Biography - JOHN P. HENDERSON

John P. Henderson, president of the State Bank of Virden and one of the prominent and successful men of Macoupin county, was born in Garrard county, Kentucky, January 15, 1833, a son of James Harvey and Almira B. (Reid) Henderson. John Henderson, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Virginia and removed to Kentucky, later taking up his residence with his family in Indiana, where he was living during the war of 1812. One of his brothers took part in the war but was never heard of again. In 1830 Mr. Henderson came to Illinois and spent the “winter of the deep snow” in Morgan county. Soon afterward he located on a tract of timber and prairie land near Whitehall in Greene county, where he continued during the remainder of his life, passing away in 1849. The maiden name of his wife was Anna Provine. After the death of her husband she made her home with her son, James Harvey Henderson, but survived her husband only about two years.

James H. Henderson, the father of our subject, was born in Virginia and very early in life accompanied his parents across the mountains to Kentucky. He removed with them to the territory of Indiana and at the age of seventeen years began to learn the blacksmith’s trade, his training in this line including the making of chains, wedges, axes, hoes, horseshoes and horseshoe nails. He not only manufactured these various articles for use in the shop but devoted his time during the evenings to making them for sale, thus early giving evidence of thrift which became one of his prominent characteristics. After completing his apprenticeship he returned to Kentucky and carried on his trade in that state. In the fall of 1837 he removed with his family to Carrollton, Greene county, Illinois, where his father had located a few years previous. He conducted a blacksmith shop for two years and then entered government land six miles east of Whitehall. On this place he erected a log house, also a blacksmith shop and devoted a part of his time to his trade and the remainder to his farm. In the fall of 1853 he arrived in Macoupin county and settled on three hundred and thirty acres of land near Virden. The history of his life from that time forward is closely interwoven with the history of the agricultural development of this section of the state. He was energetic, ambitious and resourceful and during the thirty years of his residence in Macoupin county he amassed a fortune. He died in the fall of 1883 and was buried in Virden cemetery. In Kentucky Mr. Henderson was married to Miss Almira Blaine Reid and they had three children: Samuel B., who died in 1849; John P., of this review; and Mary, who became the wife of John Woodson and died at St. Louis in 1880, leaving two children, Julia and Alma. The mother of these children died in Greene county in 1845 and Mr. Henderson was married to Miss Elizabeth Davis, who became the mother of two children, Leslie and Robert, both of whom are deceased. After the death of his second wife he married Miss Nancy Ann Wells. By this union two children were born, Lillian W. and James H., both of whom are now deceased. Nancy Ann Henderson died February 21, 1906.

John Provine Henderson, whose name introduces this sketch, received his preliminary education in the country schools of Greene county and early became familiar with all classes of farm work. At the age of twenty years he took up his residence in Macoupin county and in 1856 engaged in the mercantile business at Virden, which he conducted successfully for four years. In 1863 he joined a company of sixteen adventurous young men, organized in this section to seek gold in California, and in the month of April they started westward with a complete outfit of horses, mules and wagons. A description of their trip up the valley of the Platte and through Salt Lake City and Nevada over the Sierras would make an interesting volume. They arrived safe at Marysville, California, in August, and, having disposed of their stock, began prospecting and mining. Mr. Henderson soon came to the conclusion that gold hunting is an uncertain vocation, one of excitement, but often lacking in financial returns. Accordingly, in December of the same year he started for home by way of the Isthmus of Panama, arriving in Macoupin county one month later. He secured a clerical position in the office of the county tax collector under Sheriff Wills, which position he retained for two years and then began to improve a farm west of Virden. In 1873 he sold his place and purchased from Dr. Orange B. Heaton the farm on which he now resides, upon which he has made every improvement necessary for the successful conduct of an extensive agricultural and stock-raising business. Here he has built a beautiful home which is noted for its hospitality. He is the owner of eight hundred and ten acres of valuable land and also of several acres of town lots in Virden. In 1887 Mr. Henderson became a partner in the Bank of Virden, now a state bank, and is now serving as president of that institution, which is one of the well established financial concerns of the county.

On January 15, 1867, Mr. Henderson was married to Miss Maxie Z. Bronaugh, a daughter of J. M. and Louise (Poindexter) Bronaugh. The ancestral history shows Mr. Henderson’s connection with the Woods family. Burke’s General Armory, page 136 of the MS. Vol. F, 225, library of Trinity College, Dublin, says: “John Woods, of the County Meath, married Elizabeth, born 15th day and baptized 17th November, 1656, daughter of Thomas Warsop, of Dunshaulin, County Meath, by his wife, Elizabeth, who was daughter of Richard, son of William Parsons, of Birr, or Parsontown, by said Richard’s wife, Letitia, who was the daughter of Sir Adam Loftus, miles, who married Jane, daughter of Walter Vaughn, of Coldengrove; was son of Sir Dudley Loftus, miles, by his wife, Anne, daughter of Henry Bagnall, of Newry, miles, and said Sir Dudley was the son of Adam Loftus, Lord Bishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, who married Jane, daughter of T. Purdon.

“John Woods, above mentioned, who married Elizabeth Warsop, had issue, sons and daughters (2) — Michael, Andrew, William, James and Elizabeth, wife of Peter Wallace, all of whom emigrated to America in the early part of the eighteenth century with the three sons of Michael — William, John and Archibald.”

O’Hart also gives Woods arms and crest. Michael Woods’ will is on record in Albemarle county, Virginia, bearing date November 24, 1761; probated June term of court, 1762. The Woodses, so tradition tells us, landed in the Delaware and spent some time in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, before ascending the valley of Virginia, where they were probably the first settlers in the section known as Hudson’s Grant. They entered the valley by Woods Gap, 1734, now Jarmen’s Gap. The original home, now known as Blair Park, is the site of the Woods burial ground, in which both Michael Woods and son, Colonel John Woods, are at Braddock’s defeat, July 9, 1755, is in the possession of Charles A. P. Woods, son of Michael Woods and Mary Campbell, who was born February 18, 1712, and departed this life October 14, 1791.” Colonel John Woods’ military company was called the Rangers. A rapier carried by Lieutenant Colonel John Woods at Braddock’s defeat, July 9, 1755, is in the possession of Charles A. P. Woods, of 1925 Washington avenue, Parsons, Kansas. Mr. Woods also has the original wills of both Michael and Colonel John Woods and several deeds witnessed by Colonel Peter Jefferson, surveyor and lieutenant, of Albemarle county, father of Thomas Jefferson. Another is signed by Thomas Jefferson, another by General Lewis and another by James Monroe. The original land grant signed “the 4th June, 1737, to Michael Woods under the seal of the Colony of Virginia and dominion at Williamsburg, William Gooch” gave to said Michael Woods and heirs four hundred acres in the county of Goochland, on both sides of Licking Hole creek, a branch of Meechum’s river. Michael Woods, Sr., and his son-in-law had grants covering thirteen hundred acres. Michael Woods, Sr., purchased two thousand acres patent of Charles Hudson on Ivy creek.

The first Presbyterian church was Mountain Plains, on the estate of Woods known as Blair Park, now converted into a Baptist church. A communion cloth and napkins made for this church by Hannah Woods, daughter of Michael Woods, Sr., and sister of Colonel John Woods, is still used. She was born in 1710. The cloth is now in use at the Presbyterian church near Greenwood, Virginia.

On November 27, 1766, John Woods was commissioned a major by Governor Fauquier, June 11, 1770, Lord Boutetourt, His Majesty’s Lieutenant and Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, granted to him a commission as lieutenant colonel of the militia of Albemarle, Thomas Jefferson being the colonel of same. He held a like commission from Governor Nelson, bearing date December 10, 1770. These original documents, when last heard of, were in the hands of William Woods, grandson of Colonel Michael Woods, of Lombard Park, Nelson county, Virginia. Lieutenant Colonel John Woods fell in love as a child with Susannah Anderson, daughter of Rev. James Anderson, a Presbyterian preacher in Pennsylvania, at whose home the family were entertained while enroute to the Virginia valley. John promised her he would return to wed her, which he did about 1742. In 1745 he was sent as a messenger from Mountain Plains church to the Presbyterians of Donegal, in Pennsylvania, to call Rev. Hindman to serve Mountain Plains and Rockfish, near Ivy Station. Rev. James Anderson, his father-in-law, also often preached for them.

The children of Colonel John Woods and Susannah Anderson were as follows. James Woods (1743-1822), married Mary Garland. Mary Woods, born December 2, 1746, died October 19, 1848, married John Reid, born August 25, 1750, died June 29, 1816. Michael Woods (1748-1826), married Hettie Caruthers. Suity Woods, great-grandmother of Mr. Henderson on his mother’s line, was born February 29, 1752, died March 26, 1823, married Samuel Reid. Sarah Woods, born 1757, died 1776. Anna Woods, born 1760, died August 9, 1805, married John N. Reid. John Woods, Jr., born 1763, died 1764. Susannah Woods, born September 21, 1768, died August 13, 1832, married Daniel Miller November 28, 1793.

The son James, mentioned above, served as a colonel in the Revolution, his commission bearing date November 12, 1776; regiment known as the Fourth and Eighth Virginia. He left Albermarle in 1795 and went to Paint Lick Creek, Garrard county, Kentucky, where he died.

John Reid, who married Mary Woods, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence in Albermarle. He was a brother of Samuel Reid. John Reid and wife are buried near Richmond, Kentucky. Inscription upon tombstone at Paint Lick Creek cemetery, Garrard county, Kentucky, reads: “Suity Woods Reid, born February 29, 1752, died March 26, 1823.” Her father was Colonel John Woods, of Blair Park, near Crozet, Albermarle county, Virginia. Suity Woods Reid and husband, Samuel Reid, he originally of Nelson county, Virginia, removed to Garrard county, Kentucky, about 1782 and lived and died there. Suity and Samuel Reid had four children so far as can be found— James, known as Dr. James Reid, who married Betsey Murell, and had Susan, Mary, George, James and Bell.

John W. Reid married Jennie Murell, sister of Betsey, from Barren county, Kentucky, and lived and died near Hustonville, Lincoln county, Kentucky.

The grandparents of Mr. Henderson were Alexander Reid, who married Polly Morrison Blaine, December 30, 1806. Children were: Naomi Harrison, born October 20, 1807; Jane Morrison, born January 28, 1809; Almira Blaine, born March 18, 1810, married James Harvey Henderson. Second wife of Alexander Reid was Maria Thompson, born April 30, 1788. Children were: Nelson Thompson, born June 29, 1818; Sally Ann, December 23, 1819; Samuel, December 3, 1821; Alexander R., Jr., April 28, 1823; James, July 13, 1825; John A., February 9, 1827; Maria B., October 22, 1829.

The tombstone of Polly Morrison Reid is beside that of her mother-inlaw at Paint Lick cemetery. The inscription thereon reads: “Polly M. Reid died September 25, 1864, in the eightieth year of her age.”

Mary Reid, the fourth child of Samuel Reid and Suity Woods, married William Woods, her cousin. Their children were William, Angeline, Rice, Mary and Cabell. William Woods, her husband, represented Garrard county, Kentucky, in the legislature in 1857-59.

It is said Samuel Reid came from Scotland and settled in Pennsylvania and served in the Revolution to its close, later coming to Virginia, first to Amherst, later Nelson county, Virginia. Nathan Reid, called a brother of Samuel Reid, was captain of a company of the Fourteenth Virginia Regiment in the Revolution. In 1778 it was designated as Captain N. Reid's company of the Tenth Virginia Regiment, whose colonel was William Davies.

Among the names of men who were banished from Edinburgh after being held prisoners some time after the battle of Bothwell Bridge, the old Scotch book called “A Cloud of Witnesses,” Anno 1678, gives “Anderson, Brown, Campbell, Miller, Reid, Walker.” Many by these names later settled in Augusta, formerly Orange county, Virginia.

In connection with Woods and Reids the following Henderson notes may be interesting: Robert Henderson (bachelor) to Frankey Savage (spinster). Note — James Henderson was surety on this bond. Frankey Savage herself wrote the request to the clerk to issue the license, with James Henderson and Andrew Henderson, witnesses. Alexander Henderson, with same witnesses, wrote on the back of the same paper his permission and request to the clerk to issue the license to his son Robert.

Alexander Henderson married Sarah Wallace, daughter of Andrew Wallace and Margaret Woods, in Virginia. The Hendersons emigrated to Kentucky about 1787 or 1790 and settled at Paint Lick Creek, Garrard county, Kentucky. On May 3, 1794 - Alexander Henderson and Sarah, his wife, conveyed to Robert Henderson, of same county, two hundred acres; witnesses: Bazil Maxwell, Edward Russell, James Henderson. On November 3, 1795, same court records show John Reid, Lincoln county, Kentucky, executed deed conveying certain lands to Alexander Henderson. In 1790 court records show one Michael Wallace, son of William Wallace and Hannah Woods, acquired some four hundred acres on Paint Lick Creek, Madison county, Kentucky, by deeds from Stephen Merrit, Robert Henderson and William Miller.

Said Robert Henderson was the father of John Henderson, who married Anny Provine. They were residents of Virginia at the time of their marriage, December 1, 1803. Their first child was James Harvey, father of the subject of this sketch, who was born September 26, 1804. It is said he was four years old when his parents took him to Kentucky, where they, too, settled upon Paint Lick Creek, where so many Reids, Wallaces, Woods and Hendersons had preceded them. John Henderson was an ordained minister in the Christian church in 1821 in Bloomington, Indiana, where he moved from Kentucky while his family were yet young. After some years he again moved to Greene county, Illinois, where he farmed and preached. James Harvey meantime returned to Kentucky, where he married Almira Blaine Reid and lived some years before again returning to Illinois via Indiana. He, too, lived in Bloomington, Indiana, later Greene county, Illinois, and about 1850 removed with his family to Virden, Macoupin county, Illinois, where he purchased two sections of government land and began to till the virgin prairie soil.

The children of Robert Henderson-Frankey Savage, married 1779, June 12, were as follows. John, born May 31, 1780; married Anny Provine, December L 1803; died August 24, 1851, leaving seven sons and one daughter. James, married Nancy ___; one child, Robert, married; never had an heir; died November 29, 1833. Alexander, married Susan Woods; children, James, John; married; moved to Texas after war of 1812; heard of in New York city and then lost trace of entirely; Emily married Mr. J. Doty; daughter Alice; now living in Kentucky; Susan ___, William, married in Garrard county, Kentucky; left children; died January 20, 1831. Carey, died a bachelor in Terre Haute, Indiana, November 27, 1839. Eliza Ann, married Frank Sanders in Wayne county, Kentucky, near Monticello; died July 18, 1842, leaving children, three sons and five daughters. Sally, born February 4, 1787; married April 14, 1808, John Terrill, in Kentucky; moved to Maryland, near Palmyra, Marion county; left eleven children. Margaret, married William D. McCullough, Bloomington, Indiana; left five children, the fifth of whom, Ann, first married Mr. Bean, then Mr. James Crum, near Virginia, Illinois.

The children of John Henderson, Sr., and Anny Provine were as follows. James Harvey, born September 26, 1804; married three times; died August 8, 1883. Children by Almira Blaine Reid, his first wife, were John P., Sam B. and Mary. His second wife, Elizabeth E. Davis, he married September 9, 1844. Their children were Leslie D., born October 24, 1845, never married and died November 21, 1876; and Robert A., born February 23, 1849, died August 31, 1858. His third marriage was to Nancy Ann Wells, born April 8, 1818, married May 18, 1851, and died February 21, 1906. Their children were Lillian W., born December 4, 1852, never married and died January 15, 1893, and James H., born October 9, 1854, never married and died September 13, 1884.

The other children of John Henderson, Sr., and Anny Provine were John Provine, born May 24. 1807; married Susan Green; died March 29, 1897; left three sons, four daughters—all living. Robert Mitchell, born December 18, 1808, died March 23, 1810. Carey Alen, born May 4, 1810; married Martha Peters in Greene county, Illinois; died November 27, 1839, left two children. William, born August 25, 1813; never married; died October 2, 1840. Alexander, born September 9, 1815; married Mary Ann Collier, February 13, 1840. David Maxwell, born November 15, 1820; married three times; Eliza Ann, born July 13, 1822; married Cary Henderson, a cousin, July 16, 1840; died July 12, 1842.

John Provine Henderson, born January 15, 1833, married Maxie Zidania Bronaugh, January 15, 1867. Maxie Z. Bronaugh is a daughter of John Martin Bronaugh and Louise Poindexter, who were married in 1837 in Kentucky. John Martin Bronaugh is a son of George Bronaugh and Sarah Martin, born October 22, 1814, in Culpeper county, Virginia; moved later to Jessamine county, Kentucky. Sarah Martin was a daughter of John Martin, born about 1723, in Spotsylvania county, Virginia. She died in Danville, Kentucky, in 1865. George Bronaugh removed from Virginia to Kentucky in 1818, making, the journey by wagon in which he carried his household goods. He settled in Jessamine county, six miles east of Nicholasville, where he bought a tract of forest land, continuing on this place until his death in 1832.

Children of George and Sarah (Martin) Bronaugh: John Martin, born October 22, 1814, married 1837; Lucy Ann, married Mr. Hunter, of Kentucky, dead; James H., married Susan Mitchell, dead; Eliza J., married Mr. Shirley, three children; Addison, married Nancy Jane Stafford, lives in Carroll county, Kentucky, two children living. John M. Bronaugh was four years of age when he accompanied his parents to Kentucky and there he grew to maturity, receiving such education as was afforded by the subscription schools of the period. He remained at home until twenty-one years of age and then set out to seek his fortune, arriving in Greene county, Illinois, on horseback, in 1835. He carried with him one thousand dollars in cash, which he invested in a tract of fifty* acres of improved land in South Rich woods township, six miles from Carrollton. He established a tanyard which he operated for five years, but he preferred farming and, having disposed of his tanyard, he bought more land and devoted his efforts exclusively to his farm for the next seven years. He then engaged in the mercantile business at Woodville, transporting his goods from Columbiana, Alton or St. Louis, as there were no railroads through this region at that time. He eventually disposed of his business and in the spring of 1855 engaged in the grain business at Virden, which he followed for thirteen years. In 1868 he took charge of a large tract of farming land that he had bought in Lafayette county, Missouri, but two years later turned over the management to his sons and returned to Virden, where he resumed the grain business. In 1889 he retired after transferring his grain business to his son Perry. He died in 1892 and the community recognized that it had lost one of its most valued citizens. He was a consistent member of the Christian church and one of its most liberal supporters. In politics he affiliated with the democratic party.

Louise Poindexter, who married John M. Bronaugh, was a daughter of Thomas Poindexter and Mackey Wood, of Virginia, married in Kentucky, removed to Greene county, Illinois, where she is buried. The children were as follows: Ambrose, had one son; John, who lives at Mount Vernon, Missouri. Harris had three children, one of whom was a physician by profession and another of whom was Sarah Ann, who wedded Mr. Robinet of Kentucky. Lawrence was married and made his home in Oregon. Louise gave her hand in marriage to John M. Bronaugh. Simpson, who resided in Oregon, had one son, Thomas, who is now married and makes his home in Washington. Benjamin was also married and lived in Oregon. Newton, who likewise resided in Oregon, had two children. Martha married G. Maupin of Missouri and now lives in Oregon. Unto John M. Bronaugh and Louise Poindexter were born ten children, three of whom grew to maturity, namely: Perry S., who is now a resident of Auburn, Illinois; Maxie Z., now Mrs. John P. Henderson; and James A., who is deceased. Two daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Henderson; Almira Louise, who married Howard T. Wilson and they reside in Virden; Mary Amelia, who died at the age of eighteen months, in July, 1876.

The history of the Bronaughs has always been that three brothers came to this country, William, John and Jeremiah, whose father is thought to have been one William. The tradition is that one settled in Stafford county, Virginia, one in Loudoun and a third in Spotsylvania. The last named was William, the ancestor of George Bronaugh, who married Sarah Martin. The original spelling of the name was Brenau, so the family are of French ancestry. The history of Captain Jeremiah B. is quite fully known. He was born February 15, 1702, died November 21, 1749, buried near Turo Parish, County Fairfax, Virginia. His tombstone has now been removed to Pohick churchyard, near Alexandria. His son, William, was prominent in the French and Indian wars. There are records of his marriages and those of his children.

John P. Henderson is a stanch believer in the Bible and is an elder in the Christian church at Virden. He is firm in his convictions as to what is right and wrong and his friends and neighbors know on which side he may be found on any important question. At the same time he tempers justice with charity and is recognized as a man whose heart is open to the call of need and who never fails to respond in case of emergency.

Extracted 15 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 514-525.