• General Notes

  Henry Wilkin was the eleventh child of Samuel and Roseana (Webster) Wilkin. He was born on the family farm in Hamer Township, in Highland Co., Ohio April 29, 1886. Some of his elder siblings were adults with families of their own by the time he came into this world. Henry was blessed with the opportunity to grow up with a prosperous and very busy family. He was taught the faith of his parents and was very active with the Christian Church until his death in November of 1969. Henry was very young when his father purchased the first steam tractor delivered to that part of Ohio. Henry had learned to farm in the most up-to-date methods of the day. He had the opportunity to learn from studies at school as his father was very active in the development of the schools system in that part of Highland County. Henry received a high school education and a love to write poetry. When he grew to manhood he married Lola Mae Cadwallader January 16, 1907 who was the daughter of Clark and Sussannah (Hawk) Cadwallader of Highland County, Ohio. Their marriage was blessed with eight children, Magdalene Loree, Emmitt Richard, Ina Ganelle, Lavina Irene, Clara Mae, Roscoe Elmore, Opal Elizabeth, and Susan Roseannah
  
  Henry worked with his father and brothers for several years and was a noted builder of barns and other buildings as well as a farmer. He was pictured moving a building to a new location by a steam tractor in the early 1900s. He graded roads and operated most of the threshing equipment that the family owned. In his spare time he wrote poems and loved the gospel. Henry also worked with a prize team of horses on his farm in Danville and later in Mt. Sterling, Ohio. He moved to Licking County Ohio about 1939 and was Overseer for the Wherley Farms in what is now Heath Village, Ohio. He purchased a house on Granville Street in Newark, Ohio and continued to raise the rest of his family there. Hard work and simple pleasures he took in his garden and Church activities. He was a devoted member of the Christian Church as his father before him had been. Attending the Wilkin Reunion held each year in Highland County was a passion for him. At these Reunions he would most always have a new Poem that he had written for that occasion and would either read it or have it read for the enjoyment of those in attendance.
  
  In his later life he had a passion for growing truck gardens and had a garden stand in front of his house on Granville Street every year almost until his death. He was pictured in the Newark Advocate with one of his prize winning Sunflowers at over 12 feet tall. He was always getting articles written on his Flowers and Garden Produce as well as creating new recipes for cakes and baked goods. His Kraut was always the talk of the family and his canned foods were some of the best in the area. He had really taken to the lesson of his father for excellence.
  
  After raising his family and working all his life, he was heard on several occasions to say "when the Good Lord Calls me Home, I want to die with my boots on". On November 11, 1969 in his eighty-third year of life, Henry Richard Wilkin had a sudden heart attack while cleaning his eaves troughs, and died. He died as he wished while working at something.
  
  He passed on to God's Mercy and is sadly missed by all his children and grandchildren. He was buried November 15, 1969 in Wilson Cemetery, Newark, Licking County, Ohio.
  By: Richard A. Wilkin in his Wilkin Family History.
  
  Henry R. and Lola Wilkin visited Webster relatives in Oklahoma in the early 1960s. (Lowell W. Shire has a photo taken of them by his aunt Virginia Webster when they were in Blackwell, OK.)

Details of Henry's family with Lola May Cadwallader