John Henry

John William Henry was sentenced to 10 years in the Penitentiary for House Break and larceny. But the records of the crime are sketchy.

He was from New Jersey. The 1870 census lists him as “John Henry, penitentiary”. He was 19 years old and stood 5’1¼”, with 2 small scars, left arm above the elbow and right arm above the wrist inflicted in prison for ID purposes.

He was contracted out to C&O Railroad.

John Henry’s story was appropriated to tell the story of the position of black men during Jim Crow. This small man grew in legend to grand proportions and inspired one of the earliest blues songs of which there are more than 200 recorded versions. They sing about his death and being buried at the white house in the sand. John Henry did die working on the railroad, a small man proving his strength and endurance. His grave could very well be in a mass grave of about 100 skeletons found buried in the sand next the “White House” (which is what they called penitentiaries) of the place he was incarcerated.