Robert Lewis Henry III (1775–1844) and his son, Robert Lewis Henry IV (b. 1800s), grandfather and father of Hiram Levi Henry, purchased 4 Illinois land patents between the years 1840-1849, in Versailles, Brown County, Illinois. A land patent is a government document, issued through regional land offices, granting ownership of a specific portion of public property to an individual purchaser.

When the land that is now Illinois became part of the United States, the government surveyed and divided the available land, using a standardized grid system. Each township measures 36 square miles, further divided into one-square-mile sections.

Early Brown County land patents reveal the Henry family’s settlement patterns in the early to mid-1800s, tracing their westward migration from Vermont and New York—and helping us fill in branches of the family tree.

Robert Lewis Henry III Parcels: 120 Acres, $150

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Robert Lewis Henry IV Parcels: 120.56 Acres, $150

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Brown County, Illinois, Plat Maps

1903 Geo. A. Ogle & Co. Maps

The maps below are excerpts from the Standard Atlas of Brown County, Illinois, compiled and published by Geo. A. Ogle & Co., Chicago, 1903, which I modified for clarity. Versailles was (and still is) the south-eastern-most township in Brown County, bordered to the east by the Illinois River. The Henry land was located in the northeast corner of Versailles Township, near the river. Cooperstown and La Grange are to the north, and Cass County is to the east, across the river.

Note: these maps were created 50 years after the initial Henry patents were purchased, and the properties had changed hands by then. However, if you look closely, you will see “L. & M. Henry” in the north-east corner of Versailles Township.

• “L” = Lavina Henry, widow of Robert IV’s brother Asher Francis Henry
• “M” = Minnie (Henry) Wells, their daughter.

The patent for this land was purchased by Asher F. Henry in 1848. The Lavina Henry Cemetery in Versailles is the final resting place of 171 extended Henry family members, according to Find A Grave. There are a number of surnames represented and I haven’t placed all of them, yet. For now, here’s a quick post listing some of the Henry graves: Lavina Henry Cemetery in Versailles, Illinois

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Early Federal Township Plat Maps

The U.S. Surveyor General’s Federal Township Plats are official plat maps of all congressional townships in Illinois, primarily drawn from federal surveys conducted 1804–1855, with additional plats from 1868–1891. Prepared by the U.S. Surveyor General’s office, these plats show township legal descriptions, sections, measurements, topographical and vegetation features, and occasional man-made and treaty boundary features.

Brown County Plat Maps

The U.S. Surveyor General’s early plat maps for Brown County—created from survey field notes recorded between the 1810s and 1850s—can be found here. I created a composite image by merging two of these maps and marked the approximate locations of the Henry parcels. Robert L. Henry III’s land is shaded blue, while the land of Robert IV and Mary Ann Langdon is shaded red.

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Extended Family Patents

In addition to Robert L. Henry IV, four other sons of Robert III and Roxanna (Hayward) Henry were Brown County patentees:

• Orris Martin Henry (b. 1814- d. 1875)
• Asher Francis Henry (b. 1816- d. 1863)
• Hiram Asa Henry (b. 1817- d. 1884)
• Francis J. Henry (b. 1822- d. 1888).

Daughter Matilda (Henry) Adams lived right in the middle, with her husband Elisha Gillett Adams.

Another patentee, Jesse Langdon, was the father of Mary Ann (Langdon) Henry (wife of Robert IV and father of Hiram L. Henry).

Henry surname patentees who I haven’t connected to the tree include: William, Milo, Jonathan Jr. and Lewis Henry.

Through these records, I’ve learned that while the Hiram L. Henry family scattered to the wind, several generations of his father and grandfather’s families (Robert Lewis Henry IV and III) migrated along the same paths and settled in very close proximity to one another

. Their settlements occupied a large portion of four sections of Township 2 South (Versailles).

Closest Neighbors

I used the US Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office (BLM GLO) Records search tool to comb through patentees adjacent to the township sections where known Henry land tracts were concentrated.

My initial search included all patentees within the four sections: Sections 6&7 in Township 2 South, Range 1 West; and Sections 1 & 12 in Township 2 South, Range 2 West. See the image “Henry Family Land Patents” for a visual of those sections.

United States, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Tract Books

BLM Tract Books document the official history of public land parcels, from the time they were first surveyed until their transfer from federal to private ownership, typically between the years 1820-1955.

Modern Day Location Coordinates of Henry Land

For an approximate location you can use the following Google Maps locations to orient you:

• Southern-most point of boundary line between section 1 of T 2S, R 2W (contains Robert L. Henry III parcels) and section 6 of T 2S, R 1W (contains Robert L. Henry IV and Mary Ann Langdon parcel)
• Point most likely within boundaries of Robert L. Henry and Mary Ann Langdon parcel
• Point most likely within boundaries of Robert Henry Sr. parcel