Why does the state seal on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda have an extra star?
What are the stories behind the Hall of Famous Missourians?
What was Jefferson City like in the 1920s?
History sleuth Henry Gensky has made it his mission to find the answers and share them through public presentations.
A part-time interpreter at the Missouri State Museum, Gensky has had the opportunity to deliver several of his self-researched programs during the museum's monthly after-hours event.
He also has made PowerPoint presentations to the Historic City of Jefferson, of which he is a board member, and other community groups.
Gensky's interest in history began as a child, listening to his aunt tell family stories. For the first 50 years of his life, his fascination with history centered around family genealogy.
Following his retirement from McGraw Edison and Toastmaster after 35 years as purchasing manager and personnel director, he took up the pursuit with a purpose. He and his wife of 65 years, Mardelle, have traveled extensively several times to Europe in search of family lines and locations.
In 2004, Gensky finally saw his years of gathering photos, lineages and documents come together in two published books - one for his side and the other for Mardelle's.
With sources exhausted in genealogical pursuits, he has turned his historic investigation efforts toward Jefferson City and Missouri history.
"I probably should have been a history professor," he joked.
Gensky's first work with the state museum came 22 years ago, when he provided a collection of early city photos to now-retired historian John Viessman for an extensive display on the city's history.
A hometown boy, Gensky benefited from receiving several collections of photographs from other people, including a set of antique negatives from the Kroger family. In total, his collection stands at nearly 1,000 historical and personal photos.
Viessman later brought Gensky on board part-time to help collect oral histories from World War I veterans. After that project was completed, Gensky stayed on, and the oral history program expanded its topics.
Gensky remained in the program until 2009, when he was transferred to the interpretive staff.
Today, he has compiled a series of 15 PowerPoint programs ready for presentation. So far, only a handful have been shared through the Capitol in the last year.
As an interpreter, Gensky also keeps busy in the spring with the wave of school children touring the Capitol, as well as children's programming and the traditional tour programs.
A program he is developing for August will highlight the upcoming total eclipse.
"I have an interest in passing on my knowledge in these programs," Gensky said.
One of Gensky's recent research projects unearthed a home no longer standing in Jefferson City - Maple Terrace. The location is now part of the Missouri River Regional Library.
Maple Terrace, which looked similar to a steamboat with lots of windows and multiple-level, full-length porches, was built by Robert Wells, surveyor, attorney, politician, judge and designer of the Missouri State Seal.
Gensky was exploring the background of the seal when he discovered the interesting character and his home.
He "often talks with visitors about the seal on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda; but he was curious about its creator," the News Tribune reported July 6, 2014.
"There are so many chairs in the Rotunda, we can't always take tours in there," Gensky said.
His interest in the seal and Wells was piqued after reading a 1935 Missouri Historical Review article, which highlighted an 1847 letter written by Wells explaining his work on the seal design.
But, the big break in the case came when Gensky met with Kelly Green Blake, a former regional director from the National Archives, who had done extensive research on Wells' son-in-law Frank White, a noted Union officer during the Civil War.
Other program topics Gensky has shared at the Capitol include The Foot, Jefferson City in the 1960s and the borders of Missouri.
His list of completed PowerPoint programs includes early hotels, Tweedie Footwear, Jefferson City in 1891, House Lounge Murals, the Hall of Famous Missourians, the City Hotel at High and Madison streets and Famous Passenger Seaplanes.
In addition to the collection of books available to the public at the Capitol tour desk, Gensky's research often takes him into the Capitol's legislative library.
"It's a treasure trove," he said.
He also can be found frequently at the Missouri State Archives, Missouri State Library or the Missouri River Regional Library.
Gensky also tracks down rare books and documents, when he can identify them as being important to a topic he is researching.
"One things leads to another," he said. "It keeps you young."
Gensky's family ties to Jefferson City began with his maternal great-grandfather, a Swiss immigrant who carved the grand staircase and Mansard roof at the Governor's Mansion.
His Schmidli ancestor carved pieces of history across town in the late 1800s, including many still-standing downtown facades.
On the other side, his father arrived in Jefferson City as a German immigrant at the age of 14 in 1904.
Tracing the Gensky namesake was one of his less successful works, only going back a few generations to what today is Latvia.
Gensky grew up above the family grocery store, now a city historic Landmark, at 423 E. Miller St.
His father opened his first grocery business in 1915 in the 200 block of Jefferson Street, but the next year he was seriously injured in a horse and wagon accident delivering groceries.
His mother's family had twice cared for Gensky when he was recuperating from the above accident as well as after he contracted tuberculosis a few years prior.
The elder Gensky then opened H.F. Gensky Grocery Store at 423 E. Miller St., living above with his wife, Stella, who also worked at the store.
The couple worked together to provide goods to their neighborhood for the next two decades, rearing Henry and his sister Ruth there.
Gensky remembered his childhood neighborhood fondly, as a place to ride tricycles and play hop-scotch, as well as attending summertime ice cream socials.
Through the years, several distinctive characters from the neighborhood made a mark in Gensky's memory, he told the News Tribune in July 2012.
"Money" Bledsoe was a large, jolly fellow whose pocket change would fall on the floor when he laughed. And Arthur Cole would sit on the weight scale in the back of the store to eat the sardines and crackers he had just purchased.
A third man would always buy a bottle of Vess soda. But what Gensky recalled, as a young child, was he admired his aviator-style cap so much he begged his mother to get him one.
Gensky also remembers the "traumatic affair" when the store was robbed, causing his father to install steel bars on the back windows. Apparently, the thief was motivated by the slot machine in the back, he said.
His father died in 1936, but his mother continued to operate the business with the help of her sister Edna Manes.
After high school graduation, Gensky volunteered for a year of active military duty and six years active reserve during the Korean War.
He attended Jefferson City Junior College before working for a time at the Oberman Manufacturing's purchasing department.
But throughout his life, history has been a central interest. And he expects to continue his historical detective pursuits into the future.
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