Probably not. There are no contemporary accounts of the race between man and machine that made John Henry famous. There were many black men driving steel for the railroads in the 1870s, and that name was common. One researcher found a person who claimed to have witnessed the contest at Leeds, Alabama, but that interview occurred 50 years after the song had been written. Another has found there was a Big Bend Tunnel (featured in the earliest versions of the song), a steam drill, and a man named John Henry, during the construction at Talcott, West Virginia. Another believes it could not have taken place at Big Bend, but it may have been at nearby Lewis Tunnel.
A lot of legends but no concrete evidence. If John Henry was a real person, definitive documentation doesn't exist or hasn't been found. Please see the link below for the complete story.
Henry John Wardell died in 1972.
Henry John Cambie died in 1928.
John Henry Rogers died in 1911.
John Henry Weber died in 1859.
I think John Henry is a real person because semse like he is real.
John Henry is a real person just like you and me!
DR. JOHN HENRY Holliday.
John Denver was born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.
There are various theories about John Henry, with some suggesting he was a real person, while others view him as a figure from folklore or legend. It is unclear whether he was an actual historical figure, as there is limited concrete evidence to confirm his existence.
John Henry Michael McManus
John Denver'S FATHER WAS LT. COL. HENRY JOHN DEUTSCHENDORF SR..(DUTCH)(ret)...JOHN'S REAL NAME WAS HENRY JOHN DEUTSCHENDORF JR..."DUTCH" DEUTSCHENDORF PASSED AWAY ON MARCH 15TH, 1982.
JOHN DENVER'S FATHER WAS LT. COL. HENRY JOHN DEUTSCHENDORF SR..(DUTCH)(ret)...JOHN'S REAL NAME WAS HENRY JOHN DEUTSCHENDORF JR..."DUTCH" DEUTSCHENDORF PASSED AWAY ON MARCH 15TH, 1982.
Johnny Rivers' birth name is John Henry Ramistella.
Interestingly, "John" was his middle name. His real name was Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. He did not like Henry, evidently, because he always used John when performing, and he thought his real last name would be too difficult for people to spell or pronounce, so he changed it to something easier to remember.
His real name was always John. "Jack" is a standard nickname for John, comparable to Dick for Richard and Hank for Henry.
His real name is Mark Jerrold Henry.