Henderson Family
Earliest Proven Henderson Ancestor:
James (the Mariner) Henderson Senior
b. ca 1690-1700 Somerset Co MD
m. Unknown
d. aft 1750, location unknown, probably Onslow County NC
Earliest Probable Henderson Ancestor:
James Henderson Senior of Somerset Co MD
b. est 1630-1632 (possibly Perthshire)
m. 1) Mary, 2) Alice (possibly Stewkly or Stokely)
d. bet 18 Nov 1690 - 22 Oct 1692 Somerset County MD
If you are an Ancestry User and would like to connect your tree from the James (Isaac) Henderson family of Onslow County NC back to James Henderson Sr. of Somerset County MD, I recommend you refer to this tree as a guide. I believe it to be the most accurate representation of conclusions that can be drawn from current DNA, circumstantial and documentary evidence.
November 2015 Update
At long last I feel able to state with a reasonable degree of confidence that the James Hendersons (Jr. and Sr.) of early Onslow County NC descended from the Henderson family of Virginia and Maryland's early Eastern Shore.
Thanks to DNA testing, we have known for nearly a decade that the Hendersons who descend from James Henderson Sr. and Jr. of early Onslow County NC shared an ancestor with the older Henderson lineage of Somerset County MD, but we weren't sure whether the most recent common ancestor was in the New World or the Old.
After many spending many months in intense collaboration with researcher Robin Henderson of Indiana, I feel we have now amassed enough circumstantial and paper evidence to state with about a 90% degree of confidence that James (the Mariner) Henderson Senior, who was in Onlsow County NC at its formation in 1734, was a grandson of James (the Immigrant) Henderson Senior of early Somerset County MD. Additional autosomal DNA testing has produced matches with the Bishop family, of Somerset County, which lends support to my and Robin's educated guess that James Sr. of Onslow County NC was a son of William and Sarah Bishop Henderson.
Work is underway to assemble as much documentation on the Somerset Co MD Hendersons as is possible, but early tax lists show Onslow County James Sr., apparently a mariner, moving back and forth between NC and MD in the first half of the 18th-century, in close proximity to the Hendersons of Somerset County MD and interacting with allied family lines (both in Maryland and in coastal NC). Efforts are underway to collate and share information on this family and we are close to reaching a point where a sound working hypothesis can be summarized for inclusion here on this site. However, there is a staggering amount of data and records to be gone through, so this will be a work in progress for the foreseeable future.
In the mean time, I feel comfortable in saying that any Henderson with a proven lineage back to James (Isaac) Henderson Jr. of Onslow County NC (d bet 1776-1780) can feel reasonably confident in updating their family trees to reflect descent from James and Mary Henderson, who first appear in Northampton County VA parish records in 1661 (James later moved to Somerset with his second wife, Alice).
For those on Ancestry.com, please refer to this tree when connecting James (Isaac) back to James the Immigrant.
Keep up with the latest research on the Henderson family
NEWSFLASH!
June 2017
The Hypothetical Henderson Tree
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.
February 2016
No Connections to Fordells of Fife
I continue to see trees on Ancestry.com and online which claim that our Hendersons of the Eastern Shore descend from the Fordell Hendersons of Fife. DNA testing has conclusively proven that there is no connection between our Henderson family and the Fordell Hendersons. Any/all of the many trees on Ancestry.com (and elsewhere online) that claim that our Hendersons descend from Fordell Hendersons are in error. Wrong. Mistaken. The two families haven't shared a direct-line male ancestor since the early Bronze Age. Ponder that.
The easiest way to follow my personal research on this family and its allied lines is by browsing the Henderson posts on my Genealogy Blog.
You can also jump directly to articles in the blog that are of interest to specific allied lines or narrower topics:
Highlights from the Blog...
-
NEWEST
2017-06-18 Our Hypothetical Henderson Tree - a Work in Progress
-
2016-06-23 Correcting the List of Children of James (Isaac) and Mary Henderson of Onslow Co NC
-
2016-06-18 Art Thou Our John Henderson of 1823 Chatham County? No Indeed, Thou Art Not.
-
2016-06-10 Were our Henderson Ancestors Among the Jacobite Convicts Who Arrived Aboard the Friendship in 1716?
-
2015-10-30 The Truth About Thomas - Burying the Myth of "Thomas Henderson of Jamestown"
-
2015-10-16 Photos and Video from Visits to the New River (Onslow Co NC) and the Pocomoke River (Somerset Co MD)
-
2015-06-02 A Brief Introduction to Eastern Shore Justice. Grab Your Popcorn.
-
2015-05-01 The Most Excellent History of Argalus and Parthenia
-
2015-04-20 Was there ever a "James Isaac Henderson?"
You'll find a full list of the Henderson blog articles by clicking on the "Articles" tab in the Library.
Join the Discussion
If you are a descendant of the Hendersons of the Eastern Shore and would like to join in a collaboration to help us expand our knowledge of our collective family history, please submit a request to join our discussion group via Facebook or at EasternShoreHendersons.org
To see if you are eligible to participate, please check this list. If you can trace back to any of the ancestors listed, use the links above to join.
Matching Y-DNA testers are automatically eligible for membership.
*Please be prepared to produce a reasonably well documented tree proving your lineage back to one of the ancestors on the master list. Due to privacy concerns, and to protect the integrity of our shared research, requests from those unable to prove kinship will be politely declined. Thank you for your understanding.
A few of the surnames allied with my line of the Henderson Family
View the Surname Index for a complete listing of families and names that appear in my research, and links to corresponding family group documents.
Some Surnames in this Section: Anderson, Ball, Bancroft, Birtles, Brewer, Burgess, Buxsey, Calvert, Clark, Coble, Copeland, Crossland, Crutchfield, Cuthbert, Dickey, Duck, Dunbabin, Emig/Amick, Evans, Foden, Geisler, Hadley, Harlan/Harland, Harrison, Hawksworth, Heald, Henderson, Hobson, Hoope/Hoopes, Janney, Johnson, Kieran/Keran, Kirk/Newkirk, Langley, Leonard, Lindley, Long, Low, MacPherson, Meacham, Murray, Norman, Parke, Pasliew, Passmore, Payne, Richardson, Rhodes, Rotter, Seaman, Shires, Sonss, Stainhouse, Strettel, Thomas, Volkel, Weston, Whitehead
Get in Touch
See a mistake? Have information or comments to contribute? Please email me.
The Artemus H. Henderson Memorial Library
Explore a growing collection of documents, media assets and research resources in The Artemus H. Henderson Memorial Library. This section serves as a repository for Documents, Timelines, Maps, Multimedia, Books, Articles, Links, and other items relevant to this Henderson family and its allied lines. It is a work in progress and new materials will be added on an ongoing basis.
Family Photo Gallery
Browse an ever-growing collection of Henderson family photos on Flickr. The collection includes albums for several allied lines as well as places of importance to the family. If you would like to view the full Photo Stream, click here. Otherwise, select an album from the list below:
-
The Seven Sons of Argalus
If you have a photo of a Henderson family member that you'd like to share, please email me a high quality, high resolution digital image along with a description of the photo and specific information about how the individual(s) connect with our Henderson family.
Please include permission to post the image to Flickr for sharing with other family members and researchers. Please do not send photos of living individuals without including their permission to post online. Sumbissions of images without descriptions and usage permission will not be considered. Author reserves the right to decline to post photos that are not considered of sufficient quality or suitability for this site. No photos taken after 1950 will be posted.