Dr. Elias A. Henson
Written by Justin D. Lamb
Dr. Henson with his second wife, Mollie Doc.
The fifth of ten children of Phillip Goodbread Henson and Mary Catherine “Aunt Pop” Johnson, Dr. Elias Alexander Henson was born in July 1843 near Olive. Henson grew up on his father’s large farm and attended school at Maple Springs. Henson was raised a Methodist and was a member of the Maple Springs Methodist Church.
When the War Between the States broke out in the 1860s, the Henson family gave their allegiance to the Confederacy, and in 1864 following the Battle of Paducah, 21 year old Elias Alexander Henson joined the Confederate Army. He served as a Private in the 7th Kentucky Infantry under Colonel Edward Crossland.
By the time of Henson’s enlistment, the 7th Kentucky Infantry’s strength was severely depleted and was the regiment was ordered to report to General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Horses were unavailable, so the men followed Forrest on foot. While serving with 7th Kentucky, Henson saw action in the Battle of Spring Hill, Battle of Brice’s Crossroads, Battle of Franklin, Battle of Selma, and the Battle of Nashville.
With the cause of the Confederacy lost, the 7th Kentucky Infantry surrendered on May 4, 1865 at Columbus, Mississippi and Henson returned home to Marshall County where he returned to farming. Henson married Lavena J. Lamb, daughter of Joseph and Mary Potts Lamb on August 19, 1868 and they had four children together.
While in the service, Henson became interested in medicine and by the mid-1880s, he enrolled at the University of Vanderbilt Medical School in Nashville. Henson graduated in 1890 and began practicing out of his home which was located on the present day Old Olive Road near Fairdealing.
During his years of practice, Dr. Henson was a well respected man of his field. He was known to have a “sure cure for skin cancer” and people would come from miles around seeking his cure. People would show up at all hours of the day and night, some traveling from as far away as Tennessee and Illinois. The concoction included carbolic acid and Dr. Henson would rub it on the affected area and the patient could be heard screaming in agony as the herbal potion burned away the skin cancer.
Dr. Henson (leaning on the post) pictured in front of his home on Old Olive Road with his first wife, Lavena and their three children in the 1890s.
On June 7, 1906, Dr. Henson’s wife, Lavena, passed away and two years later, Dr. Henson married Mary Jane “Mollie” Fields Lamb who was twenty years his junior. Mollie lived across the road from Dr. Henson and was the daughter of Thomas McLean Fields and Aletha Lindsay Fields of Briensburg and the widow of Thomas Marion Lamb of Olive.
Following her marriage to Dr. Henson, Mollie essentially became Dr. Henson’s nurse and became known in the community as “Mollie Doc.” Mollie was very stylish lady who wore very expensive clothing and jewelry and always had a ring on every finger. By the late 1920s, Dr. Henson was forced to retire from the medical practice due to declining health. On July 30, 1930, Dr. Henson passed away at his home after suffering a heat stroke and was laid to rest beside his first wife in the Maple Springs Cemetery. Mollie Doc sold the Henson homestead and moved to Benton until her death in May 1939. She was buried in the Horn Cemetery in Olive.