- FaceBook 20151220, shared by Lanny Nunn, transcribed by john c wetzel-
WILLIAM H. HYDORN.
As one by one the pioneers of Potter county are called to take their place among "the great majority on the other shore," it becomes the sad duty of the journalist to make record of the closing scene and announce to his readers that the end of this or that life has come.
In writing of the death of William H. Hydorn, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, we feel a peculiar sense of satisfaction in the conviction that he died as he had lived, peacefully, patiently, bravely. And we speak of him thus as one that was near and dear, for since boyhood we have known the man as a sturdy example of probity and true nobility.
His death occurred Saturday afternoon, Dec. 4th, following a gradual breaking down of the strong vitality that had carried him through many hardships of pioneer life, and he dropped quietly to sleep, conscious that death had come to end his suffering, which for many weeks had been severe, and, smiling at those gathered about his bedside whispered to them that the end was near. He died the death of the righteous. On Monday his remains were followed by many friends, relatives and neighbors to Hebron, where Rev. Kenyon preached a funeral sermon and the mortal part of this good man was laid beside the other members of his family in the beautiful cemetery on the hill.
Deceased was born in April, 1808, and moved to Hebron in 1833, where he had taken a farm two years before. Here he contended with the rigors of winter and the trials of the backwoods life till (sic) he could look over his own broad acres and see the settlement enjoying many of the privileges of older communities.
He married Eleanor Burdick at Grafton, NY, in 1832 and six children were born to them, of which but one, Louisa, is living, Mrs. Sylvester Greenman, now a widow in Boulder, Colorado. Cordelia the eldest of the children, one of the most capable of teachers for many years, died in Illinois in 1871. June Green died in 1877. Her daughter Grace has kept the cosy (sic) home in Coudersport where her grandfather spent his last days, giving him the kindest care. Charles the eldest son was killed at Chancellorsville, in 1863. Sullivan the youngest died at the age of 22 and he and Mrs. Green are buried beside their father and mother.
Mr. Hydorn, with all the privations of early life in Potter, held aloft high ideals, and no man in the county was more zealous in the cause of education than he. His family imbibed the same spirit and we find his children and grandchildren inheriting that love of "freedom which the truth makes free," that distinguished William Hydorn from many of his fellows. He was a diffident man, extremely so, and hence not "prominent" as many are who have less title to fame, but in every position he occupied Mr. Hydorn discharged his duty faithfully, intelligently, winning the esteem of all men with whom he had dealings. He was a ready writer and a profound and accurate thinker. His contributions to the early Journal of which he was a subscriber for nearly fifty years, bear testimony to his enthusiasm for the diffusion of knowledge as well as to his ability as a writer. He took great interest in political affairs and in a modest way exerted in his prime a very considerable influence in county politics, always true to principle.
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d. 9 Apr 1877, Coudersport, Potter, Pennsylvania, USA 
