City Directories and History: The historic home of the Henry family, not far from the Gaston Co., line in the greater Bethany area. Reportedly constructed in ca. 1853, with substantial additions and alterations.
In 2020, the current owners of the Henry Home invited R&R.com co-founder, Wade B. Fairey to visit the historic house. An enjoyable and very informative tour with the Endsley Family ensued. Mrs. Endsley was kind enough to write the following:
– During the initial home tour prior to purchasing, the real estate agent told us the house originally belonged to the Henry Family, and that the original railings on the second story were spindles. She dated the home to 1891. We were also told the outbuildings and pole barn were original structures to the property. The realtor also stated that before listing the property the existing owners and her reached out to the family and they were not interested in purchasing the home back into the family.
A few things were discovered during the home inspection. The chimney on the back of the home was not anchored to the home as modern-day chimneys are. In the back left corner of the home a tree log was used for the foundation, and rocks set vertically were used in that location as well. These were noted as construction techniques from a bygone era.
It was noted during a recent trip to Appomattox Virginia that the chimneys there also were not anchored to the buildings. I began an online search and found that in 1700 and 1800s southern construction had the chimney built away from the home, so as not to touch the wood. The bottom portion of the chimney reminded me of the early drawings I found of early American chimneys.
Upon moving into the home I noticed the brick on the exterior chimney was older than the rest of the brick, as well as being clearly handmade. The stone and mortar were more of stone and clay construction as opposed to modern-day mortar. The bricks outside of the firebox were clearly older and handmade as well. There is small attic space above the kitchen, and when I went in to investigate found the revenants of another old chimney. This one I believed to be from an old wood stove and based on that formed the idea the kitchen was the original home.
To back my theory I decided to attempt to research my home. I researched the original Henry to York County, South Carolina, and I came up with a William Henry. The original Henry homestead appears to be within a few miles from this property. It makes reasonable sense this home could be on part of the original land granted to the Henry Family. There are over 9 land grants to William Henry during his lifetime in this area. However, I have not yet been able to see them in order to determine if this home was once a part of that original Henry land later passed down.
While looking for information about The Henry Family and the property, I came across a map from 1910 that listed a J.J. Henry in a location identical to this property. From there I traced J.J. Henry back to William Henry. William Henry had a son William Henry, Jr., who had a son Thomas Campbell Henry, who had a son John James Henry. I believe John James to be the J.J. Henry listed on the map. However,, I can only find a survey from 1992, that lists the home date as 1853.
As we began to remove some rotten floorboards in the shed closest to the home, we found a stone and mortar structure about 12 feet below ground. Once the floorboards were up progress came to a halt in order to investigate this. I did not want a valuable part of history to be lost due to us covering it back up. We believe this to be the original root cellar.
We believe the fireplace located in the kitchen to be one of the oldest parts of the home. We found some parts in the attic above the kitchen that has pre-civil war markings. Submission to R&R.com 2020
Upon extensive examination of the historic house, it was determined it had been updated and remodeled numerous times: porches, rear work areas, second floor rooms, staircase updates and more…. enjoy the variety of images presented this page.
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