Bio-Hanshaw, PercyRoy

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Percy "Roy" Henshaw
(1884-1960)

Percy "Roy" Henshaw -- also known as "Roy C. Henshaw" -- was born on June 27, 1884 in either Burton, Wetzel County, WV or in Grafton, Taylor County, WV, the son of Robert M. and Marian W. (Percy) Hanshaw. His proper first name was his mother's maiden name.

He was orphaned at the age of 12, when his mother died in 1897, following his father's death in 1893.

When the federal census was taken in 1900, Roy lived with his newlywed sister Kate Robinson and her husband John on Main Street in Wheeling. A bird's eye view of Wheeling, a town in the Ohio River valley, is seen here in a rare postcard view, circa 1907.

Circa 1905-1905, Roy was employed as a salesman with E.S. Dinger Co. in Wheeling. He is listed in the Wheeling City Directory as "Roy C. Henshaw" boarding at 177 15th Street, on the second floor.

At the death of his uncle Dr. Guy R. Hanshaw in 1908, Roy became entitled to a 1/32 share of the estate, which included lucrative oil and gas wells. He received an immediate payout from the estate of $57.81 in 1909. At intervals over the years, through 1942, Roy received royalty payments from the oil and gas wells. The high point was in 1918, when he received $24.54.

The federal census of 1930 shows Roy, at age 46, unemployed and possibly widowed, living with the Robinsons in St. Louis, on Julian Street.

Roy and the Robinsons returned to Wheeling at some point, where brother in law John Robinson was a vice president with Wheeling Corrugating Company, a forerunner to today's Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Corporation. Roy made his home in the late 1950s at 19 Romney Road, which was the Robinson address. He was retired.

Roy became ill in about 1958. After suffering for two years, he was admitted to Ohio Valley General Hospital in Wheeling. He died there, at the age of 76, on Feb. 22, 1960. He was laid to rest beside his sister Kate Robinson in the Robinson family plot at Greenwood Cemetery. The markers are seen at left.

His obituary, in the Wheeling News-Register, said he was survived by nieces Margaret Patterson and Margaret Robinson, and nephew Robert Henshaw in Kansas City.