Henson, John

John Henson was an African-American Civil War soldier who was a private in Company C in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. He was born in 1843 in Coatesville, Pennsylvania and was about twenty years old when he traveled to New Bedford, Massachusetts to join the Union Army in March 1863 for a three year enlistment given by Lieutenant J.W. Grace. Official records described him as “five feet, five inches, brown complexion, dark eyes and dark hair.” He took part in the Battle of Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863 and the Battle of Olustee on February 20, 1864. Henson was reassigned from his Infantry to the Ordinance Department of his regiment from November 1864 to February 1865. He was discharged from the army along with the rest of the regiment on August 20, 1865. Henson returned to Pennsylvania and married Julia Henry in the fall of 1866 and resided in the Coatesville area until his death on March 12, 1880. He is buried at the Union A.M.E. Church Cemetery, East Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. (By Brenna McKelvey)