James O. Hensley (c1800) and Elizabeth Printz of Shenandoah County, Virginia and Clark County, Ohio

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The author (Marty Grant) is not related to James O. Hensley as far as can be determined.

Note: There was another James O. Hensley who was born ca 1801 in Virginia. It may be possible to get them confused, though they didn't live in the same county. (The other one lived in Bedford County.)

Special Thanks to Flora Kelley for information shared on this family, particularly some full birth and death dates.

James O. Hensley was born 15 Sep 1800 or 1801 (per Flora Kelley), which roughly matches what I had of ca 1799/1800 (per age of 50 on 1850 census). He was born somewhere in Virginia, county unknown. He later lived in Shenandoah County, but probably wasn't born there (though he could have been, I just don't know.) I don't know what his "O" middle initial stood for.

I have not been able to determine who James' parents were. There was an apparent widow (or single woman) named Sarah Hensley who was listed on the 1830 census in Shenandoah on the same page with James. The census was alphabetical so that doesn't mean they lived near each other. However Sarah was born ca 1770/80 so she is old enough to be his mother. This needs further research.

On 23 Mar 1829, James O. Hensley and Elizabeth Puntz were married in Shenandoah County, Virginia. [Dodd, Jordan R, et. al. Early American Marriages: Virginia to 1850. Bountiful, UT: Precision Indexing Publishers.]

Elizabeth "Puntz" is probably "Printz," "Prince" or some similar name. She was born ca 1805/06 (per age of 44 on the 1850 census.) I don't know who her parents were. There was no one named "Puntz" or "Printz" on the 1830 census in Shenandoah Co, VA, but there were several "Prince" families. They were all in the Western District.

James O. Hensley was listed on the 1830 census in Shenandoah County, Virginia in the Western District. Unfortunately, this census was alphabetical, so I can't tell who their neighbors were, nor where they might have been living. However, as noted before, a Sarah Hensley was listed on the same page.

1830 census analysis (based on available evidence): (Explanation of this census)

1830 Shenandoah Co, VA pg 116 James O. Hensley 0000100000000-0000100000000
Analysis:
1 Male(s) 20-29		(1800-1810)	James O. Hensley (1799/1800)
1 Female(s) 20-29	(1800-1810)	Elizabeth Printz Hensley (1805/06) wife

For reference here is Sarah Hensley's entry:

1830 census analysis (based on available evidence): (Explanation of this census)

1830 Shenandoah Co, VA pg 116 Sarah Hensley 0000000000000-0001100100000
Analysis:
1 Female(s) 50-59      (1770-1780)	Sarah (---?) Hensley (1770/80) widow of ?
1 Female(s) 20-29      (1800-1810)	Daughter?
1 Female(s) 15-19      (1810-1815)	Daughter?

From the birth places of their children (per 1850 census), it seems the family left Virginia ca 1830 (after the census) and was in Clark County, Ohio by ca 1831. They were listed on the 1840 census in Clark County, though mistakenly listed as "Ohensley" (no wonder it took me years to find this particular entry!) They were the only Hensleys in this county at this time.

1840 census analysis (based on available evidence): (Explanation of this census)

1840 Clark Co, OH, German Township pg 97 James Ohensley 0010010000000-2200010000000
Analysis:
Analysis:
1 Male(s) 30-39		(1800-1810)	James O. Hensley (c1800)
1 Male(s) 10-14		(1825-1830)	Henry Hensley (c1830) son
1 Female(s) 30-39	(1800-1810)	Elizabeth Printz Hensley (c1806) wife
2 Female(s) 5-9		(1830-1835)	Eliza J. Hensley (c1831) daughter
					Mahala Hensley (c1834) daughter
2 Female(s) 0-4		(1835-1840)	Martha M. Hensley (c1836) daughter
					Elizabeth Hensley (c1839) daughter

They were still in Clark County for the 1850 census, and still the only Hensleys in the county.

1850 census abstract: (Explanation of this census)

(Note: The dates at the end of each line are not part of the original census, but are approximate birth years based on age)

CLARK CO, OH Page 43B   H/F #  591/ 622- - GERMAN Twp

HENSLEY JAMES O       50 M W FARMER                 200 VA                   1799/1800
HENSLEY ELIZABETH     44 F W                            VA                   1805/1806
HENSLEY HENRY         20 M W                            VA                   1829/1830
HENSLEY ELIZA J       19 F W                            OH                   1830/1831
HENSLEY MAHALA A      16 F W                            OH                   1833/1834
HENSLEY MARTHA M      14 F W                            OH                   1835/1836
HENSLEY ELIZABETH     11 F W                            OH                   1838/1839
HENSLEY REUBEN H      10 M W                            OH                   1839/1840
HENSLEY PETER          6 M W                            OH                   1843/1844
HENSLEY ADAM           5 M W                            OH                   1844/1845
HENSLEY SUSANNA        2 F W                            OH                   1847/1848
BAKER SUSAN           19 F W                            OH                   1830/1831

James O. Hensley died on 23 Oct 1852 and Elizabeth died on 12 Oct 1858 (both dates per Flora Kelley.)

Children of James O. Hensley. James and Elizabeth had nine known children as proven by the 1850 census. I have no additional information on them (other than what is shown in the register report below.) My interest in this family ends about 1860.

Researcher List

Persons researching this family (click here for data on how to get on or off of this list):

• Flora Kelley =  

Register Report