John Henry was born March 17, 1820 at the Henry farmhouse, which is now a part of the Oshawa Community Museum. His parents were Thomas Henry and Elizabeth ‘Betsey’ Davies. 
Thomas was the harbour master, a minister and a local celebrity due to his skill as a public speaker. He supported his family by farming on the same land that belonged to his father, located in present day Lakeview Park. During the Rebellion of 1837-38 both Thomas and his son John were involved in the uprising, although in markedly different roles. 
Thomas, who was noted as being an ardent Loyalist but with rebel sympathies, gave testimony that saved his friend Dr. Hunter from being found guilty of Treason. John’s participation was much more hands on than his father’s and subsequently more dangerous. At the tender age of 17, John was aiding, abetting and associating with known Rebels. 
The Henry homestead and barn served as temporary quarters and a place to hide out for many suspected reformers. 
In one incident, John needed to get 12 rebels that were in a house three miles away to the lake for passage to the United States. Realizing there were patrols of Loyalist troops out, he left the house with his father’s horses but without his father’s knowledge. He attached as many bells as he could to the sleigh and drove out noisily at midnight to rescue the dissenters. 
By making so much noise, John freed himself from any suspicion by patrols and got the men onto a boat in the harbour by daybreak. 
Another incident illustrates just how deeply John sympathized with the rebel cause. After his father had cleared Dr. Hunter from charges, further information came up that threatened to put the doctor under arrest again. Fearing for his life, Dr. Hunter went into hiding in a shack a few kilometres from the Henry farm and arranged for John to get him across Lake Ontario. 
He was forced to hide in the bush for two days while John made arrangements with the captain of the vessel, Jesse Trull. On the third night, John and Dr. Hunter stealthily traveled from a cabin to the lake and boarded a small boat in rough conditions to transport the doctor to his get-away. 
John made the doctor lie down in the bow while he rowed the boat beside the larger vessel that was bound for New York State. 
The doctor then boarded the vessel and was hid in a secret compartment while Jesse Trull’s brother, Lieutenant John Casey Trull, a Loyalist, was inspecting the boat. 
Dr. Hunter successfully reached the United States and John was never implicated in any rebellious activity during the uprising. Had the two been caught they would have both surely been executed for their crimes.
He later married Elizabeth Paight and spent much of his life working as a salesman for the Armstrong Carriage Manufacturing Company and the McLaughlin Carriage Company.  John died in 1885 and is buried in Union Cemetery.