From A
Biographical History of Central Kansas, Vol. I, p. 697
published by The Lewis Publishing Co, Chicago & New York, 1902
HENRY TITUS
The list of leading citizens of Rice county contains the name of Henry Titus, whose record as a solider and as a business man has won for him the confidence and good will of all with whom he has been brought in contact. He was born at Colebrook, New Hampshire, on the 25th of June, 1842. His paternal grandfather, David Titus, was of English descent, and his wife, who was of Scotch descent, was a member of the Cleveland family and was a distant relative of ex-President Cleveland. The father of our subject, Eleasor Titus, was a native of New Hampshire, and his entire life was there spent, his death occurring at Colebrook in 1870. He was a carpenter and millwright by trade, following those occupations through his active business career. He married Miss Susan Sellingham, a native of Pennsylvania, and they had seven children, namely: Elvira, who became the wife of George W Spencer; Anson, a resident of California; Samantha, who became Mrs Noyes; Alfred, a resident of New Hampshire; Henry, our subject; and Ann, the wife of J J Johnson. The second child, Anson, entered the army as a private during the Civil war, but was afterward promoted to the position of sergeant. He was subsequently wounded, on account of which he received an honorable discharge, but after sufficiently recovering his health he veteranized and as a lieutenant served until the close of hostilities.
Henry Titus, whose name introduces this review, received his education in the public schools of his native state, and his early life was spent on a farm. When quite young he became an employe in the iron mines, in which he remained until 1861, leaving there to battle for his loved country. He became a member of Company G, Second New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Gilman Martin, which became a member of the Army of the Potomac, with General Hooker in command. Mr Titus saw much hard service during his army experience, having first done guard duty in the city of Washington, DC, and his first battle was that of Williamsburg, Virginia, where he was severely wounded by a minie ball in the left hand. The ball shattered the left arm, and about the same time he was wounded in the left side. His command retreated to Yorktown, and Mr Titus was put in a hospital there, being later sent to a New York hospital. He subsequently received a thirty days’ furlough and returned to his home, on the expiration of which period he rejoined his command, but was never again able to bear arms, being detailed for light service, assisting about the camp and helping the officers and sutlers. He made himself generally useful to his command until it was ordered to Richmond, in the fall of 1863, when all not able to bear arms were ordered discharged and he was among the number, receiving an honorable discharge at Alexandria, Virginia. Mr Titus then joined a wounded brother at Washington, remaining with him and caring for him until February, 1864, when they went to Wisconsin, but for many months both were unable to perform hard labor, and our subject has never regained his former health, his labors being often executed in pain.
In the fall of 1865 Mr Titus removed to Minnesota, where he secured a soldier’s homestead and improved a good farm, remaining there until 1878. In that year he took up his abode in the Sunflower state, first locating in Sumner county, but soon afterward came to Rice county, where he secured a timber claim. He immediately began the work of clearing and improving his land, and his first place of abode was a stone cellar, in which the family lived until 1889, when their present commodious and attractive farm residence was erected. He has also built substantial barns and other outbuildings, has planted a fine orchard, and he also owns plenty of good timber land nine miles northeast of Little River and four miles south of Langley. His entire attention is devoted to general farming and stock-raising, and his farm is now under a fine state of cultivation, everything about the place indicating the supervision of a neat and progressive owner. Since returning from the war, however, the most of his life has been passed as an invalid, and in compensation for his services he now receives a small pension from the government.
Mr Titus was married, in 1867, in Minnesota, to Miss Alma A Arnold, who was born in Michigan, October 22, 1847, a daughter of Jonathan and Louisa (Huett) Arnold, natives respectively, of Vermont and New York. The father was a carpenter by trade, and in addition to contracting and building he always owned and operated a farm. After their marriage, which occurred in New York, they removed to Michigan and later to Wisconsin, where the father died on the 28th of November, 1863. While a resident of Michigan he served as a justice of the peace, and was a very popular man in the localities in which he lived. He was twice married, and by his first union he had one daughter, Mary, now the wife of D Swift. The mother of Mrs Titus was a daughter of James Huett, a native of the state of New York. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and as a life occupation he followed farming. His death occurred at his old homestead in New York. The Huett children were Russell, Eliza, Amanda, Lavica, Samuel, Nancy, Spencer, George and Evaline. Mrs Arnold, the mother of Mrs Titus, survived her husband for twenty years, and after his death she removed with her family to Minnesota, where she secured government land and improved a farm. In 1876 she came to Kansas with a son, and her death occurred in this county on the 4th of August, 1882. Both she and her husband were sincere and earnest members of the Free Will Baptist church. They became the parents of four children, namely: Newman, a resident of Allen county, Kansas; Alma, the wife of our subject; John, of Minnesota; and Makin, who follows farming in Rice county. The original Arnold ancestor in the United States came from New Brunswick to Vermont. He was a valiant soldier in the war of the Revolution, and his death occurred in Vermont after rearing a large family. He was a farmer by occupation. The children born to the union of our subject and wife are as follows: Adell, now Mrs W Ford; Elvira, the wife of E Young; Dora, the wife of S Smith; Anson G, who is engaged in farming; and Chester and Susie L, at home. Mr Titus holds membership with the GAR Post at Little River. He is a man of strong mentality, of broad humanitarian principles and kindly motives. No trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed, and whether on the field of battle, protecting the stars and stripes, or in private life, he is true to his country and its best interests.