On April 23, 1848, Henrietta Polk was the third child born to Isaac Polk and Mary Jane Cox.  She was preceded by Jeannette and Benjamin, and followed by six more siblings–Charles, Rachel, Alice, Harriet, Florence and Jonathan.  The family resided in the Oak Station (Widner Township) area of Knox County, Indiana, where her father apparently had a sizable farm.  When Henrietta was eleven, her mother died, leaving Isaac with many mouths to feed.  Two years later, Isaac married Martha Couchman Ferguson, the widow of John Ferguson.  They added three more daughters to the family–Delilah, Hester and Eva for a total of twelve children born to Isaac.

Henrietta attended school as a youngster and lived on her father’s farm well into her twenties.  On November 8, 1879, she married single father Ellis Hill.  Ellis had been married and widowed twice previously–first to Lavinia Risley and then to Henrietta’s older sister Jeanette.  Both women appear to have died as a result of childbirth complications.  Henrietta, consequently, became a stepmother to nine year old Mary.

Ellis and Henrietta made their home in the north central part of Washington Township in Knox County where Ellis farmed 80 acres of land.  Over the next two decades, they had five children, three of which made it to adolescence–Walter, Fannie and Hallie.  Hallie apparently had some health issues and was sent to live with an aunt in Idaho where the climate was more favorable for her.  Unfortunately, the improvement was short lived and she died in April 1906 in Idaho.  Henrietta, who suffered from paralysis, passed away a few short months later on July 17, 1906 on the family farm on the outskirts of  Bicknell, Indiana.

Isaac Polk farm in Widner Township, Knox County IN

Ellis Hill farm in Washington Township, Knox County, IN

Henrietta Polk was my 2nd cousin 4x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

• United States Census, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900
• Indiana Death Certificates
• Indiana Marriage Index
• Find A Grave
• The Western Sun, April 27, 1906
• Combined Atlases of Knox County, Indiana, 1880-1903