Henry was born in 1878 to a poor religious family. He obtained a fifth grade education before he began working on his family farm. By age 21, he married his step-sister Mollie, and they had two daughters. In the summer of 1910 while working as a sharecropper, Henry was involved in a racially motivated fight with several white men. Fearing for his life as well as the life of his family, he fled to a small rural area in Georgia. He changed his identity, and later married a young woman named Patsy, and they had eight children. In 1943 Henry's oldest daughter from his second wife became friends with another young lady at work. One day they were talking about their families, and the young lady heard a story similar to what her grandmother had told her. When the young lady went home to visit with her family, she told her grandmother about the story that she had heard. Her grandmother decided to come back with her to see if the story was true. She was surprised to find out that her brother, who she thought was dead, had changed his identity, and had another family. His identity remained a secret until 1958.