Henry was born in January of 1842 in “Seilen” (probably Sellen), Germany. He was the son of Christian Louis and Mary Elizabeth Hofeditz. Nothing is know about his life before he arrived in the United States, but Henry reported that he arrived in the states in 1857. Sometime after he arrived, Henry settled in Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois. On October 28, 1861 he enlisted at Warsaw, Illinois and was mustered into “Capt. Brawner’s Co., Black Hawk Missouri Vols.” This organization subsequently became Co. A, 7th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry. Henry was 20 years old, with blue eyes, light hair, a fair complexion and indicated his occupation was a shoemaker. There is no record of his height. He was supplied with a government horse and equipment, and it appears that the horse was valued at $100.00 and the equipment at $35.00.
According to the records, he was present for duty every month from enlistment through November of 1862. On December 7, 1862, Henry was taken prisoner in the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas and then paroled. In February of 1863, he was detached to the Quarter Master Department as a Saddler. In April he was on detached service at Camp Totten and in June he was assigned to repair saddles. In November he was “guarding Bridge” near Little Rock, Arkansas, and by April 1864, Henry was again on duty as Saddler. In September he was temporarily transferred to Co. C, and on October 21 he was transferred to Co. M, 1st Missouri Cavalry. Henry was mustered out of service on November 21, 1864, owed the government $2.35 for equipment and was due $110.00 from the government.
In 1867, Henry married Mary Busch. Mary had been born in Illinois in May of 1848, and by 1870 they and a daughter were living in Nauvoo, Illinois. Henry listed his occupation as shoemaker, his Real Estate Value was $500.00, his Personal Estate Value was listed as $150.00, and he was listing his place of birth as Prussia. During the next ten years three more children were born to the couple; two sons and one daughter.
In 1880 the family was still living in Nauvoo, but there were only three children living at home. Since the oldest daughter would have been about 12 years old, it is not clear what happened to her. Henry was still a shoemaker. Between 1880 and 1890 two more sons and another daughter were added to the family and by 1900 Henry, Mary and two of the children were living as a family in Nauvoo. By this time, Henry was listed as a Fruit Grower and was regularly employed. The family owned a mortgaged home.
Sometime after that Henry moved to Seattle, Washington (probably because of his above listed occupation), and in 1908, Mary passed away. By 1910, Henry is living in Seattle with his youngest daughter. He owned his own home at 6013 Latona Avenue. By occupation, he was now a self employed carpenter. In 1920, Henry was living in the home of his married daughter and her husband; he reported that he had become a naturalized citizen in 1867 and he was no longer employed.
On November 9, 1923 Henry died and was buried beside his wife in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.