JOHN HIXENBAUGH DENNY

2nd Sergeant, Company "B" 7th West Virginia Infantry

Researched & Compiled by Linda Cunningham Fluharty

Service Record: At age 27, joined for duty & enrolled at Cameron, Va. Aug. 7, 1861; mustered in at Cameron. “Aug. 7 to Oct. 31, 1861: On extra duty; Nov. & Dec. 1861: On leave from Hosptl at Cumberland, Md.; Jan. & Feb. 1862: In Hosptl at Cumberland; Mar. & Apr. 1862: In Hosptl at Winchester; May & June 1862: At home on sick furlough Marshall County, Va.; July & Aug. 1862: Absent sick in hospital; Aug. 18, 1862: Sent to General Hospital from Winchester; Sept. & Oct. 1862: Sick in hospital; Nov. & Dec. 1862: Sick in U.S. Hospital.” “Died of disease May 10, 1863.”

W.Va. Adj. Gen. Record: “Born Greene County, Pa. Died May 10, 1863, place and cause of death unknown.”

This soldier was likely the first cousin of Captain Jacob H. Bristor, Company "H" 12th W.Va. Infantry. Bristor’s mother, Delilah Hixenbaugh Bristor, was the sister of Perry Hixenbaugh, the mother of this soldier.

Denny

JOHN HIXENBAUGH DENNY

Service Medal, Issued by the State of West Virginia, is Unclaimed.

Note, Feb 23, 2022: I have spent countless hours sorting out this man's life. Unfortunately, some pieces of the puzzle of his life are missing and likely do not exist.

John Hixenbaugh Denny was almost certainly the son of Robert Denny and Experience "Perry/Pery" Hixenbaugh, who lived in Greene County before moving to Ohio.

Robert Denny was born 12 Nov 1804, the son of John Denny, born in England, and Hannah Blackledge, whose family migrated about 1800 from Bucks County, Pennsylvania to the Tenmile Country, which includes Washington & Greene Counties in Pennsylvania. - From the book, Tenmile Country and Its Pioneer Families, by Howard Leckey, 1977; page 31: "Robert Denny. Born November 12, 1904. Married Pera Hixenbaugh."

Pera was Experience "Perry/Pery" Hixenbaugh, a daughter of Jacob Hixenbaugh and Sarah Anderson/Aucherson, residents of Greene County, Pennsylvania. Jacob Hixenbaugh died in 1843 but in his will, dated 1841, he stated: "Item - I bequeath unto my Daughter Perry intermarried with Robert Denny the sum of one hundred and forty dollars more than I have already given her to be paid by my Executors in two years after the death of my wife Sarah Hixinbaugh."

Robert and Perry Denny moved to Carroll County, Ohio and are found in New Harrisburg in the 1840 census. At that time, the household was comprised of 1 male 5-10; 1 male 30-40, 1 male 40-50; 2 females <5; 1 female 20-30. The male 5-10 would be John Hixenbaugh Denny. - Robert's parents and at least two of his siblings, Thomas and John Denny, Jr., also migrated to Carroll County. John, Jr. later lived in Knox County, Ohio and their mother, Sarah, died there in 1862.

Robert and Perry's son, John Hixenbaugh Denny, born about 1834, may have been born in Greene County before they moved.

"Pery" Hixenbaugh Denny died in 1841. She is buried at Baxter's Ridge Cemetery, Carroll County. The surname is spelled as DENNEY on the gravestones there.

Robert Denny married Mary Ann Highlands Taylor, a widow, on 25 April 1843 in Carroll County. According to her obituary, her first husband, James Taylor, was killed by a falling tree during a severe thunderstorm, 23 Oct 1841. Mary Ann was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1820 and moved to Carroll County when she was thirteen.

Robert Denny died of consumption 4 June 1849 at Carroll County. He is also buried at Baxter's Ridge Cemetery.

Robert's widow, Mary, is found with her children from her first marriage, her children with Robert Denny, and two of Robert's children from his marriage to Perry/Pery Hixenbaugh, including son, John, who was likely this soldier.

1850 Census Harrison, Carroll County, Ohio DENNY Mary, 30, 3000, b PA TAYLOR, Isaac, 10, b Ohio TAYLOR, Catharine, 9, b Ohio DENNY, Elizabeth, 7, b Ohio DENNY, James, 5, b Ohio DENNY, Henry, 4, b Ohio DENNY, Hannah, 14, Ohio (Died 2 Mar 1854) DENNY, John, 17, Farmer

Note: Experience "Pery," daughter of Robert Denny & Pery Hixenbaugh, was living with Samuel & Hannah Highland in 1850 & 1860 in Carroll County. She died in 1862 and is buried at Baxter's Ridge Cemetery. - Hannah Denny Highland, born 1819, was the daughter of Robert Denny's brother, Thomas Denny. Hannah married Samuel Highland on 12 Mar 1844 in Carroll County.

Note: Robert & second wife, Mary, had a son, Albert Denny, born in 1848 and he died 19 July 1849.

At some point after the 1850 Federal Census, JOHN HIXENBAUGH DENNY possibly relocated to the area on the border of Marshall County, West Virginia and Greene County, Pennsylvania. Certainly, he would have had many relatives in the area, particularly related to his mother's Hixenbaugh family. As stated earlier, his first cousin, Jacob Bristor, the son of Delilah Hixenbaugh, sister of Perry, was Captain of Company "H" 12th West Virginia Infantry. Delilah's daughter, Nannie, married Bernard Fletcher Morrow, a member of Company "F" 12th West Virginia Infantry.

The Service Record of John Hixenbaugh Denny does NOT include a FINAL STATEMENT or HOSPITAL RECORD. NO PENSION CLAIM was filed based on his service. NO burial information is found. These missing pieces will make a claim for his Service medal a daunting task but John's relatives should try to claim it from the West Virginia State Archives.

NO OTHER Denny and Hixenbaugh relationship has been found. This soldier was surely the son of Robert Denny and Perry Hixenbaugh, as detailed here.


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