VETERAN

Henry Harrison Tidd

April 2, 1841 – September 27, 1907

Lived 66 years

Quincy Valley Cemetery · Quincy, Washington

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In service to country

Honored by Quincy

Each Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July and Veterans Day, volunteers place a flag bearing Henry's name at the grave.

Life story

Henry Harrison Tidd was born on April 2, 1841 in Southington, Ohio. He spent his early life there, finishing public school and then entering Hiram College, to pursue a four-year course in theology from James A. Garfield. However he left his studies to voluntarily enlist when the Civil War broke out. When he was 19 years old he enlisted in the 1st Regiment, Company A for the Ohio Light Artillery. At the end of his service period he re-enlisted serving from 1861-1865, four years and four months total. At the end of the war he went to Saranae, Michigan.

On 28 November 1867, he married Lydia Maria Pratt in Ionia, Michigan. They had five children, Estella, Eva Belle, A baby girl who passed soon after, Frank Earl, and Claud George. The family lived in Michigan all this time and Henry worked as a laborer. Lydia passed away on February 9, 1889, in Lowell, Michigan. A few years later Henry remarried, Ida Andrews Smith on September 13, 1893 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

By 1900 the family had moved to Everett, Washington. He and his son Frank, with their families lived in Everett for six years. In 1905, Henry moved without his family to Douglas County. He took up a homestead in 1905 in Winchester, Washington of 160 acres. He proved up on the homestead in October of 1906, meaning he fulfilled the requirements to gain full ownership of the land. However, Henry had been struggling with his health since the war. He had planned to leave Washington to head to California to live in a soldier's home. An article published on September 20, 1907 stated that he was getting ready to leave the Winchester, Washington area for California very shortly.

In preparation for his move, on September 27, 1907 he had hired a team to visit his children 12 miles away, but after his return as he was unhitching a team of horses from the buggy, something spooked the horses and they bolted. Henry Tidd was dragged behind them for some distance before they could be stopped. One of the buggy wheels ran over his head, causing a slight laceration, but Henry brushed it off, saying he was not hurt. He retired that evening to his room, where he was found dead the next morning. He had been quite ill for some time, and although it seemed he had recovered in part, his cause of death was listed as Bright's Disease. A term for kidney disease, something he had been probably suffering from for a long time.

Henry Harrison Tidd is buried in the Quincy Valley Cemetery, just inside the entrance to the left side. His name and place of burial has been added to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War National Graves Registration Database.

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