My Genealogy Hound

HENRY KITCHEN, retired farmer; P. O. Piqua; born in Adams Co., Penn., Oct. 16, 1797; is the son of Richard and Margaret (Voorhis) Kitchen; his father was an early English immigrant to New Jersey, where he married, and finally settled in Adams Co., Penn., passing there the remainder of his life. The early education of our subject was obtained in a pioneer log schoolhouse; at the age of 17, he was apprenticed to the carpenter’s trade, and, having learned it, started for Ohio on horseback, arriving in Butler Co. in January, 1818; in the spring of 1819 he settled at Piqua; in 1822, he erected a house. In October, 1823, he was married and moved into it, residing there ever since; his wife was Sarah, daughter of Mathew Caldwell, who settled in Piqua about 1805; by this marriage there were three children, two of whom are now living; the son, J. M. Kitchen, is a practicing physician in Indianapolis; the daughter, Mary Jane, is Mrs. Harvey Clarke, of Piqua; Mrs. Kitchen died in August, 1831. Oct. 27, 1835, Mr. Kitchen married Eliza Snevely, of Harrisburg, Penn., who was born April 13, 1815; her father, Jacob Snevely, came to Piqua in 1820, where he died in August, 1842, aged 62; for many years, he was a leading member of the Presbyterian Church; this second marriage resulted in the birth of four children, three of whom are living; William, the oldest son resides on a farm near Piqua; Anna is the wife of Capt. Henry Leggett, of the United States Army; Fanny married Henry Starr, of Elyria, Ohio, and Cornelia, deceased, married Angus Campbell, of Piqua. Mr. Kitchen followed his trade for a number of years and then turned his attention to farming, which he followed till about ten years ago, when his age and state of health warned him that he had better rest and live retired the remainder of his life; he is truly a self-made man; when he started in life, he had a limited education, as, in that early day, the facilities were very limited; he paid for the lot upon which his house is built and for the material of which it is made by work at his trade when he was 26 years of age, and was able to place his wife, whom he then married, in a good, comfortable home; from this good beginning in life, by industry and economy, backed up constantly by a never-faltering energy, Mr. Kitchen, from year to year, has found his wealth constantly and steadily increasing, till now, in his old age, he is able to rest from the severer toils and cares of life, and to enjoy the fruits of his labors; his long life has been characterized by the strictest integrity, his means freely used for all laudable and charitable purposes, devoted to Christianity, having been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since 1832, and has held the office of Steward for forty-seven years; Mrs. Kitchen has also been a member since 1833, possessing the attributes of a Christian wife and mother; thus, hand in hand, have they traveled the journey of life, working for and blessed with a competency of this world’s goods, and, at the same time, working for and laying up treasures for that better life.