My Genealogy Hound

John Henson, farmer, of Vine Prairie Township, was born in Saline County, Ark., in 1853, and is a son of the Rev. Jeremiah and Margaret (Hopper) Henson, natives of North Carolina, where they were reared and married. In 1853 they came to Arkansas, living first in Saline and Garland Counties, and in 1859 came to Crawford, their deaths occurring here in January 1877, and 1882, respectively. Both belonged to the Methodist Church, in which for many years Mr. Henson was engaged as a local preacher. He was twice married, his last wife being the mother of our subject. He was captain of a company of militia at the commencement of the war. He was of Iris-Spanish and Scotch descent. John Henson was the eldest of four children, and his education was received in the common schools of Crawford County and at Cane Hill College, which he attended five months; he afterward taught several months. In 1875 he married Eliza J., daughter of Richard R. Wigley, who came here from Georgia soon after the war. This marriage has been blessed with eight children, five of whom are living. Mr. Henson has lived upon his present farm since 1881. This contains 160 acres of land, and the upper strata of earth seems to be underlaid with a fine quality of coal, which has been found in several places only a few feet from the surface. Mr. Henson began life a poor man, but is now comfortably fixed, and is one of the enterprising and worthy citizens of the township. He is a Democrat, cast his first presidential vote for Tilden in 1876, and for two years served his township as constable. Himself and wife are Methodists, and he is a member of the Producer’s Trade Union. He has some Cherokee Indian blood in his veins.