A banker and stockbreeder of Denison, was one of the most prominent men in western Iowa, and without more than a passing mention of him and his stock interests, a history of Crawford county would be incomplete. W. A. McHenry was born in Almond, Allegany County, New York, March 6, 1841, son of James and Sarah (Allen) McHenry, the family being of Scotch-Irish extraction. Major John McHenry, great grandfather of W. A., emigrated to New York in 1739, and in the First New York Battalion, during the French War of 1756, served as Major. His son, Captain Henry McHenry, grandfather of our subject, was a Captain in the Second United States infantry in the Revolutionary War. James McHenry was a Lieutenant in Captain Van Campen's Company of New York Rifles in the War of 1812, and W. A. McHenry was First Sergeant in Company L, Eighth Illinois Cavalry in the late war. It is thus shown that Mr. McHenry and his ancestors for four generations have served their country faithfully. The boyhood days of Mr. McHenry were spent in his native State. At the age of fourteen, he came West, spent four years in Wisconsin, and from there went to Ogle County, Illinois. He enlisted there October 5, 1861, in Company L, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, and re-enlisted in January 1864, serving until the war closed, and was mustered out at Chicago, July 23, 1865, as Orderly Sergeant. Mr. McHenry was married in January 1864, to Mary L. Sears, a native of Massachusetts, daughter of David G. and Olive (Deming) Sears, and at the time of her marriage was a resident of Rockford, Illinois. During the time that Mr. McHenry was in the war, after his marriage, his wife was in Denison, Iowa, acting as Deputy County Treasurer. Mr. McHenry's brother being Treasurer of Crawford County, so, as soon as he received his discharge, he came direct to Iowa. Here he formed a partnership with his brother Morris in the banking and real estate business. In 1877 he purchased his brother's interest, and has since operated the business in his own name. This was one of the first banks established in Crawford County. It was continued as a private bank until Aug. 1, 1892, when it was changed to the First National Bank, incorporated, with a capital stock of $100,000 with Mrs. Henry its president and principal stockholder. It was begun in a small way and has grown until it is now one of the most substantial monetary institutions in the State. While Mr. McHenry has been very successful in the various enterprises with which he has been connected, it is probably as a stockbreeder that he is most widely known. He is the owner of the "McHenry Park Farm," which comprises 320 acres, located just outside the incorporated limits of Denison, and which is complete in all its appointments. Here Mr. McHenry is engaged in breeding the Aberdeen-Angus cattle, the name being derived from Aberdeen and Angus counties, Scotland, where the Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association was formed about the year 1860. It was then that this particular breed of cattle received its name. He is president and one of the directors of the American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association, and devotes much time and energy to the advancement of its interests. Besides his stock farm and city property, Mr. McHenry owns a number of other farms, making in all some 4,000 acres, the most which is in Crawford County. He and his wife have four children: Sears, who is cashier in his father's bank; Jennie, wife of Louis Seemann, who is an assistant in the bank; Abbie, and George. Mr. McHenry was actively identified with the G. A. R., and she with the Woman's Relief Corps. He has held the office of Department Commander of Iowa, while his wife has filled the positions of Department President, Treasurer and Counsellor, and has also had the honor of being National President.