I first learned that I had Hensley ancestors back around 1980 when I first started my quest for genealogy. I was visiting my Great Grandmother Della Wright George (1896-1982) and looking at her old photos sparked my interest in my roots. Her daughter (my Great Aunt) Mary Nell George Lequire wrote up a brief (but detailed) history of the Wright family and a briefer one on the George family. She told me (among other things) that her Great Grand Parents were Lafayette George and Rachel Hensley. She didn’t know anything about the Hensley family, and said they had never been associated with any of them, and that they were from Tennessee. Later, my Grandmother Luella George Grant (1924-1990) confirmed this, that they knew about having Hensley ancestry, but never knew any of their Hensley relatives.

For several years, that was all I had on the Hensley family. Just the name "Rachel Hensley". I found records on her, such as the census and her tombstone, showing that she was born 1829 in Tennessee. The 1860 census showed she was born in Monroe County, Tennessee. A check of the marriage records showed that she married Lafayette George in Monroe Co, TN in 1851. A check of the 1850 census showed Rachel at home with her parents Samuel and Nancy Hensley in Monroe Co, TN, just a few houses from the George family.

This showed who Rachel’s parents were, but didn’t give me anything beyond them. Soon, I found several cousins (all within a short time of each other), who were from the same set of Hensleys. They already had more on the family than I did, and were very willing to share. First was Juanita Weaver who shared with me the Samuel Hensley - Nancy Johnson family Bible, which gave their names and birth dates and the same for all their children, as well as several death dates. Unfortunately, the Bible did not give the parents of either Samuel or Nancy. Juanita was not even related to my Hensley family, but she was from another Hensley family in the same area, and like all good genealogists, tried to find out as much as possible about other families of the same surname in the same areas. I’m glad she did.

Next, I was in touch with Laura Hensley, who is married to a descendant of Thomas Hensley (1806-1897) of Monroe Co, TN, who was (per family tradition) a brother of my Samuel Hensley. Laura shared a great deal of information with me. She had found where and when Samuel Hensley and Nancy Johnson were married in Knox Co, TN in 1823. She also had a document showing that Samuel and Thomas (and several others) were named in a Scott Co, VA Court Record, which seemed to prove all of their siblings (but not their parents). This record was quite valuable, but mysterious in a few ways, as even after all these years, we can’t figure out what it was about.

Laura Hensley put me in touch with Laura Schreibman, who was also a descendant of Thomas Hensley (1806-1897). Laura was a genealogists dream come true. She scoured libraries, archives, court houses, and any and all places where records were found, digging for every available scrap of Hensley data that could be found, whether connected to our Hensleys or not. Laura corresponded with numerous other Hensley researchers, and shared tons of data with me and with others. Through her, I was in touch with, or getting information indirectly from several dedicated Hensley researchers, including, among others, Ruth Muench, Joyce Cooper, Kenneth C. Wilde, and probably several others that I’m forgetting at the moment.

Thanks to Laura, I caught the "Hensley bug", and decided to expand my interest into all the Hensley families, and not just my own, or those near my own. So I owe Laura Schreibman (and the others mentioned) a great deal of thanks.

My Hensley pages are the most popular pages on my website (though some months they are only the 2^nd most popular pages, with my Grant family being first).

I have discovered (as many others have also) that there is a great deal of bad information being passed around about the various Hensley families. A lot of it is due, unfortunately, to a book put out by Walter Hensley (deceased) a number of years ago. I truly hate to "knock" anyone else’s work, but his data was terribly inaccurate. I can’t even imagine where he got most of it. Unfortunately, many people are still sharing this same data back and forth, and now with the internet, it is going around and around, and probably will never stop. That is one main reason why I have the Hensley pages: to have documented data only, or data that, if undocumented, is at least explained, or justified, or in some way commented upon, so that it will be known at a glance whether it is fact, or speculation.

Since the various Hensley families were so prolific, I may never be finished with these web pages. I am only interested in Hensley families that were around before 1860 (or 1870 in some areas). There are just too many in the more recent years, and I don’t have time to try and track all them down.

I have many folks to thank for sharing their research or advice with me over the years. Here are just a few that come to mind: Juanita Weaver, Laura Hensley, Laura Schreibman, Ruth Muench, Kenneth C. Wilde, and Joyce Petty Cooper. All of these pre-date my use of the Internet. Since being online, I have heard from (literally) hundreds of Hensley researchers, and a select few of them have shared some wonderful data with me. I don’t have their names handy right now, but I will add proper thanks to each of them, usually on the web page of the family they helped me with.

My ancestor Rachel B. Hensley was born 9 Feb 1829 in Monroe Co, TN. She married Lafayette George on 11 Feb 1851 there, and then moved to Cherokee (now Graham) Co, NC. Lafayette died in the Civil War, and Rachel married James C. "Jimmy" Cooper on 7 Nov 1873 in Graham Co, NC. He died 11 Jul 1904, and she died 11 Sep 1909, both in Graham Co, NC.

Rachel B. Hensley is a proven child of Samuel Hensley and Nancy Johnston. Samuel Hensley was born 23 Aug 1801 in Washington (now Scott) Co, VA. He married Nancy Johnson (or "Johnston") on 29 May 1823 in Knox Co, TN. Nancy was born 6 Nov 1804 in Knox Co, TN. They moved to Monroe Co, TN and died within 10 days of each other, he on 7 Oct 1852, and she on 17 Oct 1852. They had 9 children, but most died young. They only had one son to live to adulthood, and he never married. Only 4 daughters lived to adulthood, and they all married. The "Hensley" name died out in this branch of the family.

Samuel Hensley’s parents are unproven, but it seems very likely that he was a child of Larkin Hensley and Sarah — of Washington and Scott Co, VA. This isn’t proven at all, but circumstantial evidence seems compelling. A record written by two of Thomas Hensley’s daughters shows his mother’s name to be "Emmie Childress". This doesn’t "jibe" with Larkin’s wife being "Sarah", but it is something to consider.

Larkin Hensley was born ca 1761 or before, in Virginia, probably Buckingham County. His parents are unknown, though a William Hensley might be a strong suspect. Larkin died ca 1805 in Washington Co, VA (later became Scott Co, VA). This is far from proven, but it looks like Larkin had siblings named Fielding, Joseph, Zachariah, Samuel, and others.