As mentioned earlier, Isaac Newton Depew and his wife, Betsy, had a total of 16 children. With so many names to hand out they became quite creative with some. For example they named two sons George Washington Depew and Thomas Jefferson Depew after famous presidents. Their fourth son was Henry Eli Depew born in 1848 in Harlan County, Kentucky. Some records show his name as Eli Henry while some other records show his name as Henry Eli. So, what was his true name?  Unfortunately, without a birth certificate we will never know for sure. However, in the end his headstone shows the name as Henry Eli, giving whoever provided the headstone the last word in the matter.  Besides, everyone just called him “Hen”.

By 1860 when he was 12 years of age, Hen had moved with his family to Hancock County, Tennessee, near Sneedville which is where he remained for most of his life. When the Civil War brokeout, he was too young to join the fighting like his two older brothers, William and Joseph. This no doubt was fortunate for us descendants since we would not be here if he had fought and perished like so many did. Hen became a farmer like most everyone else in the county, and he grew everything possible to make a go of it. According to his granddaughter, Elizabeth Suckel, he also raised sheep to sell wool.

Henry Depew married a number of times. At age 23 his first wife was Sarah Ellen McCollum whom he married in 1871. As an interesting side note, Sarah’s father James McCollum had left home in the 1860s to venture to northern California to try his hand at gold mining. When that didn’t work out so well he still remained there as a farmer for a few years. Finally, he returned to Hancock County, Tennessee after being away some 20 years. Together, Henry and Sarah raised ten children. Unfortunately, Sarah died in 1909, but by then all their children were grown with the youngest being 15.

According to an article published in a Hancock County newspaper in 1999, Hen soon married a second time to Myrtle Johnson who was 47 years younger. This marriage did not go well for reasons unknown today, and it was not long before Hen fell in love with Virginia (Vergie) Rhea who was also very young, but 4 years older than Myrtle. However, when he asked Myrtle for a divorce she did not want to easily give up her new home and refused. Following some poor advice from his brother Thomas, Henry thought he could avoid legal complications by going to another state to get married. So, in 1910 Henry went just across the border to Lee County Virginia with Vergie, and apparently got married under the name of Henry D. Pugh. When he returned to Hancock County, Hen learned that the Sheriff was soon coming to arrest him. Since he and Thomas had heard from others about the good life in Texas and the fortune they could make growing cotton there, they decided it was a good day to depart for Texas. The trip took them six weeks.

Myrtle got everything Henry owned but his land.  Somehow Henry’s son James was able to save the land from Myrtle. According to letters he wrote back to his son, Henry did not fare well in Texas being sick most of the time. Eventually, he and Virgie were able to move back to Hancock County, Tennessee, and they were officially married in 1912 in nearby Grainger County. Hen had three more daughters with Virgie before he died in 1925 at the age of 76. He is buried in the Depew Cemetery in Sneedville where his first wife, Sarah is also buried.  Vergie lived for over 50 years longer and died at the age of 88. She is buried in the Burke Cemetery.