The third son of Thomas Hendry Sr. (1721-1780), John was taken prisoner during the Harpersfield Massacre when the Indian, Joseph Brant, together with forty-three other Indians and seven Tories surprised a scouting party at Harpersfield, Delaware Co., New York on April 8, 1780. He was then marched from Harpersfield overland to Niagara with the other prisoners and subsequently died on a prison ship in Quebec.
John had two older brothers (Thomas Jr. and James) killed and scalped outright in the massacre and with whom he is buried (or at least memorialized):
John and Thomas Jr. are the farthest north memorial in a row of stones within Lot 119, followed to the right (south) by James, 1745-1780, followed to the right by William Jr., 1788-1868 (John's nephew).
William Hendry Sr., 1759-1801, John's younger brother and not a member of the Harpersfield Massacre scouting party, is last in the row (furthest right/south) with one of the very few fallen stones in the cemetery which currently lies flat.
There is another far later grave monument to this same John Hendry in nearby North Kortright Cemetery (Find A Grave Memorial# 107805988) with an incorrect birth year inscribed, and alongside son Thomas Hendry (1776-1853), who presumably erected it. The inaccuracy of that monument, its far later creation, and especially the circumstances of John's demise all call into question its legitimacy as the actual burial location of John Hendry. While he is purportedly buried here according to a transcript of the original Harpersfield Cemetery interment list (which includes lot numbers), there are family letters and other period documents which record what is probably far more likey: that Thomas and James were buried near where they were slaughtered and that John's burial location (if indeed not thrown overboard) is unknown in Quebec - and that these stones, both in Harpersfield Rural and North Kortright Cemeteries, were raised in memorium only.
John had two older brothers (Thomas Jr. and James) killed and scalped outright in the massacre and with whom he is buried (or at least memorialized):
John and Thomas Jr. are the farthest north memorial in a row of stones within Lot 119, followed to the right (south) by James, 1745-1780, followed to the right by William Jr., 1788-1868 (John's nephew).
William Hendry Sr., 1759-1801, John's younger brother and not a member of the Harpersfield Massacre scouting party, is last in the row (furthest right/south) with one of the very few fallen stones in the cemetery which currently lies flat.
There is another far later grave monument to this same John Hendry in nearby North Kortright Cemetery (Find A Grave Memorial# 107805988) with an incorrect birth year inscribed, and alongside son Thomas Hendry (1776-1853), who presumably erected it. The inaccuracy of that monument, its far later creation, and especially the circumstances of John's demise all call into question its legitimacy as the actual burial location of John Hendry. While he is purportedly buried here according to a transcript of the original Harpersfield Cemetery interment list (which includes lot numbers), there are family letters and other period documents which record what is probably far more likey: that Thomas and James were buried near where they were slaughtered and that John's burial location (if indeed not thrown overboard) is unknown in Quebec - and that these stones, both in Harpersfield Rural and North Kortright Cemeteries, were raised in memorium only.
The third son of Thomas Hendry Sr. (1721-1780), John was taken prisoner during the Harpersfield Massacre when the Indian, Joseph Brant, together with forty-three other Indians and seven Tories surprised a scouting party at Harpersfield, Delaware Co., New York on April 8, 1780. He was then marched from Harpersfield overland to Niagara with the other prisoners and subsequently died on a prison ship in Quebec.
John had two older brothers (Thomas Jr. and James) killed and scalped outright in the massacre and with whom he is buried (or at least memorialized):
John and Thomas Jr. are the farthest north memorial in a row of stones within Lot 119, followed to the right (south) by James, 1745-1780, followed to the right by William Jr., 1788-1868 (John's nephew).
William Hendry Sr., 1759-1801, John's younger brother and not a member of the Harpersfield Massacre scouting party, is last in the row (furthest right/south) with one of the very few fallen stones in the cemetery which currently lies flat.
There is another far later grave monument to this same John Hendry in nearby North Kortright Cemetery (Find A Grave Memorial# 107805988) with an incorrect birth year inscribed, and alongside son Thomas Hendry (1776-1853), who presumably erected it. The inaccuracy of that monument, its far later creation, and especially the circumstances of John's demise all call into question its legitimacy as the actual burial location of John Hendry. While he is purportedly buried here according to a transcript of the original Harpersfield Cemetery interment list (which includes lot numbers), there are family letters and other period documents which record what is probably far more likey: that Thomas and James were buried near where they were slaughtered and that John's burial location (if indeed not thrown overboard) is unknown in Quebec - and that these stones, both in Harpersfield Rural and North Kortright Cemeteries, were raised in memorium only.
John had two older brothers (Thomas Jr. and James) killed and scalped outright in the massacre and with whom he is buried (or at least memorialized):
John and Thomas Jr. are the farthest north memorial in a row of stones within Lot 119, followed to the right (south) by James, 1745-1780, followed to the right by William Jr., 1788-1868 (John's nephew).
William Hendry Sr., 1759-1801, John's younger brother and not a member of the Harpersfield Massacre scouting party, is last in the row (furthest right/south) with one of the very few fallen stones in the cemetery which currently lies flat.
There is another far later grave monument to this same John Hendry in nearby North Kortright Cemetery (Find A Grave Memorial# 107805988) with an incorrect birth year inscribed, and alongside son Thomas Hendry (1776-1853), who presumably erected it. The inaccuracy of that monument, its far later creation, and especially the circumstances of John's demise all call into question its legitimacy as the actual burial location of John Hendry. While he is purportedly buried here according to a transcript of the original Harpersfield Cemetery interment list (which includes lot numbers), there are family letters and other period documents which record what is probably far more likey: that Thomas and James were buried near where they were slaughtered and that John's burial location (if indeed not thrown overboard) is unknown in Quebec - and that these stones, both in Harpersfield Rural and North Kortright Cemeteries, were raised in memorium only.
Inscription
Sacred to the memory
of Thomas & John
Hendry, who was sac
raficed by the Tory par
ty April 8, 1780 for the
Crime cal'd Democracy
------
When the British and tories o'er this
land bore the sway
A less cruel Indian my body did slay
Tho. Hendry
When my Brother was murdered I
was standing by
But in Quebek prison I was doomed to die
John Hendry
Family Members
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