William Fenner Henderson (1817 - abt. 1890)

Born 28 Jul 1817 in Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Martha Louisa (Edwards) Henderson — married 6 Oct 1856 in Christian County, Kentucky, United States

Descendants

Died about 1890 at about age 72 in Corsicana, Navarro, Texas, United States

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William is the son of Thomas Henderson and Anne Fenner.

HBorn in Raleigh, North Carolina, he moved to Texas in 1836 and became a citizen first of Coahuila and Texas, then of the Republic of Texas,finally of the USA and for a brief while, a son of the Confederacy. He was a surveyor and later a land locator under the Republic of Texas. Navarro County's (Corsicana)first resident, Dr. George W. Hill, settled "for" William F. Henderson at Spring Hill (near Dawson). William's son Harry McCorry Henderson is called the "first white child born in Corsicana". William Fenner Henderson was charged by the second Legislature of Texas Februrary 12, 1848 as a land commissioner to plat and make available land in Navarro County for veterans of the Texas Revolution. William was one of the seven survivors of the Battle Creek Fight also known as the Surveyor's Battle with the Kickapoo, Wacos, Caddoes, Tehuacans, and Ionies Indian tribes.

He left Navarro County for eight years to farm at Bolivar Point but returned to Corsicana before his death in 1890.

William's sister Corinna married his wife Mary's brother Henry McCorry. An event that has confused our family tree ever since. William's son, Harry McCorry Henderson married a Henderson (Frankie Henderson)thus linking two different branches of Hendersons which further added to the confusion.

William's son Harry McCorry Henderson wrote of his father, "He never practiced law after the Civil War as he said he would never address Negroes as 'Gentlemen of the Jury'"

Sources

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXFV-Q8Y : 30 December 2015), W F Henderson, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXL5-9LL : 17 October 2014), W F Henderson, Texas, United States; citing p. 26, family 223, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 553,085.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFJ3-PNP : 14 July 2016), William Henderson, Precinct 2, Navarro, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district ED 129, sheet 349B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1321; FHL microfilm 1,255,321.