The Hendersons

Hello, cousin. I'm glad you stopped by. If you are looking for the John Gordon Henderson and Kathryn Holstein Henderson family tree, it has been moved to a private page. Please contact me for access information.

In my wife's lineage are Roger Toothaker, an accused witch (and a male at that) who died in prison during the Salem witch hysteria, and several Mayflower passengers. Hey, that's pretty good, but in my own family tree is also an accused witch and the hero of an old Scots ballad (Can you be related to a fictional character?). However, none of those folks were Hendersons. As for my Henderson ancestors, as proud of them as I am, they were just ordinary folks, farmers, house carpenters, school teachers, cattle thieves, and the like.

Long lost Henderson cousin, are we related?

1. According to the General Register Office for Scotland, Henderson was 27th on a 1995 list of the 100 Most Common Surnames in Scotland.
2. According to the 2000 United States census, Henderson was the 103rd most common surname in the USA. That's down from 81st most common surname in 1990.
3. Unfortunately, that means that even though you are named Henderson (or your mother was named Henderson), there is an excellent chance that we are not closely related.
4. Even if we share the same surname, you are probably less likely to be related to me than someone named Holstein, Elder, or Work is (simply because none of those names from my mother's and father's mother's side of the family are in the top 1000 most common surnames in the USA).
5. But you are related to me if you can trace your branch of Hendersons to Robert Henderson, who was born sometime in the mid-1700's in Northern Ireland, married Mary (or Mary Ann) Ralston, and emigrated from Tyrone County around 1796, and settled in what is now Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

If you are a Henderson living in North America trying to track down a Henderson ancestor, however, we probably do share some things in common.

1. There is a good chance that you come from Scotch-Irish stock. Many more Scottish immigrants departed from Ireland than emigrated directly from Scotland. Common sense that must have been true of the colonial Hendersons, as well. The Hendersons who emigrated from Scotland directly were most concentrated in the Canadian maritimes, and a few pockets of Virginia and North Carolina.
2. If your ancestors were Scots-Irish (as author and Senator Jim Webb has reconfigured the term), they were Lowlanders, not Highlanders. This is true as well for immigrants from Fife or Edinburgh. Although Henderson was a proud highland name -- except they failed to serve as adequate bodyguards in Glencoe massacre -- highlanders did not emigrate to America in any significant numbers.
3. Before they emigrated to Ulster in Northern Ireland, your Henderson ancestors most likely came from the Scottish Borders. I can't find any record that there was any significant migration from other parts of Scotland, except possibly the urban centers of Edinburgh or Glasgow.
4. If I had to be more specific, I would suggest that if they came from the Scottish Borders, they likely hailed from Eskdale in Dumfriesshire or Liddesdale in Roxburghshire.

On what grounds do I say this?

1. The Ulster Scots (only North Americans seem to call them Scotch-Irish) were almost all Presbyterians who were originally Scottish Lowlanders. After the defeat of the Irish in 1603, the English took possession of the six northern counties of Ulster, and James (I or VI, depending on whether you were English or Scottish) offered land grants to English and Scottish nobility and gentry in order to colonize the new acquisitions with loyal subjects. Impoverished Scottish Lowlanders who lived in sub-marginal land, however, were almost the only people willing to take advantage of the opportunity. I find no evidence that there was significant emigration from Scots living in Fife to have emigrated to Ulster. In addition, it was very rare for any Highlanders (who were primarily Catholic, Catholic-leaning, or Episcopalian) to move to the Ulster Plantation. Historian Horace Edward Henderson goes even further saying that the residents of the Highlands played no role in the settlement of the Plantation of Ulster. In the earliest period of the Ulster Plantation settlement scheme, Highlanders were specifically excluded by King James VI and I. Highlanders migrated far and wide as a result of the Highland Clearances, but not in great numbers to either the United States or northern Ireland. The clearances occurred in the nineteenth century, and most settled in Lowland Scotland or the colonies (Canada and New Zealand especially), and, of course, the United States was no longer a British colony. The date of the Highlander migration, also, only began after the massive Scotch-Irish migration to America was over.
2. Although the Scots who emigrated to Northern Ireland did come from many parts of lowland Scotland, including Fife, where the Henderson name was commonly found, and the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, the highest percentage came from southwestern Scotland and Scottish Borders, areas that were poverty-ravaged, beleaguered by decades of war (between both nations and families), and filled with Presbyterian radicals. The Covenanters were found in Perth and Fife, especially some of the ministers, but their real heartland became the southwestern counties of Scotland.
3. There is documented evidence of a large number of Hendersons living in the Western and Middle Marches at the time of the migration to Ulster.
4. A map in George MacDonald Fraser's book The Steel Bonnets places Hendersons in the border regions of Liddesdale and Eskdale. They were a minor enough family or riding clan, however, that Hendersons are not much mentioned or discussed in the text.

N.B.: My father, on the other hand, is convinced that our Hendersons have some connection with the Henderson family who lived in or at least owned Fordell Castle in Fifeshire. The lineage of one Indiana county family of Hendersons has been traced back to Fordell in Fife. This is not a case of Scottish nobility coming to Pennsylvania. Three Scottish brothers who were at least five generations removed from the Henderson who were Barons of Fordell, came first to Virginia from Fordell. One brother, Alexander stayed in Virginia many years before settling in Kentucky; another, William, moved around a bit before settling in North Carolina; and a third, John, moved to Pennsylvania. His son, John Washington Henderson, became a preacher, one of the first Presbyterian ministers in Westmoreland County (part of which eventually bcame Indiana County). A great nephew of his, also John Washington Henderson, born in Mahoning township in northern Indiana County, later became sheriff of Jefferson County. I have found no record that this family was in any way connected to my family. Since our Henderson ancestors came from Tyrone in northern Ireland, it is not likely that they would have been related to these descendents of the castle-dwellers.

Please don't be disappointed, but, if you were descended from Scottish Border Hendersons or lowlander Hendersons dwelling in Glasgow, Edinboro, Perth, or even Fife, alas, your ancestors...

1. did not wear kilts.
2. did not play the highland bagpipes (at least way back then).
3. spoke Scots English, not Scots Gaelic.
4. were quite an ethnic mix of Danish, Saxon, Angle, Norman, Flemish, and, of course, a little Celtic (unlike the Highlanders who ethnically were quite akin to the Irish).
5. not only weren't related to the unfortunate handful of Hendersons who were slaughtered with the MacDonalds in Glencoe, but would have despised them (since those Glencoe Hendersons were Catholic or Catholic-leaning Jacobites).

Instead,

1. They were probably poor, whether they were urban or rural dwellers.
2. They were most likely hard-working tenant farmers or peasants -- without even a classy name like crofter, since crofters was a euphemism for peasants of the highlands and islands.
3. They might, instead, have been semi-lawless cattle thieves -- more poetically called reivers or riding clans
4. Their outlawry is somewhat in question, however, since they kept their name off a 1587 Scottish Parliamentary list of border families and clans condemned for lawlessness. One explanation is that they were honorable, clean living citizens. The other is that they were thieves, but were simply too minor and obscure to have gained the government's attention.
5. They were filled with poetry and music, as the Border ballads, many of which were collected by Francis Child more than a century ago, indicate.
6. In the 16th century and earlier, they might have been illiterate.
7. They feuded. The Hatfields and McCoys didn't start the tradition in Kentucky. They were just doing what many other Border Scots families had been doing for centuries before them.
8. They were dour. Even centuries ago, Border Scots had a reputation for being silently ill-humored and gloomy.
9. Lawless as their reputation had been, once they got religion, they became stern, forbidding Presbyterians.

These are 52 notable, if not famous, Hendersons that, as far as I can figure, I am not related to (I won't make assumptions about you):

1. Richard Henderson, who financed Daniel Boone, and after whom so many cities and counties in the United States are named. He does appear to be related to the Hendersons of Fordell.
2. Alexander Henderson, the Scottish Presbyterian preacher most responsible for the keeping the Church of Scotland Presbyterian (by preparing the National Covenant of 1638 and serving as Moderator of the Glasgow Assembly at a key time during the early 17th Century).
3. Donald Henderson, the doctor who headed the team that eradicated smallpox.
4. Neville Henderson, the British ambassador to Germany, who advocated the policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany.
5. John Brooks Henderson, a United States Senator who authored the Thirteenth Amendment Abolishing Slavery in the United States and courageously defied the Republican Party leadership in 1868 by voting to acquit President Andrew Johnson at his impeachment trial.
6. Nobel Peace Prize winning Arthur Henderson, a British diplomat who fought valiantly, if unsuccessfully, for disarmament prior to World War II.
7. James Pinckney Henderson, the first governor of the State of Texas.
8. Robert Douglas Henderson, the discoverer of gold in the Klondike.
9. Bobby Henderson, founder in 2005 of the Flying Spaghetti Monster religion. Although some call Pastafarianism a parody developed to protest the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design in the public schools, this church has become "the most logical and fastest growing religion on the planet."
10. Peter Henderson, pioneer seed merchant. A prolific horticultural writer and innovator, he founded his seed and garden supply business eleven years before Burpee.
11. That remarkable Henderson after whom a university in Arkansas ...
12. ... and a desert city in Nevada were named.
13. Hazel Henderson, the noted authority on equitable ecologically sustainable human development and socially responsible business and investment.
14. Elizabeth Henderson, Peacework Organic Farm, is there when you need an expert on sustainability or community supported agriculture.
15. Leading off our musical Hendersons is Hamish Henderson, the twentieth century musical legend, poet, folksong collector, and composer of what many called the unofficial Scottish national anthem.
16. Fletcher Henderson, the real father of Big Band Music and the musician who broke an important color barrier when he joined the Benny Goodman Band, becoming the first black musician to appear on stage with a "white" orchestra.
17. Fletcher's brother Horace was a pretty good musician and arranger, too.
18. Luther Henderson, yet another gifted jazz arranger, was no relation to Fletcher or Horace.
19. Skitch Henderson, the late goateed Tonight Show bandleader, symphony conductor, and composer.
20. Joe Henderson, legendary and Grammy Award winning tenor saxophonist
21. Ray Henderson, the tin-pan-alley tunesmith responsible or co-responsible for such favorites as "That Old Gang of Mine," "The Best Things in Life Are Free," "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue," "You're The Cream in My Coffee," "Button Up Your Overcoat," and "Bye, Bye Blackbird."
22. Chick Henderson, once-wildly popular English singer from the Big Band era, who was the first British soloist to sell a million records.
23. Bill Henderson is a Canadian singer-songwriter and founder of the seminal group, Chilliwack
24. Chris Henderson is enough of a guitar virtuoso that he had a model named after him.
25. Marge Henderson Buell, the creator of Little Lulu, a comic strip from an earlier era.
26. Sam Henderson, from the SpongeBob SquarePants show, is a cartoonist of another era.
27. Zenna Henderson, the creator of the haunting series of sf stories, collectively called "The People." Born a Chlarson, she married into our family.
28. Archibald Henderson, the fifth and longest serving Commandant of the Marine Corps, after whom the first USS Henderson, a navy transport, was named.
29. Major Lofton R. Henderson, a Marine Squadron Commander, who was killed at Midways and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. His heroism was also rewarded by the naming in his honor of Henderson Field in Guadalcanal and the WWII destroyer USS Henderson.
30. Thomas Henderson, Scottish astronomer, who was the first person to measure the distance of a star (Alpha Centauri in 1832/33). A lunar crater is named after him [Not to be confused Odessa Meteor Crater, discovered by Julius Henderson]
31. Shirley Henderson, who portrays Moaning Myrtle, the annoying ghostly character in the Harry Potter films.
32. Colonel Oran K. Henderson, the infamous colonel of the 11th Battalion, who was found not guilty in a court martial related to the My Lai massacre.
33. Colonial timber mill operator Thomas Henderson, after whom the Aukland suburb of Henderson and the Henderson Valley (one of the most prolific winemaking areas in New Zealand) are named.
34. David Bremner Henderson was Speaker of the US House of Representatives from 1899 to 1903. If he did anything remarkable during those years, however, I haven't discovered them.
35. The Brady Bunch's mom (no, Florence didn't change her last name from Hentselberger or Heinderblatt)
36. Lawrence Joseph Henderson, a leading biochemist of the early 20th century, most famous for writing what later became known as the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation.
37. John S. Henderson, Mayan scholar and co-discoverer of the "Cradle of Chocolate."
38. The late Ewen Henderson, ceramist/sculptor and one of Britain's most important contemporary artists
39. Captain James Henderson, who in 1819 discovered (at least for the British) Henderson Island, an uninhabited Pitcairn Island.
40. Laura Henderson, British society lady and theatre impresario personified by Judy Dench in "Mrs. Henderson Presents."
41. Harold G. Henderson, the translator most responsible for introducing Haiku to the English-speaking world.
42. John B. Henderson, the controversial Scottish chess journalist
43. Archibald Henderson, mathematician and colleague of Einstein
44. Donald M. Henderson, dinosaur animator
45. Fergus Henderson, audacious chef and cult hero
46. Chef Jeff is another notable cook and cookbook author.
47. Our athletic kinfolk include Rickey (baseball),
48. Dave (baseball),
49. Hollywood (football), and
50. Paul (hockey) -- Canadians know Paul for "The Goal of the Century"
51. (and 52.) William G. and Tom W. Henderson, pioneer motorcycle designers and manufacturers.

To check on your own ancesters, you can try these genealogical links:

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the world's largest resource centers for genealogical research. Family Search includes a search engine to track down ancestors online. Enter an ancestor's name to match one of the multiple millions that are in its international files. If you are successful, you can then trace the family trees and pedigrees. The database also searches genealogical Web sites beyond those the Church maintains and provides many guides, links, and resources.
• Roots-Web is the home on the Web of Roots-l, the largest genealogy Internet discussion list. In its archive is information about specific surnames as well as advice on obtaining vital records or how to start doing genealogical research on the Internet. You can also join an individual list for a particular surname. Somehow connected to this site are the US GenWeb, Canada GenWeb Project and World GenWeb projects are a volunteer efforts to provide Web access for genealogical research.
• Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet is the richest, most comprehensive collection of genealogical sites on the Web. It is well organized in dozens categories and includes handy cross-references.
• If you need any more, try the Internet Public Library's Genealogy Pathfinder wirh a basic guide and a list of Internet genealogy resources.

A Family of Hendersons Come to America:
The Story of Robert Henderson and Mary Ralston Henderson and a few of their descendants

Note: Many of the family details and stories have been preserved thanks to efforts of many individuals, especially Big Aunt Helen and Little Aunt Helen and Aunt Mitch (Helen Streams and Helen McFarland and Martha Allison), my father Joseph Ralston Henderson, and his cousin Bob Duncan.

First Generation: Robert Henderson and Mary Ralston Henderson

Robert and Mary (Mary Ann Ralston) Henderson were Ulster Scots who were born sometime in the mid-1700's, in Northern Ireland, probably in Tyrone County. A family history at least indicates that Tyrone County was their home before emigrating to the United States. Almost nothing about their life in Ireland is known. They raised a family of six boys and three girls. Probably all of them were born in Ireland. According to tradition handed down through the generations, Robert took part in the Irish rebellions before coming to America. If true, Robert Henderson was possibly a member of the Society of United Irishmen, a organization that united Presbyterian dissenters in Ulster with Catholics from the south in a struggle for an independent Ireland. Inspired by the revolutionary and republican principles of the American and French Revolutions, the group was founded by Wolfe Tone in 1791. There was plenty of political ferment while the Hendersons were still in Ireland, but it was only after the Henderson family had come to America, that the Irish Rebellion of 1798 broke out. In one of the most violent and bloody wars in Irish history, as many as 30,000 men, women, and children may have been killed in the course of about three months. Rebels who were caught but not executed were deported to Australia, but there is no indication that the Hendersons left involuntarily because of Robert Henderson's involvment in rebellious activities. In a quirk of history, members of a later generation of Hendersons lived in the Vinegar Hill section of Indiana, Pa., and that hill may have been named after the site of one of the last battles of the Rebellion of 1798.

The Hendersons were probably members of the Seceders (Associate Presbyterian Church). This speculation is made based on the fact that the next generation of Henderson did not attend the Covenanter Church which was the closest Presbyterian church to them, but helped found the West Union church, which was affiliated with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (which in 1782 was formed to combine the Seceders and Covenanters).

The History of Indiana County, PA, 1745-1880, published by J. A. Caldwell, Newark, OH, 1880, lists the names of their nine children. Unfortunately, it provides no dates and lists first the boys and then the girls, so even their birth order is uncertain.

David

John

James

Joseph

Robert

Alexander

Jane

Isabella

Lucy

No written documentation has been found to indicate from where or when the Henderson family left Ireland or whether or not they all came at the same time. Family tradition, however, tells that the family left together from Londonderry, spent sixteen weeks crossing the Atlantic, and landed in Philadelphia probably in 1896 or 1897. Since we know that Robert and his son Alexander were naturalized as citizens, the family could not have arrived before March 4, 1789, the date that the United States Constitution took effect. Information provided in Caldwell's History of Indiana County (1880) is inexact: "Alexander Henderson was a son of Robert and Mary, nee Ralston, natives of Ireland, who settled about 1796 on what is now the Frank Cribbs farm, Young Township." Records provided by Harry Danner Henderson of Potosi, WI (original source unknown) indicate that two of Robert and Mary's sons, John and Robert, Jr., sailed to America on March 26, 1797, the day after John married Letitia Fullerton, and settled in Conemaugh Township (Saltsburg area of Indiana County). A confused record in The History of Marion County Ohio (1883), indicates that David Henderson, [oldest son of Robert and Mary Ann], and his wife, Elizabeth (Orr) Henderson, "natives of County Tyrone, Ireland, ... emigrated to America in 1791, settling at Shippensburg, Penn., early pioneers. Later, they came to Clarksburg, Ind[iana County, Penn.], remaining a number years, thence came to Marion County, but he died in Delaware, Ohio, in 1834, aged eighty-seven years." Researchers Scott & Kathryn Ives point out that David's dates are probably wrong, since if the Marian History is accurate, he would be a quarter of a century older than the next of his siblings. If the birth date is wrong, the emigration date must also be held in question. However, if either of these two latter accounts is accurate, members of the Henderson family might have traveled across the Atlantic separately over the course of a decade.

The Hendersons were not Indian-fighting frontier settlers. They came toward the end of the wave of the great Scotch Irish migration to America, and they were part of the migration to Western Pennsylvania that occurred after the end of Indian/settler hostilities. Mad Anthony Wayne's troops decisive victory against the Iroquois at the Battle of Fallen Timbers (August 1794) led to the signing of the Treaty of Canandaigua and the Treaty of Greenville (both 1795). These treaties opened up a region which included all of western Pennsylvania to settlement without the threat of Indian resistance.

We have almost no information about the Henderson family's journey to America and what it did before it settled in what is now Indiana County. If the Hendersons followed the usual pattern of settlers at that time, they would have made the move for western Pennsylvania very shortly after the family arrived in the country. The family would have traveled along the public roads, using a wagon. The route they likely would have followed was not far removed from the Pennsylvania Turnpike today. The road went from Philadelphia to Lancaster, through Gettysburg, down into Maryland, and back into Pittsburgh. The Hendersons, without much doubt, would have bought their land from a land company. Land speculators had long before purchased rights to the lands that had been provided to soldiers after the Revolutionary War in lieu of other payment. Now that the land was free of Indian claims and hostilities, the land market became very profitable. Most likely, the Hendersons would have dealt with a land merchant and outfitter in Pittsburgh to acquire the deed and goods to settle it.

The next date in the life of Robert Henderson that is recorded is September, 1809, when he was naturalized as a citizen. Robert died in either 1813 or 1814. The date of Mary Ralston Henderson's death is not recorded. For many years the location of the actual gravesites of Robert and Mary Henderson were unknown. Information provided by Harry Danner Henderson, which at this writing has not been verified, indicates that Robert and Mary were buried in the graveyard of Old Congruity Church, about twelve miles from Saltsburg, across the river in what is now Westmoreland County. Evidence supporting this idea is that the Old Congruity Church was founded as an Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and there was no other Associate Reformed Church in the area until the West Union Associate Reform Church was founded (in part by members of the Henderson family).

Second Generation: Alexander and Hanna Thorne Henderson

First here is summary information about all the children of Robert and Mary Ann Ralston Henderson, derived mostly from as compiled by Scott and Kathryn Ives, one of whom traces family back to oldest son, David Henderson.

David (17??-1834)
Born in County Tyrone, Ireland; died in Delaware County, Ohio.
Married Elizabeth Orr
Known Children: Robert

John (1772-1844)
Born in County Tyrone; died in Pennsylvania.
Married Letitia Fullerton (1777-1858), who was also born in Ireland.
Family lore holds that John and Letitia were married immediately before they left Ireland for Pennsylvania.
Children: Samuel, Mary, Jane, Lucy, Robert, James, Joseph, Letitia, David, William, Andrew, Alexander, Elizabeth

James (dates unknown)
Born in County Tyrone
Married Jane Andrews
Children: unknown

Joseph (1780-1844)
Born in County Tyrone; died on 26 August 1844 in Elder's Ridge, Pa.
Married Mary McComb (1794-1871), daughter of James McComb (1758-1814) & Nancy Agnes Jack (1764-1833)
Children: Robert Ralston, Jane McKnight, Joseph, James McComb, John Fullerton, David Laird, Mary Ann,
Lucinda Smith, Nancy Jack McComb

Robert (1782-1871)
Born in County Tyrone; died in 1871.
Married Margaret Graham (1789?-1864)
Children: unknown

Alexander (1784-1844)
Born in County Tyrone; died in Clarksburg, Pa. (buried in West Union Cemetery).
Married Hannah Thorne on 2 February 1809. Hannah was born about 1780 and died in Clarksburg in August 1844. She is also buried in the West Union Cemetery.
Children: Mary (1809-1883), Robert (1811-1852), Matilda (1813-1855), Margaret (1816-1893)

Jane (dates unknown)
Born in County Tyrone; died before 1860, since her name is missing from 1860 Census.
Married Thomas Hood.
Children: James, Robert, Mary, Veniza, Thomas C., Jane
Note: The Hood farm neighbored the Henderson farm in Young Township and is now owned by a Henderson cousin of mine.

Isabella (dates unknown)
Born in County Tyrone.
Married Edward McKelvey
Known children: Mary (b. 1796)

Lucy (dates unknown)
Born in CountyTyrone.
Married James Smith.
Note: It is believed that a son of the Smiths gave land to his cousin Robert Henderson in exchange for his building them a house.

More about Alexander:

Alexander took over the family farm (the same farm later sold to Frank Cribbs as mentioned in Caldwell's History). Alexander was born in 1784; since the dates of birth of most of his other of his siblings are unknown to us, we don't know for sure where in the family order he comes. It is likely that he came over from Ireland to the United States with the rest of his family in 1796 or 1797. Tradition tells us that he had a reputation for being a hard-working and successful farmer. He was married to Hanna Thorne on February 2, 1809, by the Rev. Joseph Henderson [a relation?]. Hanna was 29 years old (five years older than Alexander) at the time of their marriage. Alexander became a naturalized citizen in December 1811, two years after his father. Robert, Alexander's father, lived with his son on the old farm until his death, according to John G. Henderson, Sr., great grandson of Alexander. Alexander and Hanna had three daughters and one son, Robert. Originally members of the Reformed Presbyterian (Coventer) Church in the village of Clarksburg, both husband and wife were among the founders of the West Union Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. Alexander and Hanna died within one week of each other in August, 1844. He was 60; she was 65. Both are buried in the West Union cemetery.

Alexander and Hanna had three daughters and one son. Mary (1809-1883) married John Robertson. Robert (1811-1852) married Martha Henry, Matilda (1813-1855) married Samuel McLaughlin, Margaret (1816-1893) married John Rosborough.

Third Generation: Robert Henderson and Martha Henry Henderson

Alexander and Hanna's son Robert was born on October 2, 1811, on the Clarksburg farm. When he was twenty, he married Martha Henry. Martha's parents were Robert Henry and Martha McKesson Henry. Although Martha had no formal education, she was self-educated and became known as the "scholar of the family." Originally both Robert and Martha were members of the Covenanter Church in Clarksburg, which her father had been instrumental in founding as one of its first elders, when Clarksburg was still called Blacklegs. When her husband Robert started attending the newly formed Associate Reformed Presbyterian in West Union that his family had helped found, Martha continued to attend the Covenanter Church in Clarksburg. Only several years later, after the Covenanter Church in Clarksburg dissolved, did Martha start attending the West Union Church.

A history of the Covenanter Church in Clarksburg lists several members of the Henry and Henderson family in its original 1831 roll: Robert Henry, Moses Thompson, David Henderson, Robert Henderson, Alexander Henderson, John Coleman, Robert Coleman, William Coleman, James Gray, Thomas Gailey, James Gailey, Miss Ann Gailey, John Henry, Mrs. Margaret Henry, Andrew McCreery, Samuel McCreery, Miss Jane McCreery, Daniel Euwer, Samuel Gilmore, Nancy White, John McCurdy, John Morrison, Thomas Gemmil, Miss Jane McKelvey, Mrs. Martha Smith, Nathan Douthett, Samuel Barr, Mrs. Francis Barr, John Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Kirkpartick and Mrs. Kimbal.

Robert did some farming, but his principle occupation was building houses. He specialized in brick houses and made his own bricks. He may have learned his trade from his father, but this is not known for sure. After he had made several brick houses in the area, he made an agreement with the Smiths (a cousin who was the son of his aunt Lucy) to build a brick house for them in exchange for 100 acres (which was half of their property) in Young Township near Elder's Ridge. The Smiths had been living in a log house which was on the half of their property that was deeded to Robert Henderson, so when the Smiths moved out of the log house, Robert and Martha sold their old homestead to the Cribbs, and moved in the old Smith place. The new living quarters were supposed to be temporary, until Robert could build a brick house for his family. Before he could work on his own house, he was hired to build a brick house for the Hood family on a neighboring farm. About this time, however, Robert became sick with what was called galloping consumption, probably tuberculosis or some kind of pneumonia. After making the bricks, he became too sick to build the house. The Hoods had to hire another builder, who constructed a frame house for them. Robert's ill health became chronic, but after his health improved somewhat, he was able to use the bricks originally made for the Hood house to construct his own house. The house was built on higher ground, where it was though to be healthier, even though the log house was in a "favorable" location near a spring. There are stories of the log house having "running water" -- probably a springhouse trough that ran through the basement of house. The brick house was completed in 1850. Two years later, Robert died. The Henderson, Smith, and Hood houses can all be seen on a plat map of Young Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, dated 1870. The houses are near the western border with Armstrong County just north of the boundary line between the Watson and Elders Ridge districts.

Martha was left with four boys to raise (one child had died in infancy) and a farm to run. As her granddaughter Ethel indicated, she must have been a strong woman. Unusual for a woman at the time, she plowed the fields herself. Perhaps less unusual she smoked a pipe. She was also known for being strict, domineering, and hard to get along with. Her church going independence was one indication. Her relationships with her sons was another. Family lore says her eldest son moved away to Kansas as soon as he was old enough to do so. After the Civil War, her sons John and James almost immediately left home and moved out to what is now College Springs, Iowa, in the southwestern part of the state. The two brothers were part of a large group who followed a preacher from either the Olivet or the West Union Church (or perhaps both). Family tradition says that it was a group of sixteen young men. My grandfather used to recite their names. Many of them may have been comrades in Company D of the 62d Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Another source indicates that 40 people in all, including single young men and some families, were part of the migration.

The children (all sons) of Robert and Martha:

Robert Alexander Henderson b: 1838; d: 15 May 1862; as a member of the 1st Regiment Missouri cavalry he was killed at Battle of the Little Blue Creek.
John Henderson b: 26 November 1840; d: 13 April 1917; served with 62d Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and was wounded at Gaines Mills, Gettysburg, and Spottsylvania Court House; moved to Iowa after the war; was a store owner, carpenter, blacksmith, and undertaker.
James Wilson Henderson, b: ? [died in infancy]
James Ralston Henderson b: 1845; was lame; moved to Iowa after the war, becoming a store owner and postmaster.
Joseph Henry Henderson b: 27 February 1847; d: 11 November 1913; took over the family farm.

Portrait of John Henderson, private in the 62d Pennsylvania Volunteers, Infantry.

Fourth Generation: Joseph Henry Henderson and Jenny Telford Henderson

Martha's youngest son was Joseph Henry. He was fourteen years old when the civil war began. He stayed at home through the war years and beyond, working the farm. Although the youngest, since all his brothers moved west or died in the war, Joseph took over the farm. He married Jennie (Prudence Jane) Telford two days before Christmas in 1874. He was 27; she was 23.

After the marriage of her son, when Jennie moved into the brick house, Martha moved out into the old log house. There she shared the quarters with a woman, Liza Bean (Been, according to the 1860 Census). Liza was known as quite a character, an old maid, but she was hard working and also known for being "a good person to have around." Martha lived another 19 years, continuing to help with the farm work until the end. She died at aged 86 in 1893 and was buried in the West Union Cemetery. Liza Bean stayed on the farm after Martha's death and later took care of Jennie when she took ill.

Because his wife was the daughter of a preacher and sister to a preacher and a lawyer, Joseph Henry Henderson seemed to have felt the need to prove that farming was a profession equal to the others. He advocated scientific farming, built the first silo in Indiana County, and acquired a herd of registered Guernsey cows -- the westernmost herd in North America at the time. They had eleven children, and all who survived childhood not only received a high school education at Elders Ridge Academy, but went on to some higher education.

The children of Joseph and Jenny:

[Martha] Mabel Henderson Rogers b: September 1875; schoolteacher, lived in Indiana, Pa.
Mary Hadessa (Dessie) Henderson Duncan b: July 1877; married a farmer.
Cree Telford Henderson b: July 1879; was studying to be a school teacher at Valparaso, when a summer job in the Pacific Northwest turned into a career as a railroad engineer.
Eva Belle Henderson b: September 1881; moved to Idaho and raised a family.
Robert A Henderson b: November 1883; became a banker and industrialist in Meadville, Pa.
James Stewart Henderson b. 1885; d: 1890; died of diphtheria when aged 5.
John Gordon Henderson b: September 1887; after taking the short program at Penn State, took over the family farm. See below.
Harry Oram Henderson b: November 1889; earned his doctorate in dairy science and headed the dairy program at West Virginia University.
Ethel Kathryn Henderson Ross b: July 1892; taught school and raised a family; lived in many places including New Castle, Pa., Dryden, NY, and St. Louis, Mo.
[Sarah] Helen Henderson Streams b: 2 Aug 1896; became a schoolteacher, lived most of her life in Indiana, Pa.

Fifth Generation: John Gordon Henderson and Kathryn Holstein Henderson

Two of Joseph and Jenny's sons, Harry Oram and John Gordon were close in age. They traded turns going to the agricultural college at Penn State. After each had received two years of schooling, the brothers decided that Harry was better fitted to continue at Penn State and John was better fitted to take over the family farm. Harry O. Henderson, went on to earn a doctorate in dairy science, wrote a standard textbook in the field, and was head of the dairy program at West Virginia State University.

John Gordon Henderson was born in 1886. He married Sara (I have also seen it spelled Sarah) Kathryn Holstein. Kathryn, better known as Kate, was a loving women, but one of her daughters informed me that unlike her husband who teased and joked a lot, Kathryn did not exhibit a broad sense of humor. It was probably not amusing to her if someone pointed out that a Guernsey farmer married a Holstein.

Children of John Gordon and Kathyrn Holstein Henderson and beyond . . .

The youngest members of the Henderson clan not only extend the Hendersons living in the United States of America to the ninth generation, but four of them are the seventh generation of Hendersons to live at Richland, the Henderson family farm.

The family tree of John Gordon Henderson and Kathryn Holstein Holstein is continued on a private page reserved for kith and kin. If you are a family member, please contact me, and I will gladly let you know how to access the page.

Other related family tree and genealogical Web sites

Craig Fleming TribalPages [Password 121437, if necessary]

Through Robert & Martha Myrtilla Coulter Holstein, we share many of the same relatives with the Craigs, and many Hendersons will be found within Bob Craig's Web site.

The Craig & Fleming Genealogy Home Page

Another effort by Bob Craig, with pictures of many of our relatives or near relations.

Henderson of Southwest Michigan

Compiled by Scott and Kathryn Ives. Scott is a descendant of Robert and Mary Ann Ralston Henderson, through their son, David.

Interactive Map of Indiana County, Pennsylvania

Using maps taken from the 1871 Beers Atlas, you can explore the whole county or a village or township. The Hendersons will be found on the Young Township map.

Indiana County Genealogy

from RootsWeb, including its own resources and links other online resources such as maps, cemetery records, church and military records, and surname lists.

Historical & Genealogical Society of Indiana County, Pennsylvania Gateway of Resources

Links and advice.

Coal Dust: The Early Mining Industry of Indiana County

Stories of Iselin, Whiskey Run, and some other places you might have heard the old timers talk about.

A Near Relative Near Lincoln

My grandfather John G. Henderson married Sara Kathryn Holstein. My grandmother's great aunt, Anna Holstein, also served in the Civil War. After a long struggle with her conscience, feeling "an uncontrollable impulse to do, to act, for anything but idleness when our country was in peril," she came to Antietem with her husband and six women from her neighborhood to help care for the wounded. She "shrank instinctively from such scenes, and declined to join the party," but after then had something of an epiphany experience and so changed her life. "The first wounded and the first hospital I saw I shall never forget, for then flashed across my mind," she wrote later. "'This is the work God has given you to do.' and the vow was made, 'While the war lasts we stand pledged to aid, as far as in our power, the sick and suffering. We have no right to the comforts of our home, while so many of the noblest of our land so willingly renounce theirs.'" She became active with the Sanitary Commission, and served in the tent hospitals of the Second Army Corps and was present many other battlefields, including Gettysburg. She became Matron of the Second Corps Hospital at Gettysburg and remained there five months, until it was closed at the time of the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. She was an invited guest at the dedication and was on the platform behind Lincoln when he gave his Gettysburg address. In January 1865 she and her husband when to Annapolis "to do what they could for the returned Andersonville prisoners."

Anna Holstein gained some short-lived fame when her story was published in the book Woman's Work in the Civil War: a Record of Heroism, Patriotism, and Patience, Philadelphia, Zeigler, McCurdy & Co., 1867 (pages 251-259), one of the first books written about women and the war. This book is available online through the Making of America series. Also in 1867, J. P. Lippincott, Philadelphia, published a book written by "Mrs. H." about her Civil War experiences entitled Three Years in Field Hospitals of the Army of the Potomac. Researcher Jim McDonell has informed me that from the details of her chronicles, he has been able to determine that Anna Holstein was the author.

Can you be related to a fictional character?

The great great grandmother of John G. Henderson was Martha Tilford, who was accused of being a witch in Salem, New York. She and her husband, George Telford were born in Liddesdale, which is a particularly stark, bleak part of the westernmost Scottish Middle Marches. The area was famed as the home of the worst of the Border reivers. George MacDonald Fraser, in his book The Steel Bonnets, called Liddesdale the "cockpit of the the Border and home of its most predatory clans." Liddesdale was the locale of an old ballad, "Jamie Telfer in the Fair Dodhead," Child 190.* Was Jamie Telfer the ancestor of Martha Tilford, George Telford, or both? The Oxford Dictionary of Surnames indicates that Telfer has many variant spellings including Telford, Tilford, Telfair, Tolver, Tailleferre, and Tulliver.

There is no evidence outside the ballad of an historical Jamie Telfer, and there is some question about what and where the Dodhead was. However, landmarks of Liddesdale are featured prominently in the ballad, and others mentioned in the ballad are historical figures from the time of the 1580s, including the Captain of Bewcastle; Martin Elliot; "Auld Buccleugh" of Branxholm Hall, whose real name was Walter Scott, and who was an ancestor of the poet and novelist); and a Martin's Gibb (Martin's Hab in the ballad). If Jamie Telfer, real or invented, was stealing cattle in 1580, that's about the right amount of time for George Telford to be Jamie Telfer's great grandson. So my great grandmother's great grandfather's great grandfather could be the hero of the ballad, fictional or fictionalized.

The ballad extends through 41 verses (more or less depending on the version), but in a nutshell, it tells the tale of poor Jamie whose ten cattle are stolen by the wicked English Captain of Bewcastle. Jamie threatens to take revenge against the Captain of Bewcastle. The captain laughs at him, since Jamie's only weapon is an "auld sword without a scabbard that scarcely now would fell a mouse." Jamie then runs out barefoot in the snow to round up his neighbors. The first neighbor he meets rejects him because Jamie hasn't been paying him blackmail, but Jamie then is successful in recruiting his brother-in-law and some other neighbors to join him. They eventually battle the English Captain, killing fifteen of English soldiers, shooting the Captain through the head, and in exchange for the ten cattle Jamie lost, taking back thirty and three. Lovely, eh?

Sir Walter Scott appears to have altered the ballad from the original to make his family appear to be the heroes. In the original the Scots refuse Jamie for his failure to pay blackmail, and it is the Elliots who come to his aid. In Scot's version, it was the Eliots who refused Jamie, and the Scots who rode with him against the English.

In case you wish to visit the fictional home of a fictional relative, Scot places the Dodhead at a "near Singlee, in Ettrick," but Andrew Lang, in his notes of the ballad, says Scott is wrong and places the Dodhead "near Skelfhill, on the southern side of Teviot, within three miles of Stobs." In both cases the Dodhead would have been well within Liddesdale.

*Child 190 is shorthand for the 190th ballad listed in Francis James Child's collection of English and Scottish popular traditional ballads. "Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead" is also found in Sir Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Borders .

This page maintained by: John R. Henderson (jhenderson@ithaca.edu), Ithaca College Library.
Last modified: June 15, 2008
Author: John R. Henderson, Ithaca College Library
URL: http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/henderson.html