Crawford Co., AR - Biographies - John Henson

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SOURCE: History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford,
Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed 
Publishing Co., 1889.
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John Henson, farmer, of Vine Prairie Township, was born in Saline 
County, Ark., in 1853, and is a son of the Rev. Jeremiah J. 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 Irish-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 Producers' Trade Union. He has some Cherokee Indian 
blood in his veins. 

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