in the selection of eggs. He continued in the business during his life and met with much success. He and Mrs. Henry were the parents of two children, Ira Edmond and Guy Morris, the latter having died at the age of fifteen years. Ira Edmond Henry received his early education in a country school house in Washington county, Kansas, and experienced many of the early conditions of the early life on the plains. In 1892, at the age of nine years, he came to Summerfield, Marshall county, with his mother, who had after the death of his father married Samuel J. Grauer. Here he Attended the public schools and later entered the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, in 1903. . He took the course in pharmacy and completed his work in 1904 and became a registered pharmacist that year. During the time he was in the university he was a member of the baseball team, and was awarded a "K" in baseball and general athletics. After completing his education and receiving his certificate, he returned to Summerfield in June, 1904, and in July of that year he purchased a drug store which he conducted for seven years. He then purchased his present store in 1911, and a year later consolidated it with the "Daisy Pharmacy Store," which he had purchased. His present store is known as the "Rexall Store" and is one of the most complete in this section of the county. He has an excellent room for his business, which is twenty-four by eighty feet, all of which is well stocked with up-to-date goods. In addition to his stock of drugs, he handles musical instruments for which he has a special room. He has the agency for the Edison, the Knaba, the Marshall and Wendell pianos, in all of which he has a well-established business. He has a stock, the value of which is eight thousand dollars, and carries a large stock of Rexall remedies, books, stationery, Lowe Brothers high-standard paints, wall paper and toilet articles. He has two registered clerks and on Saturdays has extra help. Ira Edmond Henry has by hard work risen to his present position in the business world. He began his active life with no financial backing, and before he was twenty-one years of age he had completed his college career and had established himself in the business world. He began his life as a clerk in a drug store at one dollar and fifty cents per week, for the first year. But he had the determination and push to own a store of his own. He borrowed the money when he made his purchase of the first drug store, all of which he has paid. On September 2, 1908, Ira Edmond Henry was united in marriage to Florence Nightingale Hazels, of Washington county, Kansas, the daughter of George Nicol Hazels and wife. Her father was a native of Scotland and there received his education in the public schools and grew to manhood. At the age of twenty years he left his native land and came to America. On his arrival in the United States he came direct to Kansas and located on a farm in Washington county, where he died at the age of seventy-two years. To Mr. and Mrs. Henry has been born one child, Helen Davene, now a girl of five years. Mr. and Mrs. Henry are active members of the United Presbyterian church and are prominent in the social life of their home city, where they are held in the highest regard and esteem by all who know them. Politically, Mr. Henry is identified with the Republican party, and has always taken a keen interest in local affairs, and is at present the efficient city clerk. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Order of the Eastern Star, the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is the distributor of the "Indigent Vaccine" for St. Bridget and Richland townships and is local register of the births and deaths. He has always been much interested in the educational progress of the city and in adding to its beauty and growth. He had much to do with the seven-thousand-five-hundred-dollar addition to the school house. He won the five-dollar prize of Doctor Stephens for producing the best growth in five elm trees within a year. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions by Emma E. Forter Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/marshall/bios/henry186nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ksfiles/ File size: 6.4 Kb