The Hendersons One Family’s Legacy: Faith, Virtue, Loyalty Pioneers and Patriots

By Pamela Douglas Brust

Pioneers and patriots, the Henderson family left behind a legacy of historical treasures in word and deed, allowing an unprecedented look into the past.

Their Victorian-era plantation home, constructed in the 1800s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a living monument to those who walked its halls in an unbroken chain of five generations.

Family patriarch Alexander Henderson arrived in Virginia in the 1700s, earning the title of Father of the American Chain Store, counting founding fathers George Washington and George Mason among his friends. He sent three of his sons to what was then the wilds of the Mid-Ohio Valley. The Hendersons took part in what may be the only duel recorded north of the Ohio River and played a role in thwarting the treasonous exploits of Aaron Burr. Some family members also served on both sides during the Civil War, surviving turmoil, treachery, and tragedy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728300023

Pamela Douglas Brust

Pamela Douglas Brust graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and worked for more than 35 years as a news reporter/photographer. She has received numerous awards for her writing including coverage of government proceedings, courts, and social service agencies. She most recently received an Arts and Letters Award from the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society. After spending more than a year working on a preservation project for the Henderson Hall archives, she volunteered to stay on as a historian/research assistant eventually asking permission of the advisory board to write a book about the Henderson family. All the labor and research involved in compiling this book was donated and all proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards the preservation of historic Henderson Hall – a true national treasure. Pamela and her husband Tim live in Ohio. Her sons Timothy Douglas and Patrick Ian are both teachers.

Book preview

THE HENDERSONS

ONE FAMILY’S LEGACY

Faith, Virtue, Loyalty

Pioneers and Patriots

PAMELA DOUGLAS BRUST

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© 2019 Pamela Douglas Brust. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/13/2019

ISBN: 978-1-7283-0003-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-0001-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-0002-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019901626

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1 Where It All Began …

Chapter 2 Father of the American Chain Store

Chapter 3 Alexander Joins Pohick Church

Chapter 4 Alexander takes a Wife

Chapter 5 The Revolution is Coming

Chapter 6 Service on Compact of 1785

Chapter 7 Dumfries

Chapter 8 Journey to the Valley

Chapter 9 Alexander Settles In Burning Springs

Chapter 10 The Only Recorded Duel Fought North of the Ohio River

Chapter 11 Cow Creek Homestead

Chapter 12 John Glassford Henderson

Chapter 13 The Hendersons Thwart Burr, Blennerhassett Conspiracy

Chapter 14 Alexander Henderson’s Testimony At Burr Trial

Chapter 15 John G. Henderson’s Testimony

Chapter 16 Recollections Of Burr Trial Preparations

Chapter 17 A Voice from the Past

Chapter 18 Oil and Gas Boom

Chapter 19 George Washington Henderson

Chapter 20 Slavery

Chapter 21 The War That Tore Families and the Nation Apart

Chapter 22 West Virginia – Born of War

Chapter 23 The Putnam Lawsuits

Chapter 24 Arthur at Washington College; Jock at VMI

Chapter 25 Breeders of Fine Standard Trotting Horses

Chapter 26 The Ladies of The Hall

Chapter 27 Henry Clay - Statesman, Businessman, Family Man

Chapter 28 Jock Bedell Henderson

Chapter 29 Henderson Brothers

Chapter 30 The Hendersons as Inventors

Chapter 31 Grand Ole Man of the Marine Corps

Chapter 32 Family Connections

Chapter 33 The Tomlinson Family

Chapter 34 Sports legend Hobby Hoblitzell

Chapter 35 Williamstown

Chapter 36 Henderson Hall – A National Treasure

Bibliography

"Song, said Life, come close beside me,

Thou art mine, I am thine.

Teach me patience, never chide me.

We will walk, through changing weather,

Down the sunset slope together."

From Anna Rosalie Henderson’s Life and Song

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DEDICATION

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This book is dedicated to the memory of David McKain without whose perseverance and vision Henderson Hall Plantation and its archives might not have survived.

In 2007 after the death of Michael Rolston, the great, great grandson of George Washington Henderson, who built Henderson Hall, the Henderson properties were bequeathed to the Oil, Gas and Industrial Historical Association, founded by and overseen by McKain. The property was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1986.

Taking on the role of executive director for Henderson Hall, Dave spent countless hours at the Hall and traced the Henderson’s footsteps all over the country trying to pull together the threads of their story. At the time of his death he was in the process of writing a book on the Henderson family’s role in exposing Harman Blennerhassett and Aaron Burr’s schemes which ultimately culminated in Burr’s trial for treason.

Dave’s passing in August of 2014 left a great void with the loss of his extensive knowledge. His legacy includes his history-making publications on Wood County, the Civil War and the oil and gas industry.

I originally asked Dave for permission to write a book on the women of Henderson Hall; he suggested instead we co-author a book on the family, noting many visitors to the hall over the years had often asked if there was a book about the Hendersons. Much to everyone’s sorrow Dave passed before those plans could come to fruition. After seeking permission from the board to proceed, I began this journey. I did not ask to be paid for my work, and proceeds from the sale of this book will go to preserve and maintain the incredible legacy the Hendersons have left us.

As homage to Dave, I have titled the first chapter after his groundbreaking book on the oil and gas industry – Where It all Began – I don’t think he’d mind. I hope I have done him and the remarkable Henderson family some small measure of justice in this book.

We miss you Dave –

FOREWORD

After spending more than a year reading the personal letters, business ledgers, journals, diaries, newspaper articles, and looking over maps, legal files, deeds, photographs, and wills of this extraordinary family, more than 8,000 documents were logged in and preserved which belonged to the Henderson family and I felt as though I knew them personally.

Sometimes I felt as if I was a voyeur into their private lives, but Henderson Hall Director Dave McKain would say the Hendersons understood their place in history and their legacy; they wanted people to know and that’s why they left so much behind for later generations.

Piecing together the threads of the Henderson’s story has been both frustrating and rewarding at the same time. I had parts of the whole, and I was determined to find the rest of the treasure map, unfortunately as any historian or and genealogist knows the answer you are looking for may have been lost to time, or never have existed in the first place.

The Henderson’s legacy may include the largest number of intact preserved documents of Mid-Ohio valley history that still exist today and because of the voluminous nature of the archives, information is still being uncovered as those left behind attempt to discern its relevance in the chain of events. The research into this small part of history is, and will continue for some time to be an ongoing adventure.

After the research/preservation project ended in 2014 and the documents that were processed had been safely stored in an environmentally-controlled, secure, off-site facility, I volunteered to stay on as a research assistant/historian and help out at the Hall. The preservation project was made possible by funding through a Special Projects Grant from the Blennerhassett Chapter of the West Virginia State Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and a grant from the McDonough Foundation.

I had discussed the possibility of writing a book on the Henderson family history with Dave and I wanted to see that through so I submitted a proposal to the advisory boards of Henderson Hall and the Oil, Gas and Industrial Historical Association. The completed manuscript was then turned over to the board.

Untold hours of research including trips to Dumfries, Virginia; the Marine Corps Museum; Pohick Church; the Congressional Cemetery and Marine Corps Commandant’s house in Washington, D.C.; stops in Marietta, Ohio, and even back to Scotland and the Old Blantyre Parish Church were a labor of love for me, I asked for no compensation. Proceeds raised from the sale of this book will forever go to benefit the continued operation, maintenance, and preservation of Henderson Hall and its massive and irreplaceable archives.

There are so many people to thank who have helped me on this journey, and I sincerely apologize if I’ve left anyone out. I want to thank Bob Enoch, president of the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society for his unwavering dedication to history and his support in helping me out with microfilm research, providing me with newspapers clippings and other items he came across and his assistance with the final phase of the DAR preservation project.

Debbie Fenton, who has become a friend and is a longtime Henderson Hall docent. Debbie was also supportive of my efforts. I want to thank her for her assistance in finding lost tidbits for the book, for her invaluable assistance with the preservation project and her sustained enthusiasm for this project and my work. She and I continue to work on providing exhibits, displays for Henderson Hall tours.

Randy Modesitt, who took over the reins as director at the Hall, helping in so many ways, sharing information he came across, and most of all for his patience in this quest while at the same time he was working to bring the Hall back to its former glory, and let the public know of the rich resources it holds, all on a shoestring budget.

I want to thank the board of the Oil and Gas Museum and Henderson Hall for giving me permission to write this book and providing the financial assistance to make it happen; it would not have been possible without them.

I want to recognize as well all the hard-working, dedicated volunteers past and present who have donated and continue to donate hours of their labor, talent, skills and knowledge to the Hall everyday including Ed Stoneking whose experience as a tour guide and impressive knowledge of the Hall was very helpful. I also want to thank Rose Russell, and Pat Meister who were helpful and supportive and Charlotte, Randy’s wife who is always there.

Thanks to Ray Swick, author and historian emeritus with the Blennerhassett State Historical Park who was very helpful, sharing his knowledge, wisdom and information. He had worked with the last Henderson family descendant Michael Rolston at the Hall and was given access to some of the Henderson Hall archives while Michael was living at the family home.

I also want to thank Roger Mackey, a local historian who has an incredible collection of historic photos and was kind enough to grant permission to use some of his photographs for this book. I also want to say thanks to Chris Painter who took the photo of Dave McKain used in the Dedication section of the book and gave permission allowing me to use it in the book.

And I always thank my ever supportive, patient husband Tim who listened, or appeared to be listening to my inane ramblings, complaints, writer’s block, allowing office space and time for all my research, and generally indulging me while I was trying to put the book together. I also want to thank my sons Timothy and Patrick for allowing me to take up part of our family vacation time dragging them around to cemeteries, museums, and other Henderson family-related sites in Washington, D.C., and Virginia; Patrick for going with me to Marietta, Ohio in search of a now nonexistent marker, and my husband for indulging me in my search for Rev. Richard Henderson’s church in Glasgow, Scotland, where it all began.

I often wondered why I found myself so captivated by the Hendersons and their story and discovered during this journey that some of their ancestors traversed the Borders area of Scotland where my father’s Douglas Clan once called home. Some of my ancestors, on my mother’s side, actually lived in Dumfries, Va.; I even found one of their names written alongside Alexander Henderson’s name in some documents. Kinship really is in the DNA.

PREFACE

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While events of history occurred at a specific time in a certain place, our understanding of them hundreds of years later is ever-changing. As we uncover new information and make additional discoveries we must be willing to change our views and at the same time step back into our ancestors’ shoes to try and understand their motivations and actions within the perspective of their own time.

Our current mores and ideals may not fit into the cubbyholes of the past and we need to try and understand what drove those who came before us in order to fully understand and appreciate them and be able to put their actions in the proper light.

History is after all a living, breathing entity and our interpretation of it is the result of gathering bits and pieces of information left behind as bread crumbs from some enterprising researcher to try and follow. In the end, we are only as knowledgeable as our sources and they have their prejudices, blinders, preconceived notions, opinions, and unfortunately are often subject to baser emotions to which we, as human beings, too often fall prey.

While there is usually some grain of truth left behind in oral family lore, many times it’s lost, twisted or so obscured it’s difficult to ferret out the actual facts, or it’s just repeated so many times everyone assumes it is a fact. I have attempted to dig deeper and find that truth. It’s been like a treasure hunt and mystery wrapped into one and I am not naive enough to believe that I have by any means discovered everything this incredible family left behind, but at least this is a start.

The adventure with the Hendersons is ongoing as the Hall and its properties only became a truly public entity in 2007. Some pieces of the family history have been disseminated over the years to relatives, libraries, and museums; sold through auction houses, private collections, or lost entirely. But with the volume of documents that have been preserved, this archive has to be one of the most significant in the state.

Henderson Hall Plantation at 517 Old River Road in Boaz, WV stands today as a testament to the Henderson family legacy. The 8,000 square foot Italianate style house was home to more than 150 years of generations of this remarkable Scottish immigrant family.

Family patriarch and wealthy Virginia merchant Alexander Henderson Sr. sent his sons John Glassford, Alexander (Jr.) and James to what was then Harrison County, Virginia back in the late 1700s. They first settled on the Little Kanawha River, calling their new homes Beech Park and Spring Creek. The deeds used beech, oak and sugar trees as markers for the original land surveys.

The family lived for a time in Marietta, Ohio and at the Cow Creek Farm at Willow Island in what is today Pleasants County, WV before coming to the current location of Henderson Hall.

Alexander Jr.’s son George Washington Henderson and his wife Elizabeth Tomlinson lived in a log home on the current property in Boaz originally known as The Briars then Pohick to honor Alexander Sr.’s former Virginia church where he served for years as a vestryman. The older, back portion of today’s mansion saw the addition of the front part of the home which sits on a terrace overlooking the Ohio River in 1859, and the property became known as Henderson Hall.

Educated in the classics and the arts, an unbroken chain of family members have occupied the house. The family’s local land holdings, at one time literally thousands of acres, spread across several counties and included historic Tomlinson Hall in Williamstown.

From the Belvedere to the basement the Henderson home is a living museum, packed with antiques. It is a legacy from generations of Hendersons who left behind family memorabilia in the form of artifacts, family heirlooms, some dating back to the 1700s; needlework, books, Bibles, letters, guns, hand painted dishware, Civil War-era memorabilia, legal documents, inventories, bank and farm records, ledgers, legal papers, wills, receipts, school books, drawings, magazines, newspapers, maps, mementos of childhood, heirloom toys, land patents and their most private thoughts set down in personal letters, journals and diaries.

Dave McKain used to say the Hendersons understood their place in history and wanted to preserve their legacy for future generations, that’s why they kept everything. Fortunately for us, it also provides documentation for the Hendersons’ role in Mid-Ohio Valley politics, their place on the state and national stage while at the same time allowing us a unique and personal look into the past through their eyes.

Walking into the house there is a warm, welcoming feeling and you can almost see the ladies of the Hall in the parlor doing their needlework, looking out the window watching the many peacocks that used to strut around the yard.

The Hendersons were landlords, ran a very large farm with cattle, turkeys, chickens, sheep, and pigs including the prized English Berkshire variety and peafowl. They had orchards, grew produce, had beehives, and raised and bred nationally known Standard Trotting horses. Their farm produce was sought after by the likes of the Heintz Co. in Pittsburgh, Pa. and Biltmore Farms in North Carolina.

Doing business as Henderson Brothers Farms brothers Henry Clay, Arthur Taylor and Jock Bedell ran a successful Standard Trotting Horse breeding and boarding business for more than 30 years. The farm once boasted a race track, large barns and many acres of grazing pasture where older photos show horses peacefully languishing with their offspring.

The brothers started this business soon after Henry Clay Henderson graduated from Dartmouth College and returned home and it continued unabated until a tragic barn fire took the lives of many of the horses in March 1906. With the costs of restarting after the loss of stock and equipment the Hendersons did not go back into the horse breeding business, but the legacy of their prize studs Sacramento and Nutguard’s bloodlines live on in many of the Standard Trotting horses today.

The Hendersons also managed timbering enterprises, were landlords, and had numerous oil and gas wells during the valley’s oil boom days. Two of the Henderson brothers testified in Aaron Burr’s misdemeanor trial in Richmond, Va. and the family felt the turmoil of the Civil War with sentiments among family members falling on both sides.

The family was aware of, and always in search of more information about their Celtic roots, but the means to gather such information in earlier days was much more limited and sources not always reliable or accurate.

Well-educated, influential and well-respected, family members made significant contributions to the community, state and their country forever making their indelible mark on the face of business, politics and the Mid-Ohio Valley leaving behind a true national treasure.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN …

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The Rev. Richard Archibald Henderson served an unprecedented 47 years as minister of the Blantyre Old Parish Church in Glasgow, Scotland.

To find the story of the Henderson family that ultimately ended up in what was then the wilderness of the mid-Ohio Valley we must travel over the sea to Scotland.

Alexander Henderson Sr., progenitor of this contingent of the Henderson family was born March 2, 1738, the youngest son of the Rev. Richard Archibald Henderson.

The Rev. Henderson was born in 1689. Family records provide two different locations for his birthplace; one is in Borrowstouness commonly referred to as Bo’ness, West Lothian on the southern bank of the River Forth, just north of Linlithgow. His birthplace that appears in some other records is Berwickshire, Scotland which is in the Scottish Borders.

The Rev. Henderson graduated from Glasgow University with a Master of Arts degree, and was a student of Theology in 1710. Succeeding the Rev. Matthew Connell on Aug. 1, 1722, Rev. Henderson was called to become the 14th minister of Blantyre Old Parish Church in Glasgow, Scotland where he served for an unprecedented 47 years. ¹

The Rev. Henderson was one of the few ministers who helped Rev. George Whitfield in his Cambuslang work, an evangelical revival period in Scotland. From around February to November 1742 in Cambuslang, crowds would gather in what were known as preaching braes, a natural amphitheater next to the church at Cambuslang to hear Rev. Whitfield and other pastors preach. ²

These Scottish Holy Fairs featured ministers and congregations of several churches coming together for days of fasting, preaching and self-reflection. The minister would call the attendees to repentance and conversion to Christ. Revivalist events like these were held throughout Great Britain as well as what were then the colonies in New England where the movement was referred to as The First Great Awakening.

Blantyre is southeast of Glasgow in south Lanarkshire.

According to church history, Blantyre Parish Church was founded in 1567 by the Rev. William Chirnsyde who had been the priest in charge of Blantyre Priory from 1552 to 1567. The Parish Church was in use from the Reformation until 1793 when it was replaced by a plain, barn-like building on the same site. This was demolished in 1863 when a larger church was erected just yards from the original site. ³

The Rev. Henderson married Janet Cleland, (1710-1784), daughter of the Rev. Robert Cleland on Aug. 2, 1727 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Rev. Robert Cleland was minister at Kilrenny, a parish in Fife.

Sons Archibald, born Nov. 3, 1732, died Jan. 9, 1816; Richard, born Feb. 5, 1736, died Aug. 29, 1802, and Alexander, born March 2, 1738, and died in 1815 in Dumfries, Va. all made their way to the American colonies where they became successful businessmen. Alexander was the patriarch of the family whose three sons would later come to the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Family records list additional children for Rev. Henderson and his wife as: son Robert, born Jan. 1, 1730; Janet, born on Nov. 6, 1743, daughter Margaret, born Jan. 10, 1740.

The Rev. Henderson died Dec. 12, 1769, his wife passed away in November 1784.

The longtime Blantyre pastor is buried in the church’s graveyard. The local council now cares for the site. The oldest gravestone discovered so far in the cemetery dates to 1665. ⁴

The inscription on Rev. Henderson’s tombstone reads: This stone is placed over the remains of the Rev. Mr. Richard Henderson at Blantyre after 47 years spent in faithful discharging of his duties to the people of the Parish who died in the 12th day of December of one thousand seven hundred and sixty nine in the 79th year of age.

The Henderson family has a long history in Scotland/Ireland. Clann Eanruig is Scots Gaelic for Hendersons.

An overview of Henderson family history from the Clan Henderson Society states: "MacEanruig’s proud sons of Henry … the Hendersons, descendents of a King of the Picts. We are a noble collection of five family bloodlines that took hold in Caithness, Glencoe, Fordell, and Liddesdale – by way of the Shetlands and Ulster. Our ancestors are as old a family as any Clan in the Highlands. In the early 16th century young Henry Gunn decided to separate himself from the constant fighting between the Gunn and Keith Clans and his descendants emerged of the Hendersons of Caithness.

"It was James Henderson, a former Lord Advocate of Scotland, for whom the lands of Fordell were erected into a barony in 1511. In the Shetlands, in 1582, the King of Denmark gave the patronymic Henryson to all subsequent generates of William Magnusson. By the 17th century, many of Shetland’s Hendersons migrated to the border regions of Liddesdale and later evidence suggests that large numbers went to Ulster and beyond.

At the time of the massacre of Glencoe, in 1692, our Gaelic-speaking ancestors served the McDonald Chief (Mac Ian) as the traditional pipers of his Clan. Of 38 men, women and children killed that fateful morning (Glencoe Massacre), 22 were Hendersons. ⁵

Officials with the Henderson Clan Society have visited Henderson Hall Plantation on a number of occasions, including holding a regional gathering at the Hall, and have generously supported the Hall.

Of the three brothers who came to America, the Rev. Henderson’s son Archibald became a Glasgow merchant, serving as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Glasgow. He was a member of the famous Glasgow Hodge Podge club, a social/literary society. He is mentioned in a stanza of Dr. John Moore’s famous prose about that club. It speaks of Henderson as Begot, born and bred in John Calvin’s meek faith. ⁶

Archibald was the first of the three Henderson Brothers to venture to the Colonies, going to Virginia as an agent for John Glassford Co. ⁷

The city of Glasgow prospered during the 18th century