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TABLE OF CONTENTS |
A Guide to the William R. Hensley Papers, 1847-1848
Biographical NoteFrom the Handbook of Texas Online: William Richardson Hensley was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, on 1800 September 29. In 1823 he married Mary Thompson of Tennessee and moved to Johnson County, Indiana. From there he traveled to Texas in 1828 November and settled in San Felipe. Hensley surveyed widely, from San Felipe as far west as the Nueces River. Family records show that the Hensley family established homes in the areas of present Colorado, Fayette, and Jackson counties. In connection with his work, Hensley frequently encountered hostile Indians and so won a name as an Indian fighter. Hensley was the delegate from the district of Alfred (Colorado County) to the Convention of 1832. William Barret Travis, a close friend, lived with the Hensley family for several years before the Texas Revolution, and it was for him that Travis Hensley, born shortly after the fall of the Alamo, was named. According to family tradition, William Hensley was a member of one of the early war councils of the provisional government and also fought in the battle of San Jacinto without benefit of enlistment or assignment. In the early 1840s Hensley became a merchant in Port Lavaca and soon controlled great wagon trains to Mexico. He made a number of trips to Saltillo, Veracruz, and other Mexican cities to trade for hides, silver, and other commodities. On his return from one of his trading ventures, he contracted cholera and died in Port Lavaca on 1849 March 20. He was buried in an unmarked grave outside the Port Lavaca cemetery with other victims of the epidemic. He was survived by his wife and six children. References Moore, Helen Ashworth. "William Richardson Hensley." Handbook of Texas Online. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhe24. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Content NoteThe papers contain correspondence, including a letter from a relative in Tennessee containing family news, a letter from Hensley in Mexico discussing trade there, and an incomplete letter from Hensley's son. A photograph and a map have been separated from the collection. Return to the Table of Contents RestrictionsAccess RestrictionsNo restrictions. The collection is open for research. Usage RestrictionsPlease be advised that the library does not hold the copyright to most of the material in its archival collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to secure those rights when needed. Permission to reproduce does not constitute permission to publish. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright, literary property rights, and libel. Return to the Table of Contents
Return to the Table of Contents Administrative InformationPreferred Citation[Identification of item], William R. Hensley Papers, 1847-1848, Doc 9774, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas. Acquisition InformationGift of Helen A. Moore, 1971 May. Processing InformationProcessed by Warren Stricker, 1997 July. Finding aid edited by Tom D'Amore, 2011 January. Finding aid edited and encoded by Caitlin Donnelly, 2011 January. Return to the Table of Contents Detailed Description of the Collection
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