Henries was orphaned at age sixteen years old when his parents died in 1924.

[citation needed] Henries graduated at the top of his class from the College of West Africa in 1927.

Because he had had a difficult time putting himself through high school, he decided not to go to college.

Henries was subsequently appointed as an associate professor of mathematics a few months after his graduation from Liberia College.

Henries was one of the thirteen Americo-Liberian political leaders who were executed in the 1980 Liberian coup.