From the 3rd floor
of the Webb City Public Library
Webb City Area Genealogical Society
Are you from a big family? If so, the photo we’ve selected for this week may remind you of some fun summer reunions.
This is a photo of the Benjamin and Effie Hensley family. It was taken in 1939 at Ollie and Gladys Hensley’s home, at 1233 Keller St. in Carthage.
Benjamin and Effie (Powell) Hensley moved to Webb City in about 1900 from Dallas County, Mo. They were the parents of 10 children: James Edward, Ollie Franklin, John Otis, William, Estel Guy, Burel Lee, Lydia Bessie, Lula R., Nancy H. and Haney Luela Hensley.
Benjamin and Effie are buried in the Carterville Cemetery.
Benjamin and Effie Hensley reunion – (FRONT) J. E. Hensley, Paula Jean Hensley, Ione Hensley, Nancy Lou Hensley, Jo Ann Hensley, Floyd Hensley, Elizabeth Ann Hensley, Jerry Hensley, Harold L. Hartley Jr., Evelyn Elliott.
(SECOND ROW) Carrie P. Hensley, Lilburn Hensley, Ollie Hensley, Estel Guy Hensley, Benjamin F. Hensley, Effie W. Hensley, Frank C. Hensley, William L. Hensley, Robert Hensley, Mary F. Hodkin, LaVaughn Elliott.
(THIRD ROW) Bessie Elliott, John Elliott, Grace Hensley, Lula Hensley, Gladys Hensley, Roberta May Hensley, Luella Hartley, Lela Hensley, Zedia Hodkin, Jo Ann Hodkin, Vona Hensley, Lloyd Hensley Lavona Lou Hensley.
(BACK) Mary Lou Hensley, Regina Hensley, Betty Lynn Hensley, Nancy Hensley, Betty Hodkin, Wilma Louise Hensley, Helen Hensley, Wanda Hodkin.
Speaking of large families, Sentinel editor Bob Foos has a photo at hand to fill some extra space this week. It was obviously not taken in Webb City – but rather where his wife, Ann (Suzuki) Foos, grew up, on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, in 1951.
Ann’s maternal grandfather, Matsuzo Haruki, is seated in the middle, with her grandmother, Tsurue “Amy” Haruki, at his left. Uncles are standing, aunties are seated in the middle, and cousins are on the ground. At left is 1-year-old Ann, on the lap of her mother, Julia, directly in front of her father, Sakari Suzuki.
Ann’s grandfather Haruki was born in Japan and supported the family by working in Hawaii’s sugar cane fields. Her grandmother also worked – gave birth to 12 children from 1915 to 1935.
Jump forward 75 years to 2026; the Haruki family is still getting together. Forty-five attended a reunion in June in Las Vegas. “Baby Ann” (blue blouse) is honored with a haku lei, along with her sister (also in blue, with a sash) and two female cousins.
Shout-out to brother-in-law Byron Haugh (on Ann’s right), who is usually the first each week to read the police reports and notice mistakes in the Sentinel because it’s not bedtime yet in Hawaii when the Sentinel is done.
