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Norris Wilson Hensley (December 2, 1872 – October 24, 1940) was an insurance agent in Tampa, Florida.

Early years and ancestry

Norris Wilson Hensley was born on December 2, 1872, near Charleston in Kanawha County, West Virginia to Mordecai Hensley and Julia Ann Emeline Melton.

His father's parents were William Hensley and Sarah Guthrie. Sarah was the daughter of James Guthrie, the namesake of Guthrie, West Virginia. His mother's parents were Daniel Melton and Elizabeth Kelly. Elizabeth was the daughter of Moses Kelly, who with his brother Aaron was an early settler of Union District on the Kanawha River.

Norris Hensley attended National Normal University in Lebanon, Ohio and Mountain State Business College in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He taught school in Milton, West Virginia.

He married Annie Laura Castor in Huntington, West Virginia on June 11, 1902. The ceremony was performed by W. L. Cocke.

Tampa

Grocery

Hensley's first job in Tampa was working as a bookkeeper for the grocery business F. H. Davis & Co. He had a daughter, Florida Virginia Hensley, die as an infant on April 22, 1904.

Bank

He was a bookkeeper for the Exchange National Bank from 1904 to 1906. His only son Robert Burns Hensley was born February 2, 1905.

He was cashier and bank teller at the Bank of Tampa from 1907 to 1910, including during the Panic of 1907.

Insurance

With his brothers Emory and Fred Hensley, N. W. Hensley & Co. insurance firm was founded in 1910 and existed through the Florida Land Boom.

Hensley was an active Democrat and attended the 1924 Democratic National Convention.

Death and legacy

He died October 24, 1940. He was a member of the First Baptist Church under pastor Claude W. Duke. He was also a member of the Kiwanis Club.

The Hensley-Stovall Arcade at 420 Lafayette St. is named after him and Tampa Tribune publisher Wallace Stovall.

References

1. ^ "Builders of Tampa". Tampa Tribune. March 16, 1926. p. 5.
2. William Hensley (c1808) and Sarah (---) of Kanawha and Putnam Co., WV
3. "Florida, Funeral Home Records, 1887-1971", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:623W-XZND : 21 November 2023), Mordicie Hensley, 1923.
4. Sissonville, a Time To Remember. p. 86.
5. W. S. Laidley (1911). History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia, and representative citizens. Chicago, Richmond-Arnold pub. co. p. 219.
6. "United States Census, 1900", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9CD-HW7 : Fri Oct 06 01:17:59 UTC 2023), Entry for Norris W. Hensley, 1900.
7. "Captured A Virginia Belle". Tampa Tribune. June 18, 1902. p. 7.
8. ^ Frank L. Huffaker (January 7, 1920). "Who's Who in Florida". The Tampa Times. p. 2.
9. "Passing Throng". Tampa Tribune. May 16, 1902. p. 7.
10. "Infant Daughter Dead". Tampa Tribune. April 23, 1904.
11. "Florida, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2C5-P65W : Sat Feb 10 07:01:03 UTC 2024), Entry for Robert Burns Hensley, 16 Oct 1940.
12. "Read!". Atlanta Constitution. November 27, 1910.
13. "New State Banks, Bankers, Etc". Bankers Magazine. 75: 175. 1907.
14. "N. W. Hensley Co., One of City's Most Dependable Concerns". The Tampa Tribune. June 10, 1923. p. 71 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Five-Dollar Bill Only Ticket Needed At Garden, Says Hensley". The Tampa Tribune. July 2, 1924. p. 16.
16. "Funeral Services For N. W. Hensley To Be Held Today". Tampa Tribune. October 26, 1940.
17. "N. W. Hensley, 67, Prominent Tampa Insuror, Dies". Tampa Tribune. October 25, 1940. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "Kiwanis Club to Give Ladies Night June 30". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. June 22, 1930.
19. Hensley-Stovall Arcade

External links

• Norris W. Hensley at Find a Grave

• 1872 births
• 1940 deaths
• People from Tampa, Florida
• People from Kanawha County, West Virginia