Henry McKinley Sexton

In every tree I research there is at least one character that haunts me.

I can't get them out of my head.

In my husband's tree, Henry McKinley Sexton is the main one.

His cause of death is the first thing that shocked me and made me sad.

At 2 o'clock on Wednesday, October 10, 1906

Henry shot himself in the head.

What led up to his self inflicted gun shot wound?

What happened to make this 56 year old man kill himself?

I don't have an answer to that.

Not even a clue.

What I do know about Henry is that he was born into the Sexton family and was adopted by the Spann family at a young age.

I keep going back to try to connect him to his birth family & I think I am close but I still don't have a concrete answer. Sometimes that is all we have.

Here is a message I posted in 2009:

Searching for information on Henry McKinley Sexton b.1849 TN
d.1906 Texas.
Henry was adopted by the Spann family (Jeremiah L. and Jane Spann) I found him on the 1860 census in Calloway Co Ky with this family.
When searching the 1850 census for the Spann family, I found them in Weakley, TN. Since Henry M. was born in TN in 1849 I figured it was likely his family was in the same area in 1850.
I found a family with the surname Sexton and there was a Henry but he is age 3 instead of 1 and I can't figure out relationships in this grouping. Here is the listing:
1850 Weakley TN
Sexton, G. M 64 abt 1786 VT.
Sexton, Jemima F 56 abt 1794 VT
Sexton, Rebecca F 26 abt 1824 NC
Sexton, James M 18 abt 1832 NC
Sexton, Wiley F 6 abt 1844 TN
Sexton, Henry M 3 abt 1847 TN

I found a James Sexton and a MW Sexton in Gibson TN in 1860 that could possibly be James and Wiley but I am not certain.

My Henry grows up in Calloway Co.,KY with the Spann family and marries Lucy Jane Walston. They move to Texas with their children sometime between 1878-1880.
Henry M Sexton and Lucy Jane Walston's children are:

-Virginia B. b. abt 1867 TN died young
-Mary L. b. 1870 KY married James W. Bowers
-Annie F. b. 1871 KY married Tacitus S Holmes
-Acenith (Ascenthia) b. 1875 KY married Will H. Flanagan and John C. Clark. She had 3 known children with Flanagan and 4 known children with Clark.
-Rueben Thomas b.1878 KY married Elwilder Willie Lewis
-Ella "Ellie" Mehetable b. 1882 TX married Luke H. Morgan
-Minnie Irena b. 1887 TX married unkn Jones
-Bedford Forest b. 1891 TX married Maud Brooks
-Bessie Jane b. 1896 TX married Hiram Fane McMinn
-Emmitt E died young

I am interested in the Spann family and the Sexton family. I am trying to find Henry M. Sexton's parents and what happened to his family.

I do wish I had a picture of Henry.

I don't like not having a face to put with the story that rambles in my head so often.

My posting received several replies, mostly from great grandchildren looking for more information on their grandparents rather than offering information on Henry.

Maybe a trip to Burleson is in order.