My Genealogy Hound

HENRY HYPES. Could the frontiersman, who years ago penetrated the wilderness of unsettled territories and paved the way for advancing civilization, have seen the wonderful change which time has made in the face of the country, he would have undoubtedly rejoiced because of his share in the development of the resources of the State. Of the few who went in advance of the tide of emigration, prominent mention certainly belongs to Mr. Hypes, who came here in the fall of 1811, when Ohio was considered the far-away West, and few could be prevailed upon to leave the comforts of their homes and endure hardships and trials innumerable, to found homesteads here.

At the time of his arrival here, Mr. Hypes selected as his home some unimproved land, part of which is included in the city of Xenia, the remainder lying at the edge of the town. The now flourishing village, wherein each day rises the smoke of many manufactories and the busy hum of toil is heard, was then almost a wilderness, the streets being full of trees and stumps, while only a few log cabins were to be seen.

Rockbridge County, Va., was the native place of our subject, and he was born five miles from the Natural Bridge, one of America’s scenic wonders, on the 12th of June, 1775. As may be imagined his education consisted more in learning the various duties associated with farm life than in gleaning knowledge from the pages of history and science. Nevertheless, he received, mainly through his own efforts, a substantial education, and acquired a good training under the home roof. He was united in marriage when eighteen years of age with Miss Patience Reynolds, likewise a native of the Old Dominion.

After engaging in farming in Virginia until 1811, he came then overland to the Ohio River, and there took a flatboat to Cincinnati. Immediately after his coming to this county, he purchased one hundred and twenty-five acres of Government land, heavily timbered and unimproved. The first improvement he made was the building of a log house, in which he and his family lived for a few years. In 1823 his wife died, leaving a family of six sons and two daughters, of whom two alone survive, namely: Benjamin, who has been a citizen of Lebanon, Ill., since 1829; and John W., of the same town.

Mr. Hypes contracted a second marriage with Miss Sarah, daughter of George and Sophia Wright, who came to Xenia from Brunswick County, Va. Mr. and Mrs. Hypes became the parents of four children, all of whom are living and named: Maria H., Mrs. Drees; S. H., who is engaged in the fire insurance and real-estate business in Xenia; W. L. pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Cincinnati and Fletcher, also a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and located at New Boston, Clermont County, Ohio.

In all the departments of agriculture Mr. Hypes kept himself thoroughly posted, and advocated the introduction of modern machinery as well as everything else tending to improve and elevate farming. Politically, he cast his first vote in the Democrat party. This was in Virginia, and the party elected to the Legislature a man who could neither read nor write, an occurrence which so displeased Mr. Hypes that he left their ranks, and ever after supported the Republicans. In religious matters, he was an active and strong member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for forty-five or fifty years led the singing in that organization, of which he was one of the founders. Much of the present prosperity of Xenia is due to his untiring efforts, and he was considered one of the leading men of the place. He passed away October 1, 1854, universally mourned by the people among whom so much of his active existence had been spent.