JOHN I. HENSLEY.
The biographies of enterprising men, especially of good men, are instructive as guides and incentives to others. The examples they furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what it is in the power of each to accomplish. Some men belong to no exclusive class in life. Apparently insurmountable obstacles have in many instances awakened their dormant faculties and served as a stimulant to carry them to ultimate renown. The instances of success in the face of adverse fate would seem almost to justify the conclusion that self-reliance with a half a chance, can accomplish any reasonable object. John I. Hensley, a prominent farmer and stockman of Exira, Iowa, has lived to good purpose and achieved a splendid success, and by a straightforward and commendable course, he has made his way to a respectable position in the world, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his community, and earning the reputation of being an enterprising and progressive man of affairs.
John I. Hensley, farmer and stockman of Exira, Iowa, was born in Polk county, Iowa, March 6, 1862. He is a son of John J. and Martha (Polkjoy) Hensley, the former a native of Ohio, who grew to manhood in the Buckeye state and was there married. After his marriage John J. Hensley removed to Polk county, Iowa, where he and his wife lived for many years. His wife died when her son, John I., was a small child. John J. Hensley was a farmer and stock buyer, and in 1870 moved to Audubon county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm, on which he lived until his death in 1892. His farm comprised two hundred and forty acres of land in this county. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children, Roy, William, Morgan, May, Dora, Fanny, Frank, Alonzo, John I., Charles, Inez, all of whom are deceased with the exception of Morgan, Frank, Charles and John I.
John I. Hensley was reared in Exira township, and received his education in the public schools of Exira, which offered very meager opportunities during his youth. After leaving school he began buying stock, and also operated a butcher shop for three years, after which he removed to the farm, where he rented land for three years. He sold out subsequently and began buying stock again, and he has been engaged in this business for thirty-five years. In the meantime he has purchased seven hundred and fifty acres of land, five hundred of which is located in Audubon county, and two hundred and fifty acres in Cass county, Iowa. Mr. Hensley feeds out about twenty carloads of hogs and cattle each year. He buys from fifteen thousand to twenty thousand bushels of corn each year and raises from three thousand to ten thousand bushels on his own land. He buys from three hundred to five hundred carloads of cattle and hogs each year.
John I. Hensley was married on March 12, 1884, to Flora Belle Statzell, the daughter of Isaac and Abigail (Griggs) Statzell, and to this union ten children have been born: Gerald, Grace, Luther, Dena, Norman, Roy, May, Pauline, Robert and Benjamin, all of whom are living with the exception of Robert. Grace is the wife of Fred Wilkins. Luther married Muriel Koob, and they have one child, Naomi. The rest of the children are unmarried and living at home.
John I. Hensley has been a member of the school board for seventeen years, and is still serving in that capacity. At one time he served as councilman of Exira. In politics, he is identified with the Democratic party, but his private and personal affairs are too vast to permit a very active and extensive participation in politics. John I. Hensley is one of the best-known citizens of Audubon county.
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Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, September, 2019 from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 632-633.
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