From A Biographical History of Central Kansas, Vol. II, p. 1416
published by The Lewis Publishing Co, Chicago & New York, 1902

HENRY B. REVEL

   Mr Revel is one of the efficient officers of Rice county, being a member of the board of county commissioners, and his election to this important and responsible office indicates his position in the regard of the community and of the party of which he is a member, while in all the relations of life he is known as a worthy and progressive citizen.  He is now actively identified with the farming interests of central Kansas and is a representative of one of the old and prominent families of North Carolina.  He was born in Nash county, that state, on the 10th of January, 1844, and was reared on the home farm in Cleveland county and pursued his education in the public schools.  He is a son of Rev Elijah H Revel, who was likewise born in North Carolina, and the latter’s father was born in France and was a member of the greatly persecuted band of Huguenots who left their native heath and cast in their lot with the colonies of Huguenots who sought religious freedom in North Carolina.  He belonged to a prominent and wealthy family of France and became one of the leading and influential citizens of his community in the new world.  In his business affairs he was prosperous, becoming a rich planter and slave-owner of North Carolina, where he passed the remainder of his life.  His wife survived him and afterward married E Lewis, with whom she eventually removed to Florida, where they spent several years and where Mr Lewis died.  His widow then returned to North Carolina, and her declining days were passed in the eastern part of that state, where she died at the extremely venerable age of ninety-two years.  She and her first husband became earnest members of the Baptist church, and in their family were two children, - William, who died in Wilson, North Carolina; and Elijah H, the father of the subject of this review.

   Elijah H Revel was born in Nash county, North Carolina, on the 9th of February, 1817, and there he was reared.  His boyhood days were passed upon his father’s plantation, where he acquired a good English education, and in early life he studied medicine and finally entered upon the active practice of the same.  Later, however, he became a planter and managed his farming interests in connection with his professional duties for over twenty years.  During that time he was very prosperous and accumulated a large estate, but the Civil war came on and most of his possessions were swept away.  During his early manhood he engaged in teaching school, ever proving capable and proficient in all that he undertook.  In 1866 he removed to Knox county, Kentucky, where he passed one year, and he then removed to Laurel county, where he remained until summoned to the life eternal, his death occurring at London, that county, on the 2nd of December, 1895, at which time he was seventy-nine years of age.  He was broad-minded, intelligent, enterprising and public-spirited, and his labors and example were always of benefit to the community in which he resided.  He was over six feet in height, of athletic build and weighed one hundred and sixty-five pounds.  He greatly enjoyed life and made the most of his opportunities for happiness, while at the same time he was strongly sympathetic and charitable, doing much for the poor and needy.  When twenty-one years of age he made a profession of religion and joined the United Baptist church, in whose communion he continued until his death.  In 1864-5 he was licensed to preach by the congregation of New Bethel church, in Cleveland county, North Carolina, but he was not ordained to the ministry until September, 1868, when he was thus consecrated in the Lynn Camp church, in Laurel county, Kentucky.  From that time until about ten years prior to his death he always had charge of from three to five churches, but was finally obliged to abandon pastoral work on account of failing health.  He was moderator of the Lynn Camp Association for a number of years, and after the organization of the Mount Zion Association he was its moderator continuously until his death, with the exception of two years, when he was not able to attend.  He converted many to a belief in the Christian religion, and the full fruition of his life and labors can not be measured until time merges into eternity.  He officiated at hundreds of marriage and funerals, and was frequently called upon to act as executor of wills and administrator of estates, for he always discharged the duties thus devolving upon him in a most earnest, conscientious and trustworthy manner.  In 1895 he drove into the country to perform a marriage ceremony, and upon his return he was attacked with a chill and became confined to his bed, never regaining his health, and he lived but five days thereafter.  Although this noble man, whose career was one of signal usefulness and honor, has been called to his reward, he has left to his family the priceless heritage of an untarnished name and the memory of a life devoted to his family, his friends, his country and his God.

   When but sixteen years of age the Rev Elijah H Revel was united in marriage to Miss Susan Hammond, of Tarboro, North Carolina, and to them were born six sons and three daughters, of whom only three are now living.  Of them we enter the following brief record:  William died at the age of twenty-one years; Sarah, who became the wife of Wesley Hastings, died in Tennessee; James J, who lost an arm while serving in the Confederate army, is now a veterinary surgeon in Oklahoma; Elizabeth is the wife of John Blythe, of Coles county, Illinois; John W, who likewise was a soldier in the Confederate army, died in Coles county, Illinois; Elijah H also became a soldier in the southern army, and his death occurred in the state of Missouri; Henry B, is the immediate subject of this review; Robert died in the rebel army; and Mary, the youngest of the children of this union, became the wife of Wallace Vance and died in Kentucky.  Susan (Hammond) Revel, the mother of these children, died in Cleveland county, North Carolina, at the age of thirty-two, and is buried at the Palmtree Cemetery, Cleveland county, North Carolina.  The Hammonds were from Pennsylvania and were of German lineage.  In November, 1852, Rev Elijah H Revel consummated a second marriage, being then united to Sarah J Hastings, of Cleveland county, North Carolina, and they became the parents of four son and three daughters, of whom one of the daughters died in infancy, the others being as follows:  Frances A is the wife of Godlip Strohmeyer, of Rice county, Kansas; Pinkna died in Texas; Chauncey A is a resident of Rice county, Kansas; Albert L is a resident of Illinois; Esther became the wife of Henry Crowder, and after his death married Emel Bender, being now a resident of Louisville, Kentucky; and Wade C resides in Illinois.

   Henry B Revel, whose name initiates this review, spent his childhood days in his parents’ home and received his educational discipline in the common schools.  In 1861, at the age of seventeen years, he entered the Confederate army, becoming a member of Company H, Thirty-fourth North Carolina Volunteer Infantry, under command of Brigadier General William D Pender and General “Stonewall” Jackson.  He took part in fourteen hotly contested battles, innumerable skirmishes, and all the campaigns in which his regiment participated up to the battle of Gettysburg, being taken prisoner at Hagerstown, Maryland.  He was then taken to the Baltimore jail, where he was held for thirty days, after which he transferred to Point Lookout, Maryland, where he remained six months.  He then enlisted in the First Regiment of United States Regulars, and was sent to the Northwest to fight Indians, being in the command of Captain Hooper De Strouft, of Bangor, Maine.  He did scouting duty in Minnesota, under Generals Pope and Sibly, and took part in skirmishes with the Indians, serving for nearly two years, at the expiration of which interval he received an honorable discharge.  At the battle of the Wilderness Mr Revel received a shell wound in the hip, and as a result was confined in the hospital at Richmond, Virginia, for forty-one days.  He saw some hard service, often going on long, tiresome marches, and frequently was compelled to subsist on very short rations and thus endure the pangs of hunger.  At one time, on a three days’ march, he had nothing to eat except parched corn, and not much of that.

   Mr Revel was married at Norfolk, Virginia, on the 12th of August, 1864, and when he was released from prison he took his wife with him to Minnesota.  In September, 1865, she returned to Virginia, and when he received his discharge she joined him in Wisconsin, where he was engaged in the lumbering business nearly three years.  On the expiration of that period he went to Laurel county, Kentucky, where he was engaged in operating the homestead farm for three years, them removing to Douglas county, Illinois.  There he purchased a farm, to whose cultivation he gave his attention for fourteen years.  In 1885 Mr Revel arrived in Rice county, Kansas, and here he effected the purchase of a tract of raw land from the railroad company.  Since that time he has given his attention to the improvement and cultivation of his property, and has by his well directed efforts transformed it into a richly productive tract.  He carries on general farming and raises some cattle, and his farm now produces sufficient grain and stock to net him a good annual income. 

   In politics Mr Revel was formerly a Republican, but since coming to Kansas he has identified himself with the Reform party and has capably served in many offices.  He was township clerk of Pioneer township for a term of two years, was justice of the peace for six years and is now serving as county commissioner.  While he was incumbent of the office of justice of the peace he tried about sixty civil and criminal cases, and only one appeal was taken from his decisions.  This was taken to the supreme court and remanded back to the county for a new trial and the final decision was in harmony with that which he had originally entered.  His fidelity to duty is above question, his integrity is proverbial, and all who know him speak of him in terms of praise and entertain for him high regard and confidence.  Both Mr and Mrs Revel are members of the Missionary Baptist church, with which he has been actively identified since he was twenty-five years of age.  He is a very earnest worker in the church and Sunday-school, attends the meetings of many of the Sunday-school associations, and does all in his power to advance the cause of Christianity.  He has filled many offices in the church, including those of trustee, deacon and treasurer, and has been superintendent of the Sunday-school.

   As has been already stated, Mr Revel was married in the year 1864, the lady of his choice having been Mrs Sarah A Corprew, the widow of George Corprew, who was killed while serving in the Confederate army.  She was born in Virginia on the 14th of February, 1843, being a daughter of Augustus and Elizabeth (Brinson) Revel, the former of whom was a representative of a collateral branch of the same family to which our subject belongs.  Augustus Brinson was a fisherman on the Potomac river, and died in Virginia when his daughter Sarah was a mere child, and she afterward spent a portion of her time with an uncle.  She was one of five children, the others being Thomas, who entered the Confederate service and was never heard from after going to the front; James A, who still resides in Virginia; and two daughters, who are deceased, each having borne the name of Mary.  Mr and Mrs Revel have had no children of their own, but their home has sheltered many little ones who would have otherwise been homeless.  At various intervals they have cared for nineteen children, and one of the number they formally adopted, - John L Revel, whom they took into their home when he was but three years of age, and whom they reared to maturity.  His mother’s maiden name was Marty Tarter, and she was a native of Kentucky.  Mr and Mrs Revel reared and educated the boy, bestowing upon him loving parental care and attention.  He married Miss Sarah Quarterman, of Taylorville, Illinois, and they have five sons, - William, Roscoe, Clements, Ansel and Claude.  He is now engaged in farming near the home place, and is one of the worthy and honored young men of the community.  Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his wife is a devoted member of the Baptist church.