Our Hypothetical Henderson Tree - a Work in Progress

It's time to update our hypothetical Henderson family tree as we continue our research connecting descendants of Argalus "Hercules" Henderson of Chatham Co NC to his father, James "Isaac" in Onslow Co NC, and prior to that, to the older line of Somerset Co MD Hendersons. This tree is based on research conducted jointly by Laura Henderson of Virginia and Robin Henderson of Indiana, both descendants of Argalus "Hercules" Henderson of Chatham Co NC.

This hypothetical tree is a work in progress and there are still many questions, as we have not been (and may never be) able to establish an iron-clad paper trail connecting James "Isaac" Henderson of Onslow Co NC to the Hendersons of early Somerset Co MD. Having said that, DNA testing has proven what we had long suspected: that James "Isaac's" descendants are genetic matches to the Hendersons of Somerset Co MD. We speculate that he came to Onslow Co NC along with (or even ahead of) a number of other Somerset Co MD families who had connections to the Hendersons of Maryland's Eastern Shore (Houstons, Bishops, McClammys, and Newbolds, just to name a few).

This tree has been pieced together using a combination of DNA test results and an extensive, detailed (and ongoing) study of records from Accomack and Northampton Co's, VA, Somerset Co MD, and Onslow Co NC. We keep our working notes online (publicly viewable), and continue to log, comment and source records as we find them.

View notes for Eastern Shore Hendersons | View notes for Onslow County NC Hendersons

This tree represents what we currently believe to be true based on the evidence we have found so far. This tree is subject to change as additional information is discovered. The chart is followed by notes and explanations for each generation. **Note: the first line should read "Ancestor b bef 1600"

Click on the chart to enlarge.

R1b-U106-S23346
This designation represents our "deep ancestry." Our line's SNP value is S23346, a signature currently believed to have originated in the Lower Rhine River region (present-day Netherlands) at least 2,000 years ago. A native Dutch tester who shares our SNP can trace his family back to an area near Molenaarsgraaf, where there is an archaeological dig dating back several millennia. (Unfortunately there are not yet any viable DNA tests from the site.) There was a prosperous trading route connecting the Lower Rhine and the area of Perth in Scotland, which could explain why our ancestors emigrated to Scotland from mainland Europe. At this point, we have absolutely no idea when that move occurred. It could have been very recent (at any point bef ca 1600) or it could have occurred more than a millennia ago.

1 - Jhone Hendersone of Perth b ca 1610?
Robin and I are speculating that (1.1) Gilbert "of Accomack VA" Henderson and (1.2) James "of Somerset MD"  Henderson were brothers. They are both found in the parish register of Northampton Co VA baptizing firstborn children in 1661. Both men named their eldest sons "John," which, if they were following the traditional naming convention of the time, would indicate that both men had a father named "John Henderson" -- possibly the same father. There is a single record in 1664 for a contemporary of the two men, (1.3) "Robert Hinderson, mariner" who sued a next-door neighbor of James Henderson for debt. We therefore do not discount the possibility that this Robert may have had a family connection with Gilbert and/or James. Since we have no further records of this Robert, we also cannot with absolute certainty discount the remote possibility that our line from Onslow (or a mysterious matching line from early Kent Co DE) may be attributable to him. We have no idea where he settled, or how many children he had. No DNA testers have come forward who identify Robert or Gilbert as ancestors.

Based on the records we have found, we estimate that James and Gilbert were born around 1630. I looked through old commissariat records to see where the highest frequency of the more distinctive name (Gilbert) occurred and found a significant preference for that name in the 16th and 17th century among Hendersons in and around Perth. I found records for a Gilbert baptized on 28 Dec 1630 to a Johne Hendersone of Perth, a James baptized on 5 Oct 1632 to a Johne Hendersone of Perth, and a Robert baptized 23 Sep 1634 to a Johne Hendersone of Perth. There is no way to be sure that all three of these men were born to the same "Johne Hendersone" since there was more than one John Henderson living in Perth at the time, but these three records did seem to fit our theory very neatly (which probably means we're wrong...). I have included all three men as brothers, sons of a "Johne Hendersone of Perth" in our hypothetical tree. Whether there was any relationship between Gilbert, James and Robert is at this point only speculation, however, there are copious records from the Eastern Shore which do help us trace Gilbert and James's descendants with a higher degree of certainty, and there is circumstantial evidence of a family connection.

(1.1) Gilbert married Mary Major had only two known children: Bridget b 1661 (no further info); and (1.1.2) John b 1666. Both children were born in Northampton Co VA, probably in the area that later became Accomack County. (1.1) Gilbert appears to have died sometime between 1664-1677 with no additional known issue.  His grandchildren (via only known son 1.1.2 John) were (1.1.2.1) Gilbert the Younger m Mary Green; (1.1.2.2) Robert m Elizabeth Unknown and had only one son that we've identified, Daniel; and (1.1.2.3) John Jr. m Comfort, widow of Argoll West, only one known son, George. With the exception of (1.1.2.2) Robert, (1.1) Gilbert's descendants tended to stay south of the Maryland boundary line in Accomack and Northampton Counties, and they are therefore usually easy to distinguish from the line of (1.2) James "of Somerset MD", whose descendants tended to stay in Maryland and Delaware (before our specific line moved to NC).

(1.1) Gilbert's grandson (1.1.2.2) Robert is of interest because he sold his land in Accomack Co VA and moved north to Somerset Co MD. Although he only had one known son, Daniel, tax lists of the mid-18th century show other Hendersons coming and going in his household. These Hendersons appear to be connected with our James "the Mariner" Henderson of Onslow Co NC. This is circumstantial evidence of some kind of familial connection between descendants of the original immigrants, Gilbert "of Accomack VA" and James "of Somerset MD".

1.2 - James "of Somerset MD" Henderson b ca 1632
(1.2) James "of Somerset MD" may have immigrated to America with (1.1) Gilbert, but we have no proof or immigration records for either man. Robin Henderson thinks the two men may have been part of a small contingent of surviving Scottish prisoners of war who had originally been bound for forced labor in the West Indies. The prisoners were diverted instead to Virginia. At around the time we suspect the two men arrived (ca 1652), there is a story of the Royalist city of Perth making a half-hearted show of sending out about 100 able-bodied men to "defend" the city from the advance of Cromwell's far superior forces during the English Civil War. Most of the men were promptly killed and/or captured, but no one at the archives in Perth was able to enlighten me about their specific fates. During a 2016 research trip to Perth, I found myself entirely unable to read the 16th and 17th century records in the archives due to a combination of them having been written in Old Scots dialect and an antiquated script called "Secretary's Hand." (Apparently the retiring archivist was the only one capable of deciphering the books, and he was not able to help due to training a replacement in management duties.) Just as discouragingly, the archivists seemed impressed that we had been able to trace the family back into the mid-1600's in Virginia -- they told me that most native Scots who come to the archives can't trace their lines prior to about 1700 unless they were from landed families. Maybe if I can find translator, I'll have another go at the records in the future.

But...back to James, our immigrant...

(1.2) James married Mary Unknown and their first son, (1.2.1) John, was baptized at Hungars Parish in Northampton Co VA on 5 May 1661 and eventually married Elizabeth Barnaby. (1.2) James and Mary had two additional children before 1668: (1.2.2) William "the Sawyer" Henderson Sr. who married Sarah Bishop; and (1.2.3) Jane or Jeane, who married John Williams Jr.

At some point, probably in 1668, Mary died, possibly of a smallpox epidemic or a remarkably destructive hurricane, both of which events afflicted the Eastern Shore that year. (1.2) James then married a woman named Alice (possibly the Alice Stewkley who was listed as one of his headrights when he moved to Maryland), and had a fourth child, (1.2.4) James Jr.

The lineage of eldest son (1.2.1) John tended to stay on the Eastern Shore and is well researched. We have been able to rule him out as an ancestor of (1.2.2.3) James "the Mariner" Henderson who moved to Onslow Co NC bef 1738. (1.2.1) John did have a grandson, Barnaby, who moved to Onslow Co NC in the 1760's. All of the Hendersons who are still living in Onslow Co NC today appear to trace back to Barnaby (with the exception of a family of Hendersons who descend from a man named Jonas Solomon who moved to Onslow from New Jersey and assumed the name "Thomas Henderson" -- just to make this a bit harder for us).

Little is known of the descendants of youngest son (1.2.4) James Henderson Jr. who married Esther Unknown. He died intestate and had a son, (1.2.4.1) Francis, who was designated "heir at law." This does not mean that there were no other children (I suspect a daughter, [1.2.4.2] Elizabeth who may have been the wife of Thomas Lambden), but there could have been more children. Therefore, we cannot at this point conclusively rule (1.2.4) James Jr. out as the father of (1.2.2.3) James "the Mariner" Henderson of Onslow Co NC and/or (1.2.2.4) Charles "the Mariner" Henderson, however, circumstantial evidence points more strongly towards James Sr. and Mary's middle son (1.2.2) William "the Sawyer" Henderson Sr. as the father of these two mariners.

1.2.2 - William "the Sawyer" Henderson b bef 1668 m Sarah Bishop
(1.2.2) William "the Sawyer" Henderson was the middle son of (1.2) James "of Somerset MD" Henderson and his first wife, Mary Unknown. William "the Sawyer" was born between 1662 and 1668 and he married Sarah Bishop (probably the d/o Lt. Henry Bishop and second wife Ann, widow of William Bowen) on 10 Aug 1685 in Somerset Co MD. Their eldest son, (1.2.2.1) William "the Cordwinder" Henderson Jr. was baptized on 9 Jan 1686. The younger William (Cordwinder) died bef 20 Jan 1708/09, apparently without issue.

There was a (1.2.2.2) Bishop Henderson born ca 1687 whom we also attribute to this couple for obvious reasons. Little is known of him and we believe he died, probably in Somerset/Worcester Co MD, after 1739. There was a Bishop "the Younger" Henderson b bef 1767 d bef Aug 1802, who was the father of Lemuel Henderson b ca 1784 in Worcester Co MD. The younger Bishop and son Lemuel may also be from this line. Nothing further is known of Bishop Henderson's family.

There were two additional Henderson males, James and Charles, contemporary with William "the Cordwinder" Henderson Jr. and Bishop "the Elder" Henderson. Both James and Charles appear to have been mariners, as early-to-mid 18th century tax rolls frequently identify them living with other mariners in the households of prosperous seafaring merchants of Somerset County. Therefore we have called these two men (1.2.2.3) James "the Mariner" Henderson and (1.2.2.4) Charles "the Mariner" Henderson. We estimate that James was b ca 1690-1700 and Charles bef 1702.

I am less certain attributing Charles's parentage to William and Sarah Bishop Henderson than I am about James. I am certain Charles "the Mariner" didn't belong to (1.2.1) John and Elizabeth Barnaby Henderson (who already had a Charles), although Charles "the Mariner" could have belonged to (1.2.4) James Jr. and Esther Henderson.  Almost nothing is known of Charles "the Mariner" or his family, although I suspect that he may be responsible for the Hendersons who are found in Delaware in subsequent generations, especially in and around Sussex and Kent counties. This remains to be proven or disproven.

1.2.2.3 -  James "the Mariner" Henderson of Somerset Co MD and Onslow Co NC
The primary reason we attribute (1.2.2.3) James "the Mariner" and (1.2.2.4) Charles "the Mariner" to (1.2.2) William "the Sawyer" Henderson and Sarah Bishop has to do with connections between James "the Mariner" and the Bishop family. The Bishops were known to be seafaring merchants and there are records for branches of this family in Somerset Co MD,  Sussex Co DE and Onslow Co NC. A lineage of Bishops with connections to the McClammy family of Somerset Co MD settled in early Onslow Co NC and there are numerous records in both Somerset Co MD and Onslow Co NC connecting the Bishop and McClammy families to James "the Mariner" Henderson of Somerset Co MD and Onslow Co NC. (You can just trust me on this or you can spend hours poring over the two chronology documents and notes I linked out to at the beginning of this document.) Robin tells me that I'm a dab hand at spotting and remembering the obscure connections between people and families as we do this research, and I can only tell you that there is a thick web of personal entanglements between our James "the Mariner" and the Bishops and McClammys of both areas.

Now we arrive at a particularly sticky wicket. It is remotely possible that (1.2.2.3) James "the Mariner" Henderson (Sr.) of Somerset Co MD and Onslow Co NC and his "son" (1.2.2.3.1) James "Isaac" Henderson (Jr.) of Onslow Co NC may be one and the same. It's something we haven't yet been able to work out. We thought they were two different men, but new records have thrown some doubt on that.

We originally believed that (1.2.2.3) James "the Mariner" had traveled back and forth between MD and NC on timber-buying expeditions for his father, (1.2.2) William "the Sawyer," probably bringing (1.2.2.3.1) James "Isaac" Henderson along with him. At this point I'm going to dispense withe numbering and start calling them William "the Sawyer," James "the Mariner" (Sr.) and James "Isaac" (Jr.)

We thought it was James "the Mariner" (Sr.) who purchased 320a of land from Nathaniel Averitt in Onslow Co NC in 1738. We thought he called that purchase "Henderson's Landing" (same name as his grandfather, James "of Somerset Co MD," gave his original property on the Pocomoke River in Somerset County). We thought that James "the Mariner" (Sr.) died sometime after 1750, probably in Somerset Co MD and willed Henderson's Landing in Onslow to his "son" James "Isaac" (Jr.), who (we know) made a will in 1770 leaving the Onslow property to his daughter Lucy Henderson, later Lucy Loyd (who was a sister to Argalus of Chatham Co NC). We know that in 1792, Lucy Loyd and her brother Argalus Henderson "of Onslow and Chatham Counties" sold that same piece of property to James Foy.

Wording in recently discovered abstracts throws that sequence of events into doubt. The upshot is that the man who bought property from Nathaniel Averitt in 1738 was the same man we know as James "Isaac" Henderson (Jr.), the father of Lucy Henderson Loyd, Argalus Henderson, Betty Henderson Jenkins, Bethany Henderson Nixon, and Nanny Henderson. This leaves us wondering about the exact identities and relationships of the two James Hendersons who were in Onslow contemporaneously during the 1730's and 1740's, distinguished from each other by "Sr." and "Jr." I can hypothesize 4-5 different scenarios, so I am not going to go into them here, and am instead going to devote my energy to attempting to prove or disprove each theory and try to arrive at a the most likely conclusion.

In the mean time, and until such time as we have clarity on this, I believe we should proceed under the existing assumption that James "the Mariner" (Sr.) was in fact the father of James "Isaac" (Jr.) -- while bearing in mind that we must go where the evidence leads, and we may eventually need to merge the two men into one in our records. 

Correcting the List of Children of James (Isaac) and Mary Henderson of Onslow Co NC

This seems to be "pick on the Pike County Archives and History Society" week. First, let me point out the obvious -- I've been spending a lot of time on their site, and I'm very, very grateful it's there. Not just the Hendersons, but many families owe the Society an ongoing debt of gratitude for maintaining the work done by late Pike County historian, Morris Myers.

Although Morris was not a Henderson by blood, he invested quite a bit of effort in collecting information on the family. I consider his work on the Arkansas lines of Hendersons to be basically very sound.

However, since his passing, DNA testing has combined with new discoveries and research and some of his work has become outdated. In other words, proven incorrect.

The information I ran across tonight attached to our ancestor "James Isaac Henderson II" is a perfect example. I want to caution researchers of this line that this page on the Pike County Historical Society's website contains a number of critical errors, which, were Morris still with us, he would hastily correct. Unfortunately, his work is in archival status and these errors are out there for God and the world to read, apparently until the end of time.

So let's just run over the biggies.

Let's begin with James (Isaac) Henderson's 1700 birth date. Off by about 10 years. Based on the marriage record of his grandparents (William Henderson and Sarah Bishop m. Aug 1685 in Somerset Co MD), and the known birth dates of at least one (and possibly two) of his uncles, we can estimate his father, James (the Mariner), was born around 1690. We can also make an informed estimate of the date of birth of his son, Argalus Henderson, of about 1627-1630. Realistically, James (Isaac) was probably born no earlier than about 1708 and probably no later than about 1712, so let's go for the middle and say 1710.

Next, he wasn't born in Scotland. We now have sufficient DNA and circumstantial paper evidence to confidently state that the James Hendersons Jr. and Sr. of early Onslow County NC were descendants of the Henderson family of Virginia and Maryland's early Eastern Shore. These Hendersons had been in Virginia since at least 1661, and possibly up to about a decade prior. We cannot yet prove that the family came from Scotland, but I am investigating clues which could possibly point us towards Perthshire.

Morris states that "James Isaac Henderson II" was the son of "James Isaac Henderson I." We have no idea whether father and son had identical names. They were simply called James Henderson Sr. and James Henderson Jr. in Onslow County records when both were in residence in the county. James (Isaac) Henderson is never called "James Isaac" in any record (please read this article) and we should not state as fact that father and son both had the same middle name (though they might have).

Next, he writes that James (Isaac) married Mary Rhodes. We think he did, but we can't prove he did. There's a lot of circumstantial evidence there, but that may be as close as we ever get. We have no marriage record or other "proof positive" documentation, at least not as of this writing.

Moving on...James (Isaac) did not obtain 220 acres from Nathaniel Averitt. It was James (the Mariner) who did that, although the actual grant/deed was lost, probably in the 1752 hurricane that destroyed the courthouse (and may have also destroyed the will of the elder James). We know it was James (the Mariner) who bought the land from Averitt because a late 18th-century Onslow County record references the elder James having left the property he bought from Averitt by will to the younger James (Isaac). This, incidentally, is the single instance where the younger James is referred to as "Isaac."

Morris is correct that James (Isaac) does not mention Mary (his wife), James, Joseph, John or William in his will. He is incorrect in calling the men James (Isaac)'s sons.

Here is the list of "Children of James Isaac Henderson II and Mary Rhodes:" as shown on the PCHAS page. I have bolded the incorrect children in red:

Joseph Henderson 
William Henderson d. before 1772
Lucy Henderson
Elizabeth "Betty" Henderson
Nancy "Nannie" Henderson
James Henderson d. before 1737
Bethany Henderson
Argaleus Hercules Henderson    b. circa 1727, d. between September 6, 1804 and August, 1806
John Henderson b. circa 1741, d. 1825

Let's tackle Joseph first. Absolutely no idea where he got this. He told me that folks sent him pedigrees, which he often took on faith if they seemed reasonable. Perhaps Joseph came from one of those, but I have done quite a bit of work on the Hendersons of Onslow and Chatham Counties and so far, I have never seen the name Joseph associated with Argalus' generation of the Henderson family in either area.

Next is James.  Notice the notation that James died before 1737. This is very likely confusion caused by the fact that James Sr. (the Mariner) returned to Somerset County MD in about 1737. That created the impression that of one of the two Jameses of Onslow had died. In actual fact, James Jr. (Isaac) continued on in the county until his death between August of 1776 and April of 1780, and we know that James Sr. (the Mariner) was still living in Somerset Co MD as late as 1750. I do not know whether Senior made his will in Somerset Co MD or Onslow Co NC, but I suspect Onslow. We know as I explained earlier that there was a will, and that will left Henderson's Landing on the New River (the former Averitt property) to James Jr. (Isaac), but will has ever been found. If my speculation that it was lost in the hurricane is correct, we can infer that James Sr. (the Mariner) probably died between 1750, when he was last "seen" alive in Somerset County MD, and September of 1752, at which time his will would have had to be on file at the courthouse if it were to be destroyed by the storm. So cross "James Henderson d. before 1737" off the list of children of James (Isaac) and Mary Henderson.

Richard (the Quaker) Henderson of Chatham Co NC also had a son named James, but he was about 30 years younger than Argalus Henderson, and too young to have been a child of James (Isaac) and Mary.

Next, let's address John Henderson. Notice that he died in 1825. This is without a doubt a reference to John (of the Misfortunes) Henderson who made his will in 1823 in Chatham County NC. The will was probated in 1825. I strongly suspect that this John Henderson was an immigrant from Scotland, and I just wrote an article explaining why.

Having dispatched with the John who died in 1825, however, I need to point out that there was another John Henderson contemporaneously in Chatham County with Argalus until about 1790. He too was one of the many sons of Richard (the Quaker) Henderson (originally of Hanover County VA) who moved to the Cane Creek area of Chatham County about 1751-1752. Some or all of Richard's family moved to the Bush River Meeting in Newberry Co SC in the late 1780's. According to lists of his children that I have found online, Richard did have a son named John and also a son named William, which probably also accounts for the next alleged "brother" of Argalus...

Moving on to William. As I just mentioned, it is most probable that the William Henderson we find in the records of Chatham County in the latter half of the 18th century was one of several sons of Richard (the Quaker) Henderson. Richard also had adult grandsons named William who could have showed up in the records during the late 18th century.

In 1768 a number of Hendersons, including a William, were among the signers of Regulator Advertisement No. 9. I believe that all the Henderson signers except for our Argalus belonged to the family of Richard (the Quaker). A William is listed on the 1790 Federal Census in Chatham Co (formerly Orange) with two females of unspecified ages, and a male under 16. That is very likely a grandson of Richard (the Quaker).

However, I am keeping a wary eye out for the name William Henderson because it may be of particular interest in our larger narrative. There was an adult William Henderson living in Craven County (north of Onslow) from 1738-1749, but he is too old to be a child of James (Isaac) and Mary. In 1751 a William Henderson made a single appearance in Onslow County to stand security for the will of Samuel Moore (note that a Lucretia Moor[e] witnessed James [Isaac]'s 1770 will), however, there is nothing to indicate any connection between that William and our James (Isaac) other than the common connection to the Moore surname, which was prolific in eastern NC in the 1700's.

One reason I am particularly interested in connections with William Hendersons is that James (the Mariner) was the son of William (the Sawyer) Henderson of Somerset Co MD, and had an older brother, William (the Cordwinder) Henderson Jr., who died young. William (the Cordwinder) Henderson may have had a namesake son, also William, who was closely associated with the Thomas McClammy family who moved to Onslow Co NC in the first half of the 18th century. James --probably James (Isaac), but possibly the Mariner -- was the administrator of the estate of Thomas McClammy in 1744. I have often wondered if the William Henderson in Craven County might not have been William Henderson III of Somerset Co MD, son of William (the Cordwinder) Henderson, associate of the McClammys, and possibly a first cousin to James (Isaac), but I have never found anything to convince me one way or the other.

So there you have it. That is the most correct list of the children of James (Isaac) Henderson and his wife, Mary, of Onslow Co NC that I can assemble based on known documentation. There is no evidence to suggest that any of the four men in red on the list above were brothers to Argalus, and there is evidence to suggest that they weren't.

Art Thou Our John Henderson of 1823 Chatham County? No Indeed, Thou Art Not.

This evening I ran across a surprising will for a John Henderson in the records of Chatham County NC. I had seen this will years ago, so the will in and of itself wasn't surprising, but what did surprise me was the website's claim that the will was written by the brother of our Argalus (Hercules) Henderson.

Wait, what? What brother!?

A transcription of the will was posted by the Pike County Archives and History Society, who continue to host An Arkansas Connection, the work of the late Morris Myers.(*1) Morris's website contains a great deal of information on the line of Abner Newton Henderson, a grandson of Argalus (Hercules) Henderson and a prominent citizen of Pike County.

The authors of the post offer no explanation of why they concluded the will belonged to a brother of Argalus (Hercules) Henderson, saying only that it had been transcribed from a document obtained from the North Carolina State Archives. They did include a footnote containing the caveat that there could be errors on their site, so I'm going to chalk the identification of this will up to precisely such an error.

Here is the text of the will:

State of North Carolina } and County of Chatham

I John Henderson of the State and County aforementioned, being in perfect Health and sound Mind, Calling to Remembrance, the Mortality of human Nature, and that it is Appointed by the Wise Disposer of all things, for all Men once to Die, do make and publish this my last Will, and Testament, Although my Property has been much Curtailed by Misfortunes, and the many Delapedations (sic) that has been made on it, I have devided (sic) what remains into Ten parts to Viz I give and bequeath, to my Deceased Daughter, Sarah Donaldson's Children two Tenths of all My Property, real, and Personal, wheresoever to be found, And my Three unmarried Daughters Charlotte, Jane, and Margaret Aytone, Two Tenths each, Always excepting out of the above division, James Bonman, who was, left by my Son's will to me, Charlotte, Jane, and Margaret, And as I have received Credit with Mr. McMollan On James Bonman's Acct for more than my part of his Value would Amount to, consequently, James Bonman Properly belongs to my Daughters, Charlotte, Jane, and Margaret Aytone. I also Bequeath to my Daughter Mary's Children, one Tenth part of all I possess, And the other tenth, to my Daughter Joannahs Children, And do hereby appoint my Two Grand Sons, Robert, and James Donaldson my Sole Executtors (sic), to this my last Will and Testament, Hereby revoking all prior wills Heretofore by me made, in Witness whereof I have hereunto signed my Name, and Affixed My Seal This 29th December in the year of our Lord Eighteen Hundred & Twenty three.

Signed John Henderson (seal)
Witness: Wm. Broadfoot, Wiley B. Straugham

Proved May Session 1825
This last will and testament of John Henderson was exhibited in open court and proved by the oath of Wiley B Straughan one of the subscribing witnesses thereto and was ordered to be recorded and was recorded in Book B Lager 9 - The executors(?) within Named were duly qualified -- (signed) Tho. Raglan Stele

Now, I did have this John Henderson family in my database at one time, based solely on the relationships detailed in the will, but they were marked as unidentified/unplaced.

I feel very confident that this John Henderson who died in Chatham County bet 1823-1825 was not a relative of Argalus (at least not a close one, and by "close" I mean within a minimum of a couple of centuries). He seems too young to be a brother (Argalus was b ca 1727), and we can account for and exclude the son and grandsons of Argalus (Hercules) named John.(*2)

There were members of the Granville County Hendersons(*3) in and out of old Orange and Chatham Counties, but none of the names mentioned in the will really seem to fit with them either, although I will admit I know comparatively little about their family, so I can't rule them out.

Interestingly, a Margaret Aytone was born in Fife in 1735 to William and Catherine Aytone. The use of such a distinctive name made me wonder if this John Henderson was an unrelated Henderson immigrant who had connections with the Aytone family of Scotland.  Further investigation of this theory at FamilySearch.org revealed the 1783 baptism of a Margaret Aytone Henderson to a John and Cera (Sarah) Paris Henderson of St. Cuthbert's Edinburgh. This couple also baptized daughter Johanna in 1785 in Dunfermline, Fife. These dates and names seem a reasonable fit with people mentioned in the 1823 Chatham County NC will, but I could not find conclusive baptismal records for Sarah, Charlotte, Jane, Mary etc.(*4)

So let us go back to the will. The story didn't end in 1825...

In the Fall 1830 term of Chatham County Court, Robert Donaldson,(*5) by this time a resident of New York, sued the Devisees of his grandfather, the late John Henderson:

Robert Donaldson vs. The Devisees of the late John Henderson
Bill to subject the real estate of Testator to the payment of debt due the complainant

In this case, it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the  defendants, JAMES DONALDSON, ISABELLA DONALDSON, JO ANNA DONALDSON, ELIZA BROADFOOT, wife of WILLIAM BROADFOOT, JOHN McMILLAN, and MARGARET WEST, wife of FREDERICK WEST, are not residents of this State. It is therefore ordered by the Court that publication be made for three months in the North Carolina Journal notifying the said non-residents to be and appear at our next Court 
of Equity for the County of Chatham on the third Monday in March. Then and there to plead, answer or demur to this petition filed. Otherwise, judgment will be taken pro confesso and the matter heard ex parte as to them. -- THOS. THOMPSON, C. & M. E.

So there you go. This John Henderson's family didn't even live in North Carolina. At least not by 1830. So where did they come from?

A John Henderson Broadfoot was born near Fayetteville in1823 to a William Broadfoot (b 1783 Scotland), so if I was going to make a WAG, I'd say his mother was probably the Eliza Broadfoot mentioned in the 1830 record (although no mention of her was made in the 1823 will). We know from this article that Robert Donaldson was also a "native" of Fayetteville, but there were also Hendersons and Broadfoots (Broadfeet?) in Venango County PA in the early 1820's (John Henderson and David Henderson, constables, William Broadfoot, overseer). I really don't know where this John Henderson family came from prior to having been in Fayetteville for a time, but my money would be on Scotland, either Edinburgh or Fife.

Henderson's mention of his property having "been much Curtailed by Misfortunes, and...many Delapidations" is intriguing. I'm sure if I kept digging, I could track this family down, but it's getting late and I've been sidetracked from the other genealogical fish I was attempting to fry tonight.

Since it seems pretty clear to me that this family is unrelated to our Chatham County group, I'm gonna put a fork in 'em, cause as far as I'm concerned, the idea that this John Henderson was a brother to Argalus is done...to a crisp. However, researchers of the Chatham County NC Hendersons should be aware that there was a second adult John Henderson in the county in the early 1800's. It may be difficult to conclusively distinguish his records from those of John, son of Argalus. Be on the lookout for clues that point towards the man we'll call "John (of the Misfortunes) Henderson" and if you find any records that clearly reference him or his family, let's add them to the comments below this blog article so that other Chatham County researchers are aware of the two and don't get tangled up in them.


*1 Morris did a tremendous amount of work on the Henderson family, although he was only related through an 1831 Alford marriage. Since his death we have made many new and important discoveries, but I consider his work on the Abner Newton Henderson family of Arkansas very reliable. The PCHS also hosts a complete transcription Morris made of my aunt Thelma Henderson Schoolfield's typewritten notes about the Hendersons of Chatham County (from her courthouse research done from the 1940's to the 1980's). Please read his comments to me in 2003 about the sources and reliability of his work. 

*2 Son: John Henderson (b 1767 d ca 1838) married Frances LNU and had James, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, John Jr. Thomas, Pleasant, Dicey, Eliza and Martha. Grandsons: A) John H. Henderson (b ca 1794 s/o Ezekiel and Elizabeth Brashier Henderson) m Sarah Brashier, d Greenville SC; B) John Henderson (b 1802 s/o Isaac and Anaritta LNU Henderson) m Candace and/or Mary "Polly" Brewer, d Todd Co KY aft 1870; C) John Henderson (b bef 1790 NC presumed s/o Hezekiah Henderson) m Mary Susan Spurlin d 1819 Todd Co KY; D) John Henderson Jr. (b 1800 Orange Co NC s/o John and Frances LNU Henderson m Unknown, d ca 1849 Floyd Co GA.

*3 As far as I know, the Granville County Hendersons are not related to the Hendersons of Chatham and Onslow Counties, or the Hendersons of the Eastern Shore. I believe they may have ties to the Tidewater Virginia Hendersons, who were contemporaries of our early Eastern Shore Hendersons. I am hoping that we will eventually get some DNA testers from their line added to the Clan Henderson DNA project to settle the matter.

*4 John only mentions one (deceased) son, who apparently had no heirs. I feel pretty sure that this Henderson family daughtered out with his son's death, and therefore there is little or no hope of finding a living male Henderson descendant to DNA test.

*5 Robert and his brother James were appointed executors of John's will. Both were sons of Sarah Henderson Donaldson, who predeceased her father. Robert Donaldson was born in Fayetteville, NC, but he moved to New York where he worked as a banker and became a patron of the arts. His mother, Sarah Henderson Donaldson, is listed in the Arkansas Connection records as person #6000 Sarah T. Henderson, a daughter of John Henderson (son of Argalus). Morris did mention that he did not think Sarah T. Henderson fit logically as a daughter of this John. I believe that as a result of this cursory investigation, we can safely assume that this Henderson family was of recent Scottish origin and probably unrelated to the rest of the Chatham County Henderson. Sarah Henderson Donaldson can be removed from any databases where she might have been entered on account of her appearance on Morris's site.

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.

ISO Rodney Coyne or Alan Rowntree Regarding Henderson Family Near Coupar Angus

I recently came across an archived query from 1998 on the now-defunct Rootsweb Message Boards that interested me greatly. Unsurprisingly, since seventeen years have passed, my email to the original poster bounced.

The original message can be viewed here, but I am pasting in the content in case anyone recognizes Mr. Coyne of South Africa, the Henderson family in Scotland about whom he writes, or Mr. Rowntree, the single respondent to his query (whose email was also unavailable).

On 23 January 1998, Mr. Rodney Coyne of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa wrote:

My wife is a Henderson - her family have lived for generations on the farm Balbrogie near the village of Coupar Angus - she still has cousins living there. An aunt has most of the family history, but says that there is a gap between Andrew and his son Alexander ca,1600 and William Henderson who married Margaret Payot ca.1700. The family were involved in the `Gowrie Plot' but I have no details of this at present. Towns associated with the family are Cargill, Bendochy, and Collace. Farms connected with the family are Lawton (spelled`Latoun' ca 1600) and Balbrogie. If anyone would like to exchange information on this branch of the Hendersons could they please contact me .

On 3 March 2010, Mr. Alan Rowntree responded:

I believe your William Henderson was the son of John Henderson in Nether Balmyll (Balmyle) and Balbrogie. John died in 1676. John was the son of James Henderson (or Petrie)who died in 1637 and married Isobell Blair. John Henderson had a brother (another) William who died in 1658. (That is my descent) I cannot go back further than James/Isobell.

If you know the poster, the respondent, or have any information about this Henderson family described living near Coupar Angus, please email me directly.

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

The Truth About Thomas - Burying the Myth of "Thomas Henderson of Jamestown"

In my newly-appointed capacity of co-admin for Group R-B3 within the Clan Henderson DNA Project, I've been intending to create a repository of documents which may become useful to testers within that group in the future. It occurred to me that one document in particular, an article which has been printed and reprinted in Clan Henderson newsletter An Canach, should be shared with a wider audience in hopes that it will begin to help researchers correct misinformation which has been perpetuated for decades.

This article concerns the persistent myth of a Thomas Henderson who supposedly emigrated from Dumfries and arrived in Jamestown in April of 1607 (or shortly thereafter). This mythical ancestor comes complete with connections to the Fordell family line (a good example of which can be seen in the work of Lucy Henderson Horton), but that's the case with many early genealogies and loosely-documented Henderson histories both in print and online.

Now. Pay attention to this part. No documentation in support of the existence of a Thomas Henderson of Dumfries or his presence in Jamestown in 1607, or of any actual documented descendants, has ever been found. Ever. In spite of the utter and complete lack of evidence, this pernicious Henderson "founding father" has even penetrated the sacrosanct records of the DAR. It's time to bury this one so that serious researchers who have been led to believe that they descend from Thomas Henderson of Jamestown can begin searching for their actual ancestors. As long as Henderson researchers are distracted by Thomas, their real ancestors -- the ones who sacrificed and braved the wilds of the New World so that we could play on Ancestry.com today -- will never receive the recognition and acknowledgement they deserve.

To help people past the erroneous Thomas, James Henderson III (dec'd) wrote The True Thomas Henderson, an article which was originally published in An Canach in 1990, and was reprinted in 1999 and 2003. The article mentions Thomas's supposed son or grandson, Richard, who married Mary, the daughter of an Ensign Washer,* and delves into clues about an actual Thomas Henderson upon whom the mythical Thomas may have been based.

I am providing links to two versions of the article: a truncated version with editorial comments and an expanded version with full details. I recommend interested parties read both to gain the fullest understanding of the origins of the myth of Thomas Henderson. These articles are posted with permission from Russ Henderson, former editor of An Canach.

Note: In the expanded version of the article the author mentions a "proven lineage" from Gilbert Henderson of Virginia's early Eastern Shore and implies that Gilbert was connected with the early Tidewater Virginia Hendersons. Recent DNA test results indicate that Gilbert Henderson was probably unrelated to the Hendersons of the Tidewater area. The DNA signature of a tester whom we believe may trace back to Gilbert Henderson of Accomack Co VA is a nearly identical match to the DNA results of numerous descendants of James Henderson of early Somerset Co MD. Based on this, we believe that Gilbert and James, who were contemporaries in 1660's Accomack & Northampton Counties, VA, may have been brothers or cousins.

*Ensign is a military designation, not a first name.

Photos and Video from Visits to the New River (Onslow Co NC) and the Pocomoke River (Somerset Co MD)

I have just uploaded a number of photos and videos of interest to the Hendersons of Somerset County, MD and Onslow County, NC.

Last month during a trip to Onslow County, Tom and I visited Sneads Ferry so that I could finally see the New River property where mariner ancestor James Henderson Sr. settled in the early 18th century. Henderson's original deed from Nathaniel Averitt was lost in the 1752 hurricane that destroyed the county courthouse, but we know that he was a neighbor to Edmond Ennett (who operated Ennett's Ferry, now known as Sneads Ferry). I believe Everett's Creek was the dividing line between the Henderson and Ennett properties. The mouth of creek can be seen in this video, and James Henderson's property is to the right (north) side. The property is now part of Camp Lejeune and access to the area is restricted due to blasting.

I took a number of photos of the New River, and also of Stump Sound, where the property of the allied Nixon family was located.

Just this past week I met with fellow-researcher Robin Henderson at the Nabb Research Center in Somerset County, Maryland. After the library closed we drove down to the ruins of Coventry Parish in Rehobeth, Maryland. Across the street is Old Rehoboth Church, the oldest Presbyterian Church in America. Both churches are located just a few hundred yards from banks of the Pocomoke River. This river, which flows through the Great Cypress Swamp, has the distinction of being the deepest river for its width in the world. The eerily still, black water served to act as a mirror in my photos and video.

Across the river is the Hickory Point Natural Area. As best we can tell from original plats and land grant records, James Henderson Senior (the original immigrant bef 1661 and progenitor of our line) probably owned property somewhere along the river in the Hickory Point Natural Area, and therefore his land is likely within range of the camera as we pan past the area. His son, John Henderson Sr., operated a ferry across the river, which likely landed near the docks where we are filming, as it would have been convenient to the church and village.

• View video of Pocomoke River, Somerset Co MD
• View video of Coventry Parish ruins, Rehoboth, Somerset Co MD
• View video of New River and Sneads Ferry Bridge, Onslow Co NC
• View Video of New River looking southeast, Onslow Co NC
• View all photos of Coventry Parish ruins, Pocomoke River, and New River

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.  

The Most Excellent History of Argalus and Parthenia...

...Being a Choice Flower, Gathered Out of Sir Philip Sydney's Rare Garden (no less).

From the diary of Samuel Pepys
31st Jan 1661 "To the Theatre, and there sat in the pitt among the company of fine ladys, &c.; and the house was exceeding full, to see Argalus and Parthenia, the first time that it hat been acted: and indeed it is good, though wronged by my over great expectations, as all things else are." 5th Feb 1661 "Here we saw Argalus and Parthenia, which I lately saw, but thought pleasant for the dancing and singing, I do not find good for any wit or design therein." 28th Oct 1661 "To the Theatre, and there saw 'Argalus and Parthenia' where a woman acted Parthenia, and come afterwards on the stage in men's clothes, and had the best legs that ever I saw, and I was very well pleased with it."

This afternoon cousin Robin Henderson (*1) emailed me a reminder about this 17th-century poem, the epitome of tragic chivalric romance and likely the source of our ancestor Argalus Henderson's very unusual name.(*2)

The earliest publication date I can currently find for the booklet is 1621, but if the authorship is correctly attributed to Philip Sydney,(*3) English poet and courtier, scholar and solider of the Elizabethan age -- who died in 1586! -- then it must have been written decades earlier. I was only able to find "Argalus and Parthenia" written in 1621 by one Francis Quarles, which can be read online, but I warn you, it's pretty heavy lifting. You might want to reconsider, and spend the evening doing something more exciting. Like laundry.

In 1659 John Quarles, son of Francis (and ultimately a victim of the plague) wrote a sequel, "A Continuation of the History of Argalus and Parthenia." Because the world needed that.(*4)

At one time I had believed that our ancestor's actual name may have been Hercules. His name was spelled thusly on a couple of documents, and if pronounced HURC-u-lus, it is very similar in sound to "ARG-ulus" (as it was sometimes spelled). Maybe Hercules was a semi-literate clerk's stab at a phonetic spelling?

By the time our Argalus was born, probably sometime between 1720-1730, the name had fallen out of favor, along with its equivalent for the female sex, Parthenia.

So, dear reader, I fear our unfortunate ancestor was actually named for the tragic hero of an Elizabethan-era poem rather than the extraordinarily powerful son of Zeus. I call our ancestor unfortunate because how can you go through life with a handle like Argalus? I mean, really!? Was he "Arg" for short? And how does one even pronounce it? Is it Ar-GAY-lus? ARG-uh-lus? AR-ja-lus? No wonder the county clerk made an executive decision in favor of a mythical hero.(*5) He was doing the man a favor.

I guess it could have been worse. He could have been named for the poem's villain: Dimagorus.

The second inconvenience of his name was the fact that no one ever seemed to be able to settle on a spelling for it (including me). For years I've been all over the place with it as I find it spelled so many ways in the records. Since it seems like the original name was actually supposed to be "Argalus" I've decided to standardize my own spelling of it. I will faithfully copy spelling variations when transcribing records, but when writing of the man himself, Argalus it will be. But you will find it written as Archaelaus, Arglas, Arglos, Agulus, and -- give it time -- more are certain to appear.

If you make it through Argalus and Parthenia, and A Continuation of the History of Argalus and Parthenia (assuming you can put your hands on that one), be sure not the miss the final thrilling sequel to the sequel, (this time in prose), "Parthenia's Return to Argalus."

Click to enlarge.

1 Of the Ezekiel Henderson line of Greenville SC.
2 "What a beautiful name," said no one, ever! But believe it or not, I've run across a few other unfortunates who had to live a lifetime with it during the 17th and 18th centuries, so it did have its time in the sun.
3 There is scholarly debate over the authorship, because really, what other kind of debate would there be over the authorship of an obscure 17th-century equivalent of a bodice-ripper?

4 Apparently those wacky inhabitants of the 17th century just loved themselves some Argalus and Parthenia. Couldn't get enough.

5 Just to be clear, I don't know that that's what happened. I'm joking about the executive decision thing. His name really could have been "Argalus Hercules Henderson." Just sayin...

Update #1: Looking for the Link Between "Delmarva" James of 1661 and "Onslow" James of 1732, plus Bishops and Stokelys

If you have not yet read my original article in which I set out prove once and for all whether there is a direct lineal connection between the James Henderson Senior and Junior of early Onslow County NC and the older group of Hendersons on the Delmarva peninsula, take a moment to read that to get up to speed.

For years our two families of Hendersons have operated on the premise that each group had emigrated separately, the first arriving in the very early 1660's on the Delmarva Peninsula (Northampton and Accomack County VA), and the second Henderson family arriving roughly seventy years later, probably through the port of Wilmington, and then taking up land in what became Onslow County NC. To be fair, a couple of researchers from the Delmarva group gave the idea of a direct connection more weight than our group did, but no paper connection had ever been made between the two groups,* so we just had to shrug and wonder. Thanks to the magic of DNA testing, we've learned that not only is there a connection, but potentially a much closer one than we thought. This means we need to have another look at the paper trail.

A slight adjustment to what had been a longstanding chronology for the Onslow group (which I won't go into here, but which I believe is a correct change since it brings my work into alignment with that of Morris Meyers's) has shown several possibilities where the elusive connection might exist.

You'll see at the bottom of the first article the original version of the chart I made to help us quickly identify the places in the Delmarva tree where a direct connection with our James of Onslow might have occurred. In this article I am posting an updated version of the chart in which I believe I have eliminated two of the former candidates that were being investigated as potential ancestors.

I am not a linear researcher. I tend to be a bit like a hummingbird, flitting intensely from question to question, and person to person in the database, but at the end of the day (or week, or month), I typically arrive at a conclusion I can support with reasoning and evidence. I can't say that I'm pursuing this leg of the research in as systematic a way as I'd have liked (too many tangents lead me astray in the web of interconnected families), but I can say that my haphazard method has produced results.

As I said, I have eliminated two of the male candidates from the original chart, both of them sons of John and Elizabeth Barnabe Henderson. The John Henderson-Elizabeth Barnabe line is prolific and by far the best documented of the Delmarva group. John Henderson's younger brothers William (m. Sarah Bishop) and James Junior (m. Esther) are much less so, so I started with John's only two sons who might be long-shot possibilities: William b ca 1681 and Joseph (b unknown).  John and Elizabeth's other sons, Charles (b ca 1687), John Junior (b ca 1689), James (b aft 1695) and Benjamin (b ca 1697) were "pedigreed" enough for me to identify and eliminate them as strong candidates to be the ancestor of our Onslow James Henderson(s). Their children didn't fit the names or dates we were targeting, and were typically too young to be our man.

If there is indeed the direct connection between our two families that we suspect, our  James Henderson Senior of Onslow was most likely a grandson of the original Delmarva James of 1661 Northampton/Accomack County VA.  Even so, I had a quick run through the children of John and Elizabeth Barnabe Henderson just to make sure there were no obvious gaps, and to satisfy myself that I had thoroughly explored every possibility before ruling them out.

Again, I realized that I had no information on that couple's eldest son, William, nor their youngest, Joseph. Subsequent research showed that both men had pre-deceased their father and William apparently died without heirs, naming only siblings in his will. This explains why there is so little about him online. No descendants to dig up bones. Joseph's will only mentioned a wife (Elizabeth) and an underage daughter, Hannah. That seems to effectively eliminate both of these men, who were already weak candidates due to their age (in other words, they obviously aren't our man, and their children would have been too young to be our James Senior, even had any previously undocumented sons of either man turned up in research).

Both of those men are now grayed out on the updated chart (at the bottom of this article, click to enlarge) with notes indicating no direct male heirs.

In another encouraging development, I believe I have identified an unaccounted-for James Henderson on the 1723 "census" information for Somerset County MD (where the Delmarva group settled after leaving Northampton and Accomack). Since we can account for the James living in 1723 who belonged to John and Elizabeth Barnabe Henderson (as well as John and Elizabeth's grandson James who would not have been old enough in 1723 to head up a household), AND we can account for the James Henderson Junior b 1669 who married Esther, then this third unidentified James (born sometime prior to 1703) would necessarily have had to have belonged to William and Sarah Bishop Henderson, OR to James and Ester Henderson. This is precisely what we were hoping to find. A previously unidentified James of the right age in Delmarva. But it's too soon to get excited. We can't prove he's our James Henderson Senior of Onslow, and we don't know which of the two couples he belonged to. But I'm working on that. I have my suspicions. Things are looking promising, but it's a tough row to hoe trying to find solid documentation that far back.

The third change to the chart is a very tentative (and perhaps premature) one. We know that James and Mary Henderson were the parents of John, baptized 1661 in Northampton Co VA, and also of William and sister Jane (sometimes spelled Jeane), both born before 1668. But in 1668 James has a new wife, Alice, whom he "transports" into Somerset County MD along with his three children. Obviously some time before 1668 Mary had died, leaving John with three very young children. I can just imagine how he liked that situation. He needed a wife, and fast. And as they say, proximity, proximity, proximity.

Up until this point, based on the "transportation" record of 1668, we had idly believed that James brought his children and new wife Alice from England? Scotland? But there was a problem with that. John, the eldest, was clearly baptized in Northampton County VA in 1661. James was active and well-documented in the records of the Delmarva Peninsula all through the early-to-mid 1660's so he had little opportunity to take a practically constantly pregnant Mary on a dangerous ocean voyage to England/Ireland/Scotland (and why do so?), then remarry and travel back to Virginia/Maryland in time to be there in April 1666 when he received a 400a grant for eight headrights in Accomack County VA. When I laid this out on my timeline, I realized he had only moved the family from the colony of Virginia across the (disputed) border into the colony of Maryland. That constituted "transporting" the family That meant wife Alice was likely from Virginia. Proximity, proximity, proximity. 

Now, let's talk about those eight headrights in April of 1666. Like I said, I'm a research hummingbird and I dart from idea to idea, and one of the ideas I've been spending some time on is the connection between the Henderson family and the Bishop family. (Remember, James's son William married Sarah Bishop in 1685 [documented], daughter of Delmarva settler Lt. Henry Bishop, who, incidentally was a neighbor to Gilbert Henderson who was also in Hungars Parish in 1661 baptizing a daughter the same year James and Mary Henderson were baptizing their son John, but I digress. Hummingbird.). The Bishops married into the Stokely family (of early Accomack and Northampton Counties, VA, also spelled Stockley and Stoakley). The Bishops also show up in 18th-century New Hanover and Onslow County NC, and could be clue that leads us to the connection between our Onslow group and the Delmarva group. But...hummingbird.

So back to those headright settlers, now that we've established a family connection between the Hendersons and Bishops and Stoakleys, and we're talking about (or were supposed to be) James's second wife, the mysterious Alice, take a look at this record from Cavaliers and Pioneers: "JAMES HENDERSON, 400 acs. Accomack Co., on S. side of Pocomoke Riv., 5 Apr. 1666, Bounded on E. by land surveyed for Thomas Davis. Trans. of 8 pers: Jno. Long, James Collins, Edwd. Top, Eliz. White, Jno. Price, Jno. Aubry, Alice Stewkly, Florence Evans."

Alice! Stewkly! Stokely? Proximity, proximity, proximity.

Click chart to enlarge

*Barnaby Henderson, son of Charles & Parthenia Merrill Henderson of the Delmarva line shows up in Onslow County NC several decades after James Senior and Junior are already settled on property on the New River. This later immigration of Onslow County Hendersons is well-documented and is not the connection we are looking for, however, almost all of the Hendersons who remain in Onslow County today trace back to this line.