Were our Henderson Ancestors Among the Jacobite Convicts Who Arrived Aboard the Friendship in 1716?

The short answer to that is, "No."

If you want the long answer, including an explanation of how this story ever got started in the first place, read on.

It has recently come to my attention that there are still some researchers of our Onslow County NC Henderson family line who have not had the opportunity to correct a piece of misinformation that began circulating on Electric Scotland about a decade ago.

In a biographical sketch of Chatham County NC Henderson progenitor Argalus (Hercules) Henderson, son of James (Isaac) Henderson Jr. of Onslow County NC and grandson of Mariner James Henderson Sr. of Somerset County MD, it was stated that:

"James Isaac Henderson Sr. and his son James Isaac Henderson Jr. [could be traced] from their arrival from Scotland on the convict ship called S. S.Friendship in 1716 and their indentured servitude at Annapolis, Maryland until their freedom about 1732 when they arrived in Orange County, North Carolina and started a new life. Despite the hardships of losing land and holdings in Scotland by English and sold into slavery in the Colonies, James Sr. and Son endeavored to persevere in continuing the Henderson name here in U. S. and as a result there are many hundreds of thousands of direct descendants of James Isaac Henderson Sr. here in U. S..."

First, I realize I'm getting off on a tangent here, but I'd like to point out that we have no evidence that there was ever a "James 'Isaac' Henderson Senior." We don't know what Senior's full name was. At this point, every record I have ever encountered that mentioned either man, whether in Maryland or North Carolina -- and I have encountered many -- either called them simply "James Henderson," "James Henderson Senior" or "James Henderson Junior," with one exception. On one occasion in one North Carolina record, James Henderson Junior is called "Isaac Henderson."  Not "James 'Isaac' Henderson" -- just "Isaac Henderson." I have written an entire blog article to clarify the use of the name "James 'Isaac' Henderson" -- which I normally use just to distinguish the younger Henderson from the elder when I'm writing about either. (I normally distinguish Senior as "Mariner James Henderson," -- because that's what he was.) If you are among those who have the name "James Isaac Henderson Senior" in your database, please read the blog article and make the necessary corrections to your data.

And not to pick nits, but "many hundreds of thousands of descendants?" Well, I guess it's technically possible, but...that's a lot of descendants. To be fair, Genghis Khan has about 16 million living descendants. Of course he also had about a hundred wives and lived in the 1100's so they've had more time to multiply. I won't argue that there aren't a lot of us Eastern Shore Henderson descendants. There are. Just sayin'...

And one more thing. Neither James Henderson arrived in Orange County NC in 1732. Neither James ever lived in Orange County. Onslow County NC was formed in 1732 and Mariner James Henderson Senior was apparently already there at its formation and appears in the very earliest records. His grandson, Argalus, would move inland to Orange County later in the 18th century.

But I digress.

So back to the topic of the article -- the assertion that our Henderson ancestors of Orange/Chatham and Onslow Counties, NC, arrived as convicts aboard the Friendship. This is something that I've actually addressed online before, but I hope that by devoting a blog article to it, it will be picked up in Google searches and more widely read so that folks can correct their information.

There was in fact a Jacobite convict named Robert Henderson who arrived among a cargo of eighty "Rebells Transported in the Shipp the Friendship" in August of 1716. These Jacobites had been taken prisoner at Preston in Lancashire during the rising of 1715-1716 and loaded aboard the Friendship in Belfast for transportation to Annapolis (a colonial port with a thriving trade in convict indentures). The unfortunate Robert -- the only Henderson aboard -- was sold to Edward Penn, a wealthy planter of Anne Arundel County.

There was also a James Hendry aboard (sometimes transcribed as Hendrick). But there was no "James Isaac Henderson" (nor a "James Henderson" of any variety) aboard that ship.

So why did anyone ever think there was?

A careful reading of the transcribed (not original) records on ImmigrantShips.net quickly reveals that the name "James Henderson" is given as the purchaser of the bonds of prisoners David Steward and Henry Lumsdale or Lumsden (the latter of whose descendants think he may have been taken to Virginia). Although there was a separate entry for each purchase, I have no more reason to believe that there were two James Hendersons buying prisoners that day than I have to believe that there were four Daniel Sherwoods, three Aaron Rawlings's, or five William Bladens (see transcript).

So is it safe to assume that there was probably just a single James Henderson buying indentures on that August day? Probably not. The Henderson buying convict bonds in Annapolis was more likely to have been Jacob Henderson, but until I can examine the primary source document, I can't be sure.

John Thomas Scharf's History of Maryland: 1600-1675 records the buyer of Steward and Lumsdale's indentures as Jacob Henderson, not James (page 387).* Sometimes the names James and Jacob were used interchangeably, so without the original list to examine, I cannot be sure. Even were it written "James," we cannot rule out the possibility that the purchaser was actually Jacob. (In the way that supporters of King James were called Jacobites.) I have checked Ancestry.com to see if the the original records are among their scanned documents, but could not find them.

However, if the purchaser was actually Jacob Henderson, as I suspect,** then mystery solved, because we know very well who Jacob Henderson of early 18th-century Annapolis was. He was an Irishman and an Anglican rector, first in Delaware, and later in the Annapolis area. In 1713 he married the wealthy widow of Henry Ridgely, instantly elevating himself to the landowning class in Anne Arundel County. He was a contemporary and social equal of a number of other men buying bonds in Annapolis that day, including Benjamin Tasker (who would become mayor of Annapolis and a proprietary governor), William Bladen (attorney general), Mordecai Moore (a physician), and prosperous planters Aaron Rawlings and Daniel Sherwood.

But if a James Henderson (and not Jacob) was the actual purchaser of Steward and Lumsdales bonds -- and I seriously doubt it -- then could he have had any connection to our Hendersons of the Eastern Shore?

Hard to even speculate, and I hate to do so since I'm relatively certain the records are referring to Jacob. However...

James Henderson Sr., our line's direct ancestor and the progenitor of the Eastern Shore Hendersons (across the bay) was long dead by 1716. I get the impression his youngest son, James Jr. of Somerset County, was usually skint, and probably didn't have the funds -- or need -- for indentured men. (But that's just speculation on my part.) It might have been Old James's grandson, James Henderson of Pitt's Creek Hundred, son of John Sr.

Or not.

Maybe it was our line's Mariner James Henderson Sr., the first to move to Onslow County NC from Maryland. But he was probably youngish to have the funds to lay out for two indentured men in 1716 (about 20-25 years old), and he made his living as a mariner, so he's not likely to have needed laborers, although it's conceivable he might have been at the sale acting on behalf of the owner of the whatever ship he was sailing for at the time...or perhaps for his sawyer father, William Henderson. I can't rule him out, but he just doesn't seem a likely candidate to me.

So if this record has any connections to our Hendersons of the Eastern Shore -- and again, I doubt it -- then it would have to have been one of those three living adult Jameses. I don't recognize any of the other purchasers as men of Somerset County, so it doesn't appear to me that a contingent of monied Somerset Countians had sailed across the bay for a spot of shopping in the labor markets.

If Henry Lumsdale was taken back to Virginia by his purchaser, I would tend to suspect that any purchasing James Henderson might belong to the Virginia Tidewater Hendersons (another very old line, but one whose research has many gaps due to courthouse destruction during two wars).

So we are left with some ambiguity about the identity of the Henderson buying convict bonds in Annapolis in 1716. But what we are not left with is any doubt whatsoever that the James Hendersons (Junior and Senior) who were living in Onslow County NC in the 1730's were not Jacobite convicts transported to Annapolis aboard the Friendship in 1716.

We have enough evidence (including Y-DNA) at this point to confidently state that Mariner James Henderson Senior who moved to early coastal NC was from the Henderson family of Maryland and Virginia's Eastern Shore. We are reasonably confident he was the son of William "the Sawyer" Henderson and his wife, Sarah Bishop (probably a daughter of Lt. Henry Bishop's second marriage to Ann, the widow Bowen). Recent autosomal DNA matches in our family line have supported the Bishop connection.

William "the Sawyer" Henderson was the second son of immigrant James Henderson Sr., who is first found in Northampton County VA records in 1661along with suspected kinsman Gilbert Henderson. Although we cannot yet connect this Henderson family back to Scotland (any online tree claiming to do so should be considered suspect unless they provide iron-clad documentation), we know that by 1716 this Henderson family had been in the New World for over half a century.

*Carl Boyer's Ship passenger lists: the South, 1538-1825, Volume 3 also lists the buyer as Jacob Henderson.
** So far, Jacob Henderson is the only Henderson I have found in the Annapolis area during the first two decades of the 18th century.

Seeking Researchers of the Newbold Family of Somerset Co MD, Sussex Co DE, Onslow Co NC or the Caribbean

I just posted this query to the Newbold Family message board on Ancestry.com. In order to give it the widest possible audience and chance of a response, I am duplicating it here on my blog.

I am researching the Henderson family of Somerset County MD and as part of that, am trying to clarify their connections with the 17th-century Newbold family.

Comfort, the daughter of John Henderson, is believed to have married Francis Newbold, s/o Thomas and Jane Newbold, as early as ca 1715. I have gathered from other posts on Ancestry and online that Thomas Newbold may have been a "Merchant of London" originally from Derbyshire or Leicestershire, who emigrated to Accomack County VA ca 1674. Many online sources give his wife's name as "Jane Layfield." I don't know what proof there is of her surname, but the Layfields were in proximity at the time, and were also connected to the Hendersons.

According to online genealogies, Thomas Newbold and Jane Layfield had at least two sons, John and Francis, both said to have been mariners. There is apparently a strong seafaring tradition in the family, and the children of both of these brothers were known to have traded along the eastern seaboard and into the Caribbean. This fact, combined with the Henderson's strong connections with Onslow County NC, makes me think that the Newbolds of Onslow County NC and possibly also of the Caribbean, may trace back to these two brothers?

The Francis Newbold I am working on is found living in the Somerset Co MD household of John Henderson in 1725 (although he is found as the head of his own household in Somerset until at least 1740, after which Somerset County split and tax lists from the new county, Worcester, are not available). Wife Comfort Henderson Newbold is mentioned in John Henderson's 1743 Worcester County MD will, so we know that she was still living as late as 1743, which would mean that some or all of Francis's children belonged to *Comfort Henderson Newbold,* not to the "Mary" he was married to at the time he wrote his 1777 Sussex Co DE will (again, assuming that the Francis Newbold who d in 1777 Sussex Co DE was the same as the one in earlier Somerset Co MD). Most online genealogies I have seen so far attribute all of Francis's children (possibly an incomplete list based on those living at the time of his will) solely to Mary.

It is possible that researchers are mixing two Francis Newbolds, but it seems unlikely, unless perhaps he had a same-name, same-generation cousin in the same county at the same time (always a possibility, as any researcher knows). I believe it more likely, however, that researchers are simply unaware of Francis's first wife, and assume Mary was his only wife. If I am wrong, I hope someone will please contact me and help me sort this out. Additionally, I would like to correspond with descendants of this couple who might also be interested in the Henderson side of the family.

If any interested descendants or researchers would care to work with me on this line to help me clarify the Newbolds, or to learn more about the 17th-century Hendersons of the Eastern Shore, please contact me at info.itsallrelative@gmail.com

ISO A Direct-line Male Descendant of Gilbert Henderson of Northampton and/or Accomack Counties, Virginia (ca 1652+)

I am currently in search of a direct-line male descendant of Gilbert Henderson of Northampton and Accomack Counties, Virginia, to do a Y-DNA test for our Henderson family. We hope the results of the test will reveal whether or not Gilbert was related to James Henderson Sr. who can be found in records of those counties contemporaneously. We have a number of strongly-matching DNA signatures for descendants of James, but no tests for any of Gilbert's descendants.

Gilbert Henderson (frequently also spelled Gilbert Hinderson) first appears in the records of Northampton County, Virginia, in  May of 1652 when Thomas Johnson Jr used him as a headright to patent 450 acres in the Pongoteague Creek area.

This does not necessarily mean that Gilbert was an indentured man of Johnson's, nor does it mean Gilbert ever lived on or near the Pongoteague Creek property, nor does it even mean that 1652 is the year Gilbert arrived in Virginia. Headright certificates could be bought, sold, traded and held for years before an owner used them to stake an actual claim to property. (Due to systemic fraud, a person could even be claimed as a headright of multiple properties for various enterprising land grabbers.) The only thing we can know for sure from this record is that Gilbert Henderson had entered the colony of Virginia sometime prior to May 1652. He may have been an indentured man to Johnson. He may have lived on the property Johnson patented. But then again, he may not have.

In 1657 Nicholas Waddelow assigned a 400 acre patent  called "Gabriel's Island" to Robert King, John Watts, Gilbert Henderson and Robert Blake (the latter of whom deeded his quarter back to Waddelow's widow). It is not clear what Gilbert did with his portion of the island (now called Watts Island). The records tell that "after severall other assignments" the island was sold to Walter Taylor.

Gilbert makes his next appearance in the records of Hungars Parish (Northampton County, VA) on 25th March 1660 when he married Mary Major, daughter of William and Mary Major. Here he is called "Gilbert Hinders." In April of 1661 the couple baptized their only known daughter, Bridget (entered in the parish register as "ye daughter of Gilbert and Mary Henderson").

Sometime around 1666 (per a 1688 Northampton record) Gilbert and Mary had had their only other proven child, John. The fact that both Gilbert Henderson and James Henderson Sr named their firstborn sons John allows me to nurse the tenuous hope that the two men might have been brothers. Naming conventions of the era often saw the firstborn son named for the father's father. If one or both of these Henderson men were following the traditional naming scheme, then one or both had a father named John. Ideally, the same John. But only the DNA can tell.

By October of 1664, Gilbert Henderson was moving up in the world. Using headrights Wm. Cartright, Wm. Chamberlain, John Clark, Robert Compton, Thomas Jones, Thomas Walter, George Crooke, Edward Lenthall, Robert Dormer, and Timothy Terrill, Gilbert patented 500 acres for himself and Mary near the Makepungo River in Accomack County (which had until recently been the northern half of Northampton County). This land was neighboring that of Henry Bishop, whose daughter (or possibly granddaughter), Sarah, would marry a son of James Henderson Sr.

In 1665, Gilbert and Mary sold 250 acres of their newly-acquired tract to Edmond Joynes, in whose care the widowed Mary would leave 11yo son John upon her own untimely death. Edmond may have been connected with Mary's family in some way, as he used her maiden name, "Major," as his second son's given name in 1687. Although his wife's name was believed to be Mary, I do not think Edmond married Mary Major Henderson since he married in 1685 (per Miles Files) and the widow Henderson was dead by December 18, 1677. In the 1677 record which directs the custody of John Henderson to Joynes, John is called an orphan, so both Gilbert and Mary Major Henderson were dead. John was the only child mentioned, leading me to believe that Bridget. who would have been about sixteen in 1677, had either died in childhood, or was already married. In 1712, Gilbert Henderson the Younger (son of John Henderson, and grandson of the original Gilbert and Mary) would witness Edmond Joynes's will.

According to Whitelaw's Virginia's Eastern Shore, Gilbert Henderson the Elder died in intestate. We have no way of knowing if he and Mary had children other than Bridget and John, however, not a single record has come to light to indicate that there are descendants from Gilbert Henderson other than through his sole known surviving son, John Henderson of Accomack County, Virginia.

John Henderson, son of Gilbert the Elder and Mary Major Henderson, married twice, By his first wife (name unknown) he had three sons: Gilbert the Younger, Robert, and John Junior.  By his second wife, Mary Ann Savage, he had no sons. The ideal candidate for our DNA test will be able to prove a direct-line male Henderson ancestry back to one of John's three sons or five known grandsons, as follows:

Gilbert the Younger of Northampton or Accomack County VA married Mary Green and had sons John (b ca 1710), Gilbert III (b ca 1717), and Jacob (b ca 1720). Gilbert and Mary Green Henderson also had three daughters, but their descendants do not carry the Y-chromosome.

Robert Henderson m Elizabeth _______ and sold his land in Accomack to brother Gilbert the Younger in 1725. Shortly thereafter (1727) a Robert Henderson appears in the Nanticoke Hundred of Somerset County, MD. In 1740 a dependent, Daniel, appears in the household of Robert Henderson. They will remain together in the household until 1748, when Robert disappears, presumably having passed away. Daniel will continue to appear on the Somerset County tax lists until they end in 1759, and he can be found in subsequent records of the county.

John Henderson Jr is not mentioned in the 1722 will of John Henderson Sr, however, the will of Gilbert the Younger clearly mentions his brother John Henderson. A George Henderson is mentioned in John Sr's will, and since neither Gilbert the Younger nor Robert were known to have had a son named George, we can only presume that George belonged to John Jr.

All three of these men and their descendants are believed to have lived on the Eastern Shore for at least 1-2 more generations, and descendants are doubtless still living there today. There are a number of websites that attempt to connect the Hendersons of the western shore (Virginia's Tidewater and Northern Neck) to the elder Gilbert Henderson of Accomack and Northampton Counties in Virginia. None of these sites provide any documentation or offer any proof of such a connection and I believe that earlier researchers may have simply jumped to conclusions since Gilbert is one of the earliest Hendersons to appear in America. A simple review of proven parish dates, land records and court orders for Gilbert and Mary Major Henderson quickly disprove a number of the supposed connections found in online trees.

Bearing this in mind, the DNA tester we seek will be able to provide solid documentation back to one of the three sons of John Henderson Sr of Accomack Co VA, or to one of his known grandsons, John the Younger, Gilbert III, Jacob (not to be confused with the son of Francis Henderson of Somerset Co MD), Daniel, or George.

If you believe your lineage leads back to one of these men, please contact me to discuss potential DNA testing suitability.

UPDDATE 10/30/15: An old article in the Clan Henderson newsletter An Canach mentions Gilbert Henderson and states "Gilbert and his descendants have a provable lineage down to this day..." and implies a relationship to the early Tidewater Virginia Hendersons, however, as far as I or anyone involved in the Henderson DNA project knows, there are no confirmed (or claimed) DNA testers from Gilbert's line to prove or disprove a connection with the Tidewater Hendersons. DNA test results from a tester whom we believe descends from Gilbert's line (but have not yet proved) matches the results of descendants of James Henderson of Somerset County MD.

A Brief Introduction to Eastern Shore Justice. Grab Your Popcorn.

Last night as I was reading through Warren Billings's The Old Dominion in the Seventeenth Century, I came across a couple of county court records that I just had to share.

In the chapter on Self-Government, Billings offers textbook cases on various matters of civil justice. The bawdy indignity of these records is a reassuring reminder that our ancestors were no better behaved than we (in some cases, worse), and that people and things never really change. Well, no, I take that back. Some things do change, and for the better. For instance, we no longer drag people from the sterns of canoes (between cow pens, in shark-infested waters, no less) as retribution for mild insults, and only rarely do we require them stand on up-turned buckets in church aisles, wrapped in sheets and holding aloft "white wands" while repeating whatever demeaning phrases the local preacher might have scripted for them.

The players in these dramas would have been known, at least in passing, to our Henderson, Bishop and Barnaby relatives of the lower Delmarva Peninsula. So dim the lights, grab your popcorn, sit back and enjoy the appalling spectacle of 17th-century justice.

CHARACTER DEFAMATION, 1634 (Pages 95-96)

Northampton County Order Book, 1632-1640, fol. 34
At this Court Edward Drew preferred a petition against Joane Butler for caling of his wife common C*nted hoare and upon due examination, and the Deposition of John Halloway* and William Basely who affirmeath the same [on] oath to be true that the syd Joane Butler used those words. Upon due examination it is thought fit by this board that the syd Joane Butler shal be drawen over the Kings Creeke at the starne of a boat or kanew from one kow pen to the other, or else the next Sabath day in the tyme of the devyne servis betwext the first and second lesson present her selfe befor the minister and say after him as followeth, I Joane Butler doe acknowledge to have called Marie Drew hoare, and thereby I confesse I have done her manefest wronge, wherefore I desire before this congregation, that the syd Marie Drew will forgive me, and alsoe that this congregation will joyne, and praye with me, that God may for give me.

So what do you think? A good dragging from the stern of a canoe? Or a public mea culpa in church? I don't know about you, but I'm thinking the water is looking might-y fine, cow manure notwithstanding.

The second record is from across the Bay in Lower Norfolk County where we find early settler and justice Adam Thoroughgood (whose descendants would marry into connected Keeling and Woodhouse families) being brashly dismissed by the wife of William Fowler. In this case there was a single insult, but "several witnesses" gave oath that it did indeed happen as described, and the testimony of two witnesses is recorded (I only relate that of the first).

A JUSTICE SLANDERED (Page 96)

Lower Norfolk County Order Book, 1637-1646 (transcript), 1-2.
The deposition of Gilbert Guy, age 28 years or thereabouts Sworn and Examined, Sayeth That being at the house of William Fowler, discoursing with him concerning [a] certain cask found by the Servant of Capt. Adam Thorougood [one of the justices of the peace] by the Seaside, but afterwards being seized and fetched away by the aforesaid William Fowler, the aforesaid deponent told him it would vex him to have the said casks taken away from him, Thereupon the wife of the said William Fowler asked who would take them from him? The deponent answered Capt. Thorougood, upon which she, the said Anne Fowler, answered, "Let Capt. Thorougood Kiss my arse."... [William Tanner, a second witness, then affirms the conversation as related by Guy] ... Whereas it doth appear to this court by the oaths of several witnesses that Anne Fowler the wife of William Fowler of Linhaven, planter, did in a shameful uncomely and irreverent manner, bid Capt. Adam Thorougood Kiss her arse, with the assignation of many unusual terms, It is therefore ordered that the said Anne Fowler shall, for hir offense, receive twenty Stripes upon the bare shoulders and ask for forgiveness of the said Capt. Thorougood here now in Court and also the ensuing Sunday at Linhaven.

Although it's a little hard to follow, it looks like Thoroughgood's servant found a cask washed up onshore, and William Fowler took it from him (you have to wonder how that played out). Gilbert Guy fully expected that Thoroughgood would demand the return of the property found by his servant, but when he suggest that likely outcome to the Fowlers, Anne Fowler bid the good Captain (in absentia) to kiss her posterior -- and apparently unsatisfied to leave it at that, did so "with the assignation of many unusual terms." Good stuff. I expect she was wishing she could just kiss the Captain's "arse" and call it even by the time they were on about the 5th stripe.

In another case, the text of which I will not relate, Thomas Tooker (Tucker?) and Elizabeth Hauntine, also from the den of iniquity that was Lower Norfolk County, were in 1641 accused of "the foul crime of fornication" and ordered to do penance in the chapel of ease. On the next sabbath the guilty couple were to "...[stand] in the middle alley of the said church upon a stool in a white sheet and a white wand in their hands, all the time of Divine Service and shall say after the Minister such words as he shall deliver unto them before the Congregation there present..." And also to pay court costs.

Things didn't go quite according to plan. Elizabeth refused to play her assigned role when the minister "admonished hir to be sorry for hir foul crime" and then she went totally off script. "Like a most obstinate and graceless person, [she did] cut and mangle the sheet wherein she did penance."

Twenty stripes for her as well. I guess she could bandage herself up with that mangled sheet.

Ahhhh. Don't you wish we could go back to "the good old days?"

*John Holloway was an early Eastern Shore planter and physician. In 1640 James and Sarah Barnaby were listed as headrights for Holloway's Hungars Creek patent of 640a. James Barnaby was mentioned several times in Holloway's will.

Passages are taken from court records as transcribed in: Billings, Warren M. The Old Dominion in the Seventeenth Century: A Documentary History of Virginia, 1606-1700. Rev. ed. Chapel Hill: Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia, by the University of North Carolina Press, 2007.