Thomas
Henson
by Ruth Henson
Asher
Submitted by: Glenn
Kennedy
Volume 2, Number 7, Spring 1966
Elder Thomas HENSON was a circuit riding minister of the Baptist Church of
Christ being ordained in Rutherford County, Tennessee. He came to the
territory of Southwest Missouri in the early 1830’s with his Bible church
papers, his horse, and chopping axe. He rode about the trails preaching,
marrying and burying folks. Mostly the trails followed the streams. He came
from southern Illinois, (Morgan County). It is a matter of record of his
having performed the marriage ceremony for Permelia Yokum and Joseph Philbert
in 1883. He served in the War of 1812 from Morgan County, Illinois. He was
allowed a leave of absence until he regained his health. That was from Ditton
Landing, December 20, 1813, the leave being cosigned by G. F. White, 2nd
Lieut., and Jno. Coffee, B. Gen’l.
Elder
Henson was living in Tennessee in 1805. (Judge Charles L. Henson’s History o
f Stone County’s First Ninety Years, says t h a t Elder Thomas Henson
settled the first farm in Southwest Missouri Territory. Charles L. Henson was
a great grandchild of Elder Henson. Charles’s father was Lafayette
(Doctor)’ Henson, 1858-1919, a well known physician of Galena, Mo.)
Elder
Henson’s wife, Rebecca LANGSTON, is thought to be a daughter of the Rev. J.
C. Langston, who married so many pioneer folks of Tennessee.
In
1835 he brought his family of 12 through St. Louis and down the much worn
trail to Springfield. They came by oxen drawn cart with most of the children
walking. Rebecca said there was one general store at that time in Springfield.
The family bought, among other things, an iron pot for cooking.
Traveling
with the Hensons were the John Barnett<< Williams>>
and Elijah McLain Todd families. The << Williams>>
family were from Franklin, Simpson County, Kentucky. John B. <<
Williams>> was a miller by
trade and set up the first grist mill west of the Mississippi, at the mouth of
Flat Creek where it meets the James, Mash Hollow at Cape Fair.
Elder
Henson must h a v e picked out this homestead to bring his family to because
of his scouting the land earlier. He settled on a very nice farm on Flat Creek
a few miles above Cape Fair. A great grandson, John Asher, now owns the farm.
One of the landmarks there is a large burr oak tree that Elder Henson’s
daughter, Rebecca, spoke of as being a good sized tree when they came to the
farm in 1835.
Elder
people of the area say that these now fine bottom farm lands were full of
large trees at that early time and that it was a problem to clear the land.
The large burr oak yet stands on the bank of Flat Creek below the cemetery
where Thomas and his wife Rebecca are buried.
When
Eli Asher, a great grandson, was a small boy, a man came (from Texas he
thought) and cut names and dates on their rocks to mark them. Eli, now 80
years old, helped clean up the groves by cutting and piling the brush.
December
25, 1835 was given as the Henson date of arrival, that was the date of the
marriage of a son, Zechariah and Armahie (Millie) << Williams>> ,
born 1819, died 1877, a daughter of John B. << Williams>> . These
young people had fallen in love on the journey. They settled above the Elder
Henson place, just around the bend up Flat Creek, one
mile south of the Barry County line. There they built and lived in a
crude log cabin until the year 1850.
The
children of Elder Thomas Henson, b. Dec. 15, 1786 d. March 26, 1853, and his
wife, Rebecca Langston Henson, b. Feb. 13, 1789, d. March 26, 1853, were
Damaris (De Meris) b. Sept. 21, 1807; Mary, b. April 2, 1809; Young, b. Dec.
26, 1810; Elisha, b. Jan. 28, 1813; Zecharian, b. Nov. 15, 1814, d. 1877;
Thomas, b. Nov. 10, 1816; Elizabeth, b. Nov. 17, 1818; Susan, b. May 1,1821;
Rebecca, b. June 11, 1823 in Morgan County, Illinois, d. 1908; Martha, b. July
22, 1825; Wm. P., b. Oct. 10, 1828, (P. perhaps for Pleasant?); Sarah Ellen,
b. March 16, 1831.
Damaris
was a great hunter, an old rifle owned and shown by Dick O’Conner of near
Wilson Creek Battlefield at the Crane, Mo. Centennial of Stone County in June
of 1951. Ralph Bloomer of Cape Fair shot the gun that day.
Zechariah,
who is my paternal great, great, grandfather and Rebecca, called Becky, who
married Eli Foster (1820-1886) is my husbands paternal great, great
grandmother. She was a midwife and home doctor. After her husband died she
lived mostly with her daughter jane, and husband, William S. Asher.
Young
Henson married Tilda Hilton, lived on Carney Branch.
Zechariah
and wife, Rebecca and husband, are buried in a cemetery on the original
Zechariah Henson farm.
Thomas
Henson, Jr., went to Texas and never came back. It is said that he displeased
his father.
Sarah
Ellen married John Edmund Melton. Mrs. Joyce Davis Warren, Galena, Mo., is a
descendant.
The
descendants of Elisha and his son, Sam B. Henson (1837-1920) are living in
Barry County and are working on their family history at this time. Loren and
Espen Roden, children of Myrtle Henson, and Ethel Harrison Roden are some of
Elisha’s descendants. Elisha was a minister and performed many marriages.
Some
other descendants that were and are ministers; Jim Foster,. Cape Fair, Percy
Asher, Cape Fair and Eddie Bowman, Purdy, Mo.
Mrs.
Crystal Morris of Galena, Mo., is descended from Martha Henson.
Elder
Henson must have set up some sort 01 school on his farm for the children, his
grandchildren, remember going to a school in a building close to his home
place and also near the now Cedar Bluff school house that still stands. No
school being held there since 1951.
Once
a year, on the fourth Sunday in September all the old friends of the district
meet for an all day dinner on the grounds of the Old Cedar Bluff School. There
we sing, tell old time school stories, recite poetry, take pictures and have a
good time in general. 1965 marked the 20th year for this reunion. At one time
it was District No. 2 in Stone County. One man, Lawrence Moore, 84 years old,
sings the old song, "The Old School House on the Hill," from memory.
There were 10 present who were over 80 years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Will Carr,
Cape Fair, who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in January of 1966
were the oldest married couple present. Mrs. Carr is a descendant of Rebecca
Henson Foster.
(I
want to thank any one who supplied information for this article and hope to
learn more.
Write
to me if you are a descendant of Elder
Thomas
Henson and Rebecca Langston Henson.
Ruth
Henson Asher, Galena, Mo.)
Copyright Ó White River
Valley Historical Quarterly