JOHN JAMISON McHENRY, son of J. J. (who was also named John Jamison) and Mary (Williamson) McHenry was born near Indiana Town in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, January 12, 1850. At the age of two years, his parents moved from Pennsylvania to Henry County Illinois where they resided for fifteen years.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, he, of course, was not old enough to enlist, but he had two brothers Hyram, aged 20 and Isaac, aged 17 who did. "Mustered out" in the spring of 1865, they had seen service in many states and were imbued with the idea that to be able to get the most out of life for themselves, and give the most at the expiration of their lives and to their posterity, young men should be pioneers. So, with this thought in mind, they prevailed upon their parents to move to Kansas. Kansas - a diversity of treeless planes and wooden slopes of open space and running streams, of protecting hills and sunny outlook, first a paradise for the hunter and then a refuge and delight to the stock raiser and agriculturist. Tales of the newness and vastness of this state had reached their ears and they longed for the place where they could build, develop and prosper with a new country. So in the fall of 1867, the father, mother and sisters boarded a train for Kansas City, Missouri - the end of the railroad at the time- the boys loaded their wagons and moved overland to Kansas. This long and tedious journey was very tiresome to those boys, but at night they gathered arround their campfire where army life and experiences were lived over and shared with their young brother John. They felt that this new country must hold much for all of them. And so it did. In 1854, the United States Government had opened this territory for settlement and any citizen could pre-empt 160 acres of land, and by living on it a certain length of time and making certain improvements, he was given full title to his homestead.

It was necessary, in order to prove their claim, to make a trip to Topeka, Kansas which was made by team and wagon. In 1868, it took several days. However, after this was done, the father and boys felt the land was theirs, and began the task of improving and developing it. There were many obstacles and many new experiences for these boys in their new home. This particular part of Kansas was the direct route from points in Texas to the market in Kansas City and it was through here that Texas Cattle Theives moved their herds. Vigilence Committees were formed to protect the cattle and horses of the homesteaders and the McHenry boys, accurate marksmen and fearless of danger, served their neighbors in this capacity. In 1869-1870, the Gulf Railroad was extended from Kansas City to Ft. Scott, Kansas and passed through their homestead. This was really the first sign of modernization and served to do away with much of the terror of the early day conflict between the homesteader and cattle theif. On October 5, 1886, John McHenry was united in marriage to Julia Ann Mackey, also a pioneer family who moved from Indiana about the time the McHenry's moved from Illinois.To this union three children were born: Harry, Bernice Lorene, and Ruth. For twenty-five years, they lived on part of the land homesteaded by the McHenry family.