In memory of a CHENOWETH veteran

John Baxter Chenoweth

Hiatt, Cora Chenoweth. 1925 History of the Chenoweth Family Beginning 449 A.D. 1925. Reprint, Knightstown, Indiana: The Bookmark, 1995, 194.

TRANSCRIPTION:

     The first war veteran we have any record of in our branch of the Chenoweth family, is John Baxter Chenoweth, who enlisted at the age of eighteen in the cavalry of Captain Houck, of Houcksville, Maryland, of which every man was six feet or more tall--John was six feet, two inches--and when war was declared against Great Britain on June 18, 1812, they were ready.

     In August, 1814, a British fleet arrived in the Chesapeake Bay with an army of 5,000 men, commanded by General Ross, who marched on to Washington, and after putting to flight the militia at Bladensburg, took possession of the federal city on the 24th and burned the Capital, the President's house, and other public buildings.  On the next day the British retired to their ships, and on September 12 - 13th attacked Baltimore, where they were repulsed, and General Ross was killed.  After long negotiations a treaty of peace was signed at Ghent, December 24, 1814.  At the close of the war when Captain Houck's cavalry was discharged, John received an honorable discharge.

     He was the last survivor of Captain Houck's cavalry, and died at his home near Hampstead, Carroll County, Maryland, in 1882, at the age of eighty-seven years.

CHENOWETH Family Gathering

ROW 1 [Sitting]:  John Manning, Mrs. John [Jane Brown] Manning, Mrs. Jane Brown [mother of Jane (Brown) Manning], Mrs. Hill [mother of Mary Platt], Mrs.Harve [Mary] Platt, Harve Platt, Columbus "Lum" Chenoweth   ROW 2 [Standing]:  John Hough, Mrs. John [Mary (Manning)]  Hough, Mrs. Leonard [Francis Elizabeth (Hough)] Chenoweth, James Harvey Chenoweth [being held by father, Leonard Chenoweth], Leonard Chenoweth, Mrs. W. H. [Caroline (Platt)] Chenoweth, William Henry Chenoweth.

This picture was probably taken in Randolph County, Indiana.  And since Leonard Chenoweth is holding his son, James Harvey, this picture can be dated circa 1900.

In the front row from the left moving to the right, the people sitting we find Mr. and Mrs. John Manning.  Their daughter, Mrs. John [Mary (Manning)] Hough is standing behind them with her husband, Mr. John Hough.  The third person sitting in the front row is Mrs. Brown sitting next to her daughter, Mrs. John [Jane (Brown)] Manning.  The fourth person sitting in the front row is Mrs. Hill.  She is the mother of Mary Platt, also known as Mrs. Harve Platt.  The next person, fifth person, is Mrs. Harve Platt sitting beside her husband, Mr. Harve Platt.  The final person sitting is Columbus Chenoweth, best known to family as "Lum."

The back row from the left is John Hough standing beside his wife, Mary (Manning) Hough.  Standing next to Mary Hough is their daughter, Francis Elizabeth (Hough) Chenoweth.  Next to "Lizzie" Chenoweth is her husband, Leonard Columbus Chenoweth holding their son, James Harvey Chenoweth.  Leonard's mother, Caroline (Platt) Chenoweth, is standing next to him.  The last person standing on back row is William Henry Chenoweth and it looks as if he has positioned himself a little closer and just behind his father, "Lum" Chenoweth.

CHENOWETH Family Gathering - Circa 1900. N.d. Photograph. Personal Holding, Maryville, Tennessee. Comp. Susan Penn Groover.

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