Henninger was given the title captain by the other miners he worked with as a sign of respect. Henninger married a California Indian known as Teresa. Their firstborn, a son named Natividad, was baptized at the San Gabriel Mission on December 1858. They had three daughters: Louisa, Susana, and Jesefa. Louisa Henniger had three children by David de la Ossa, son of Rita de Guillen de la Ossa, daughter of Eulalia Perez de Guillen Marine, keeper of the keys at Mission San Gabriel (less than eight miles due south).
