I was born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, January 6, 1801. My father, Robert M'Knight Henry, was reared in the city of Hartford, Conn. My mother's maiden name was Clarissa Merry, daughter of John Merry, of West Hartford, near the city of Hartford. Soon after my birth, my parents removed to Herkimer County, N. Y., where I have ever since resided, excepting the time I was engaged on public works at the South. My father died when I was about three years old, and I have no remembrance of him. When I was about six years old, my mother married again to a farmer, by the name of Thomas Kinney, then and now residing in the town of Litchfield, in this county, with whom she is still living. I am her only child.
To detail the events of my boyhood, which was marked by nothing extraordinary until I was about eighteen years old, when I commenced business for myself, would be but little better than a waste of