History of Wexford County, MI. Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 130 - 131

ANDREW B. DENIKE

While there may be some dispute as to who was the first settler of Wexford county, there is no question whatever as to who was the first white man to establish a home and maintain it from that time to the present in Boon township. He is not a native of the state, nor of the United States, but no native-born citizen can claim superiority over him for pure, loyal, patriotic feelings toward the land of his adoption. His name is Andrew B. Denike, whose home is in section 36, Boon township. Andrew B. Denike is a native of Ontario. Canada, born in Hastings county, April 16, 1846. His parents were Anthony and Elizabeth Denike, natives of Canada, but both are now dead, he dying in Canada, at the age of forty-five years, while she died also in Canada when she was forty-one years of age. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom Andrew B. was the eighth in order of birth. The subject of this review was reared in his native county and there grew to manhood. He secured a fair common school education, but most of the years of his minority were devoted to hard labor on the farm. In 1869, when twenty-three years of age, he came to Wexford county, Michigan, and decided to make it his permanent home. He looked over the land during the autumn, winter and spring, finally taking up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, a part of section 36, Boon township. The records in the land office show that he was the first settler in that township and his was the first modest home erected within its borders. It was a log structure, chinked and plastered, and although by no means handsome, it was quite comfortable, even during the severest weather. One other structure, in the way of a habitation for white people, antedates the first home of Mr. Denike in Boon township, but that was not erected by a settler nor for the purposes of settlement. It was a building erected on the Traverse City state road for a way station and was known as the Summit place. Half of the land for which the subject received a patent from the government he has since sold. He retains eighty acres of the original one hundred and sixty acres, to which he has added by purchase two forty-acre tracts, making his farm one hundred and sixty acres. Seventy-two of those are cleared, improved and well cultivated. All necessary buildings, large, comfortable and substantial, have been erected upon the place, making it one of the most desirable farms in the township. In Henderson township, Wexford county, on the 17th day of May, 1875, Andrew B. Denike was united in marriage to Miss Emma L. Henderson, a native of Indiana, born in Huntington county, December 18, 1856. Her parents were Thomas S. and Sophia (Harris) Henderson, of Henderson township. They were among the first white settlers and early pioneers of Wexford county. The mother is living in Mason county, Michigan, aged about sixty-seven years. The father died a number of years ago in Henderson township, almost eighty years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Andrew B. Denike thirteen children were born, eight of whom are still living, viz: Dollie E., Charles H., Flossie M., Sophia Ernest, Clyde, Albert Allen, Thomas S. and Orlando H. Four of the other five children all died in early childhood. Charles and Flossie are twins and Flossie is now the wife of Noyes Bainbridge; Dollie, the oldest daughter, is the wife of Orange Sprague; one daughter, Sylvia, attained the age of thirteen years, when she met with an accident while at play in the school she was attending, whereby she received a fall that resulted in her death. What could be more natural than that the first and original settler of Boon township should be deeply interested in its welfare and that he should be untiring in his efforts to push forward its growth and development. He often inconvenienced himself for the public good, but never more so than when he consented to discharge the duties of various local offices. He has served as justice of the peace, overseer of highways and in a number of other capacities. While acknowledging allegiance to no particular sect or religious denomination, he is, nevertheless, a Christian and a moral man. Church and Sunday school work absorbs much of his attention. He is a most worthy man, possessing the full confidence and esteem of all of his neighbors. The following newspaper notice regarding Mrs. Denike's father, Thomas Henderson, as also his obituary notice, will no doubt prove of interest in this connection: Uncle Tommy Henderson, of Henderson township, Wexford county, made the Enterprise office his first visit last Saturday, and we were well entertained during his stay. Uncle Tommy is quite a character in his way. He was born in Ohio seventy-two years ago, of hardy Scotch parents. His father fought in the war of 1812 and his grandfather in the Revolutionary war. He and his four brothers were in their younger days strong, muscular six-footers and it took a good man to handle any of them. Uncle Tommy says he has seen the day he could out-run, out-walk, out-fight, out-dance; out-wrestle or out-work any man in the state and can yet outdo any man of his age. He is now six feet in stature and as active of a man of forty. He has lived where he now lives for twenty years and is well known all over this part of the state. He knows a little law, a good deal of medicine and has lots of shrewd native sense. He claims to be able to cure headache, rheumatism, toothache and cancer by the simple laying on of his hands. He has been caught under a half dozen falling trees, but never had a bone broken. He says he has drank forty barrels of whisky and has as steady nerves as any man in the county, which is true. He is noted for his generous nature, never refusing a man a meal or lodging whether he has money or not. He has no use for a Republican or an Indian, classing them about on a par. But he says the Enterprise is a mighty good paper, which shows that Uncle Tommy's head is level, if it is not gray. Uncle Tommy Henderson, one of the early settlers and for whom his township was named, died of heart failure March 1, 1896, at his home, five miles south of Harrietta. He was about seventy-nine years of age. He was very peculiar in many ways, but was a good neighbor and generous to a fault. Many a weary traveler has found refreshment and shelter at his humble home, which became a landmark, never to be forgotten. He leaves a wife and a large family of children, all of whom, with one exception, are married and away from the old home, and all of whom have the sympathy of a large circle of friends.