California Biographies

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


JOHN M. HENSLEY. Although not a native of California, the earliest recollections of Mr. 
Hensley are associated with scenes in this then frontier region. When he was a child of three 
years his father, J. J. Hensley, who prior to that year (1853) had been a farmer in Missouri, 
brought his wife and six children across the plains in wagons drawn by eight cows. The fam- 
ily followed the northern route via Salt Lake City and the Humboldt river to Calaveras county, 
where they established their home. After having devoted some years to mining without favorable 
results, in 1859 Mr. Hensley moved to Tulare county and embarked in the cattle business. Dur- 
ing the fall of 1861 he settled on the Fresno river in what was then Fresno (now Madera) county, 
where he purchased a tract of raw land and gave his attention to the stock industry. On the Dem- 
ocratic ticket he was elected supervisor of Fresno county and filled the office for one term. His 
death occurred on Christmas day of 1902. In early manhood he had married Margaret Murray, 
who was born and reared in Missouri and died in Madera county, October 11, 1898. Her father, 
Hon. Thomas Murray, was active in the public affairs of Missouri and at one time served as a 
member of the legislature of that state. When the Hensley family crossed the plains in 1853 he ac- 
companied them and settled at Petaluma, near which town he engaged in farm pursuits. His 
death occurred at Santa Rosa when he was advanced in years. 

In the family of J. J. Hensley there were nine children, of whom one daughter died at five years 
of age. The others are as follows : Thomas J., a stockman in Madera county; Samuel P., who 
resides near Raymond, same county ; A. H., who resides at the old home ; J. M., of Madera ; W. C, 
who remains at the old home farm ; P. J., who lives in Fresno county ; G. W., a resident of the 
city of Fresno; and Martha A., who is married and lives in Madera county. John M. Hensley 
was born in Cass county, Mo., November 10, 1850, and at three years of age was brought to 
California, passing his early childhood years in Calaveras county. In 1859 he accompanied the 
family to Tulare county and from there in 1861 moved with them to the Fresno river, six miles 
from Raymond. When eight years of age he began to help his father on the farm and from that 
time forward spent much of his time in the saddle. 

Starting out to earn his own livelihood at sixteen years of age, Mr. Hensley secured employ- 
ment with Jonathan Rae, a sheep-raiser. About 1870 he made his first independent venture by 
starting out in the sheep business for himself. On six hundred and forty acres situated at Wood- 
ville, Tulare county, he established a sheep ranch, which he conducted until the memorable dry year 
of 1877. The drought caused a loss of eight thousand head out of nine thousand and five hun- 
dred and so injured him financially that he sold out the balance of the flock. Returning to his 
old home, he secured several contracts from Fresno county for keeping up the old Buchanan road 
and for five years served as constable of Madera township. Meanwhile he bore an active part in 
Democratic politics and his services were recognized by his party in 1888, at which time he was 
nominated by them for the office of county sheriff. In the election he won by a majority of about 
five hundred and in January. 1889, took the oath of office, at the same time removing to Fresno to 
assume the management of the work. 

At the expiration of his term of two years he was honored by re-election to the office with a 
larger majority than before, and continued in the position until January, 1893. In those days the 
sheriff's office brought unusual responsibilities and even perils, for the Daltons were here and 
the Sontag and Evans gang were committing constant depredations. With no small satisfaction 
Mr. Hensley succeeded in arresting Grant Dalton in Fresno, but he escaped after having been 
put in the Tulare county jail. The officers of the law pursued him into the mountains, where, in an 
exchange of shot between them and the desperado, Mr. Hensley's deputy almost lost his life. The 
Daltons were chased out of this county and went to Oklahoma, where they and others of their type 
were the terrors of that territory until finally they were killed at Coffeyville, Kan. 

On the expiration of his second term as sheriff Mr. Hensley returned his attention to the 
sheep business. The prosecution of this industry took him into Wyoming', Montana and other parts 
of the west, where he bought and sold in large numbers. After carrying on the business for 
three and a half years he returned to Madera, in November, 1902, and resumed his residence in 
this city, which he has considered his home since 1885. The position which he now holds, that of 
under sheriff, he received by appointment in January, 1903. In religion he is an active member 
of the Presbyterian Church and one of its trustees. The lady who became his wife in Wood- 
ville, Cal, and who has since been his efficient co-laborer and counselor, was Harriett R. Monroe, 
a native of Missouri. Born of their union are five children, namely : Etta, Mrs. A. L. Sayer, 
of Fresno; Walter J., of Madera; Irving, who is in northern California ; and Arthur and Rea, who 
are with their parents in Madera.