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Collection Number: 00327

Collection Title: John S. Henderson Papers, 1755-1945, 1962

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


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Size 32.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 11,900 items)
Abstract John Steele Henderson, member of the North Carolina General Assembly, United States congressman, lawyer, and a founder of rural free delivery of the mail, was born 6 January 1846 in Salisbury, N.C., the son of Archibald II and Mary Ferrand Henderson, a descendant of General John Steele, comptroller of the United States Treasury. In October 1874, Henderson married Elizabeth Brownrigg Cain (1850-1929). They were the parents of Elizabeth Brownrigg Henderson, who married United States Navy Captain Lyman A. Cotten; Archibald Henderson, professor of mathematics at the University of North Carolina, who married Barbara Curtis Bynum; John Steele Henderson Jr., electrical engineer for Westinghouse, who married Ruth King; and Mary Ferrand Henderson, who was active in the Democratic Party and in the Episcopal Church in North Carolina. The collection includes letters, financial and legal papers, and other items of John Steele Henderson and members of the Henderson and related families. Earliest items are deeds, indentures, wills, and other legal documents. Items from the 1820s and 1830s chiefly relate to Archibald Henderson's plantation business dealings. In the 1840s-1850s, most letters deal with family activities, especially those of John S. Henderson and his brother Leonard at school in Asheville, N.C., at the University of North Carolina, and at the University of Virginia. There are also items relating to slavery, including lists of slaves hired out, slave bills of sale, and at least four letters from slaves. During the Civil War, there are many letters from John S. Henderson at the University of North Carolina and from Leonard, an officer serving chiefly with the 8th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. After the Civil War, most of the items relate to activities of John S. Henderson, including his political career, and of his family. Included is material about Reconstruction; the United Daughters of the Confederacy; the women's suffrage movement; Democratic Party politics; literature and the performing arts; and travel, especially that of Lyman and Elizabeth Cotten in Japan, where Lyman served two tours of duty as naval attache with the United States embassy in Tokyo before World War I. Other family members in the post-Civil War correspondence include John S. Henderson's brother, Richard; his brother-in-law, William Cain; and his mother-in-law, Sarah Jane Bailey Cain. Volumes include several diaries, most notably that of Mary Ferrand Henderson, 1854-1861, in which she documented family activities.
Creator Henderson, John S. (John Steele), 1846-1916.
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the John S. Henderson Papers #327, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Mary F. Henderson, Lyman A. Cotten, and Mrs. Lyman A. Cotten in 1935, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1967, and 1984.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom and Robert Tinkler, July 1994

Encoded by: Bari Helms, March 2005

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, November 2020; Dawne Howard Lucas, April 2021

This collection was processed with support, in part, from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access.

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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John Steele Henderson, member of the North Carolina General Assembly, United States congressman, city planner, lawyer, and a founder of rural free delivery of the mail, was born in Salisbury, N.C., on 6 January 1846, the son of Archibald II and Mary Ferrand Henderson, a descendant of General John Steele, comptroller of the United States Treasury under Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. John S. Henderson was educated at Alexander Wilson's school in Alamance County, N.C., and entered the University of North Carolina in January 1862. Five months after the death of his brother at Cold Harbor on 1 June 1864, Henderson, at the age of 18, left the University and enlisted as a private in Company B, 10th North Carolina Regiment.

Following the war, Henderson and other former students who had left the University before qualifying were granted degrees. Henderson then studied law, first under Nathaniel Boyden, then, beginning in January 1866, under Judge Richmond Pearson. Five months later, he obtained his license and, although not of age, opened a law office in Salisbury. He was soon elected register of deeds, serving until September 1868. In 1871, he was elected a delegate to a proposed constitutional convention, but the convention question was not approved by a vote of the people. After declining nomination to the General Assembly in 1872 and 1874, he was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention in 1875 and served in the 1876-1877 General Assembly, which implemented changes made at the convention. In the 1879 General Assembly, he was returned to the state senate, and, in 1880 and 1916, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. He was one of three men selected to codify the law of North Carolina.

In June 1884, Henderson was elected presiding justice of the inferior court of Rowan County, and three months later was nominated for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. Henderson was elected to the 45th Congress and to four succeeding congresses, serving from 1885 to 1895. In Congress, Henderson was a member of the Judiciary Committee and chair of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads. His speeches on tariff reform and the internal revenue system attracted wide attention. In 1890, when the Farmers' Alliance was gaining power in the state, he declared that the subtreasury scheme was unconstitutional. His stand on the issue was opposed by most Democratic leaders, but he was still reelected by a majority of more than 4,000 votes.

Henderson's most important work in Congress came in 1893, when he safeguarded an appropriation bill for the Post Office Department that included $10,000 for free rural mail delivery. The first trial routes under the appropriation, after it had gradually been increased to $40,000, were in West Virginia, but soon after a trial route was established out of China Grove near Henderson's native Salisbury.

Henderson's opposition to the free coinage of silver was contrary to the view of most of the farmers in his district and probably was the chief reason for his defeat at the hands of the Populist-Republican fusionists in 1894.

Outside the political sphere, Henderson was active in the development of his county and state. It was he to whom the Southern Railway turned in acquiring land near Salisbury for its large steam engine repair shops, which Henderson helped to locate in what became, in 1898, the town of Spencer. In the development of the Narrows of the Yadkin River, he was associated with the men who secured capital for the development of water power in the area. While hard times caused this project to be aborted, it was later completed by the Aluminum Company of America, which added the great Badin Dam to the development.

Henderson, probably the largest landowner in Salisbury and the surrounding areas, was one of the city's earliest planners. When the Zion Wesley Institute (now Livingstone College) was established in Salisbury in 1882, Henderson purchased the adjoining land and laid out streets and lots. In July 1891, he bought a large parcel of land and, under the name of the Central Land Company, developed streets and lots in east Salisbury. In 1900, Henderson's real estate company purchased land on the east side of the Southern Railway opposite Spencer and established Southern City, which, after its incorporation in 1901, became East Spencer.

A member of Saint Luke's Episcopal Church, Henderson was senior warden for many years. In 1881, he wrote and published a history of the Episcopal Church in Rowan County. During the 1880s, Henderson co-published the quarterly parish paper.

Henderson was also active in education. He was instrumental in acquiring a large house and lot in Chestnut Hill for a boys school, which operated successfully from 1891 to 1899. His interest in education was further demonstrated in 1880, when, as a member of the General Assembly, he adjusted the Salisbury city tax rate so that the graded school law could pass on the local level. As a result, the law passed in the city by a vote of 311 to 11 and two new graded schools, one for each race, were erected. He also served for many years as chair of the Rowan County school board.

After retiring from Congress, Henderson served as state senator, 1901 and 1903, and as alderman for the city of Salisbury, 1900. He was a trustee of the University of North Carolina from 1877 to 1886 and received an LL.D. from Trinity College in June 1890. In 1877, he was elected a director of the Western North Carolina Railroad and served until 1880, when the railroad was sold by the state. He was also a director of the Yadkin Railroad, which ran from Salisbury to Norwood; a bank director; and a director of the Yadkin Valley Fair Association.

In October 1874, Henderson married Elizabeth Brownrigg Cain (1850-1929) in Asheville. She was the daughter of William and Sarah Jane Bailey Cain of Hillsborough and a sister of William Cain, electrical engineer and mathematics professor at the University of North Carolina. They were the parents of Elizabeth Brownrigg Henderson, who married United States Navy Captain Lyman A. Cotten; Archibald Henderson, professor of mathematics at the University of North Carolina, who married Barbara Curtis Bynum; John Steele Henderson Jr., electrical engineer for Westinghouse, who married Ruth King; and Mary Ferrand Henderson, who was active in the Democratic Party and the Episcopal Church in North Carolina. The Hendersons also had three children who died in childhood.

Henderson died on 9 October 1916 at Blythewood, the home he built on the edge of Salisbury in 1878, and was buried in the city's Chestnut Hill Cemetery.

(Adapted from the biographical note by James Shober Brawley in the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume III, 1988.)

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The collection includes letters, financial and legal papers, and other items of John S. Henderson, Democratic Party politician, member of the North Carolina General Assembly, United States congressman, lawyer, and a founder of rural free delivery of the mail, of Salisbury, N.C., and and members of the Henderson and related families. Earliest items are deeds, indentures, wills, and other legal documents. Items from the 1820s and 1830s chiefly relate to Archibald Henderson's plantation business dealings. In the 1840s-1850s, most letters deal with family activities, especially those of John S. Henderson and his brother Leonard Henderson at school in Asheville, N.C., at the University of North Carolina, and at the University of Virginia. There are also items relating to slavery, including lists of slaves hired out, slave bills of sale, and at least four slave letters. During the Civil War, there are many letters from John S. Henderson at the University of North Carolina and from Leonard, an officer serving chiefly with the 8th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. After the Civil War, most of the items relate to activities of John S. Henderson, including his political career, and of his family. Included is material about Reconstruction; the United Daughters of the Confederacy; the women's suffrage movement; Democratic Party politics; literature and the performing arts; and travel, especially that of Lyman A. Cotten and Elizabeth Henderson Cotten in Japan, where Lyman served two tours of duty as naval attache with the United States embassy in Tokyo before World War I. Other family members in the post-Civil War correspondence include John S. Henderson's brother, Richard Henderson; his brother-in-law, William Cain; and his mother-in-law, Sarah Jane Bailey Cain. Volumes include several diaries, most notably that of Mary Ferrand Henderson, 1854-1861, in which she documented family activities.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence and Other Papers, 1755-1945, 1962.

About 10,850 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Letters, financial and legal papers, and other items of John Steele Henderson and members of the Henderson, Cain, and related families.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.1. 1755-1865.

About 1,100 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Earliest items are deeds, indentures, wills, and other legal documents. These papers deal with ancestors of John S. Henderson, including his father, Archibald. Especially notable documents from the 18th century include a typescript of Colonel Richard Henderson's 1775 journal relating to the Transylvania Colony in Kentucky (the original apparently in private hands) and a contemporary copy of General Nathaniel Greene's 1781 address to the citizens of Salisbury, N.C., about the importance of their support for the Continental Army. Another notable early letter, dated 8 December 1813, recounts a campaign against the Creeks in Alabama during the War of 1812.

Slave bills of sale (especially prevalent in 1807), receipts, mercantile account statements, and other business papers constitute the bulk of the material before the 1840s. Material for many years, particularly in the 1850s, conclude with a list documenting the hiring out of slaves for the year. Other items related to slavery include a 1786 letter lamenting the high cost of slaves and letters from Anderson Henderson, a slave belonging to Archibald Henderson who was apparently hired out to a Mr. Wilkins in Wilmington (see 26 January 1849, 14 June 1857, and 9 March 1865). There is also a letter from a slave named Isabella to Mrs. Archibald Henderson concerning her unhappiness in being hired out to a black mistress (see Undated Letters Before 1866). In addition, several letters concern Archibald Henderson's attempts to recover some runaway slaves who had gone to the Midwest (see 19 February, 13 July and 27 August 1847). Finally, a copy of a will from Surry County, N.C., deals with sending freed slaves to Liberia (21 May 1841).

Beginning in the mid-1840s, there is an increasing amount of personal correspondence and progressively fewer items related to business so that, by 1860, the collection consists largely of personal correspondence. Much of the correspondence (some undated) is between John S. Henderson's mother, Mary, and her sister. A few items in 1833 note the death of Leonard Henderson, Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, who was John Steele Henderson's great-uncle. Beginning in the late 1850s, there is a set of correspondence between John S. Henderson's older brother, Leonard, who was away at school and then college, and his parents. During the Civil War, there are also many letters to his parents and to John from Leonard, who served in various North Carolina regiments and died at Cold Harbor in 1864. A muster roll dated 29 February 1864 from the 8th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, with which Leonard served, is included. There is also correspondence from John, a University of North Carolina student beginning in 1862, to his parents, often expressing his desire to leave school and join the Army, which he did in late 1864.

A few letters concern politics, including several written in September 1848 about that year's presidential race. Other political items include a 24 January 1854 letter in which North Carolina Congressman Burton Craige sought Archibald Henderson's advice on strategy related to the Kansas-Nebraska Act; a 5 May 1858 letter to Archibald Henderson from North Carolina Governor Thomas Bragg about matters apparently related to the state's interest in railroads; and a 3 November 1860 letter from John S. Henderson to his father about a Whig barbecue in Graham, N.C.

Several pamphlets and similar documents are part of this subseries, including a pro-slavery speech delivered by Georgia Senator Robert Toombs in Boston (1856), an anti-Republican tract by former Mississippi Senator Robert Walker (1856), and a copy of the Mount Vernon Record (1858), a publication of the association seeking to preserve George Washington's home. A circular letter from this group is included in the 1854 materials.

Folder 1

1755-1782

Folder 2

1786-1799

Folder 3

1800-1813

Folder 4

1814-1820

Folder 5

1821-1830

Folder 6

1831-1834

Folder 7

1835-1836

Folder 8

1837

Folder 9

1838

Folder 10

1839

Folder 11

1840

Folder 12

1841

Folder 13

1842

Folder 14

1843

Folder 15

1844-1845

Folder 16

1846

Folder 17

1847-1849

Oversize Paper OP-327/10

"Names, residence and year and which different students have read law with Judge Pearson," 1847?

Folder 18

1850-1851

Folder 19

1852-1853

Folder 20

1854

Folder 21

1855

Folder 22

1856

Folder 23

1857

Folder 24

1858

Folder 25

1859

Folder 26-27

Folder 26

Folder 27

1860

Folder 28-30

Folder 28

Folder 29

Folder 30

1861

Folder 31-32

Folder 31

Folder 32

1862

Folder 33-34

Folder 33

Folder 34

1863

Folder 35-36

Folder 35

Folder 36

1864

Folder 37-38

Folder 37

Folder 38

1865

Folder 39a

Correspondence, Undated before 1866

Folder 39b

Financial and Legal Materials, Undated before 1866

Folder 39c

Miscellaneous, Undated before 1866

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.2. 1866-1883.

About 1,500 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Postwar letters, financial and legal papers, and other items. Many items relate to the political life of John S. Henderson, though these political letters usually mention other subjects such as family and church affairs. Letters reflect his activity in Democratic Party politics, including his service as party chair for his congressional district in 1872, delegate to the state constitutional convention in September-October 1875, state representative (1876-1877) where he sought the speakership, and state senator (1878-1879). In the late 1860s, numerous letters touch on Reconstruction politics. Some letters in 1866-1867 are from a Henderson relative in Washington who mentions Andrew Johnson's problems with the Republican Party. In a comment on local politics in Reconstruction North Carolina, both Henderson and his mother complained in separate letters dated 11 August 1868 about how the "carpet bag" mayor of Salisbury turned the Democratic club's meeting place over to a group of Negroes. Henderson took great interest in presidential elections, but repeated Republican victories led him to ruminate upon the diminished political position of the South in the reconstructed Union (e.g., 3 December 1876).

Correspondence also documents Henderson's efforts to promote economic development. In 1872, for instance, he expressed interest in the turning the Yadkin River into a commercial highway. In the 1880 legislative session, he supported the "Best Bill," which provided for the sale of the state's interest in the Western North Carolina Railroad to a group of New York businessmen who would aggressively seek to complete the line. Other correspondence concerning railroads include letters of William Cain and of Ferrand Haughton, Henderson's cousin who was associated with a Tennessee railroad, circa 1881-1882.

During this period, Henderson also courted, married, and began a family with Elizabeth Brownrigg Cain of Asheville. Correspondence related to their courtship appears in 1872 and increases in frequency until their wedding in September 1874. From the mid-1870s, items are mainly family correspondence, including references to the Hendersons' attendance at the 100th anniversary of the Mecklenburg Resolves in 1875 and their trip to Philadelphia in 1876 for the nation's centennial celebration.

There are several letters written by John S. Henderson's brother, Richard, primarily to their mother while he was a student at the United States Naval Academy and also from various ports in Latin America and the Mediterranean during the late 1870s and 1880s. In one 1882 letter, Richard provided a detailed description of sites on his trip to the Holy Land.

Some correspondence is included from Elizabeth Brownrigg Henderson's brother, William Cain. These items relate to his years on the faculty of the Carolina Military Institute in Charlotte, circa 1874-1880, as well as to his work with the North Carolina Geological survey and with railroad surveys in both Carolinas, circa 1880-1882. In addition, his letters from the fall of 1882 when he joined the faculty of the Citadel until he left for Chapel Hill 1890 provide insights into the social and cultural life of Charleston, S.C.

Only a few items relate directly to Henderson's legal practice, primarily letters from his law partner, Luke Blackmer, in 1875. A set of notes relating to a case, Hauser v. Tate, involving the Bank of Statesville, N.C., is filed in the undated 1870s material.

Folder 40-41

Folder 40

Folder 41

1866

Folder 42

1867

Folder 43

1868

Folder 44

1869 and undated 1860s

Folder 45

1870-1872

Folder 46-47

Folder 46

Folder 47

1873

Folder 48-52

Folder 48

Folder 49

Folder 50

Folder 51

Folder 52

1874

Folder 53-56

Folder 53

Folder 54

Folder 55

Folder 56

1875 and undated 1875

Folder 57-60

Folder 57

Folder 58

Folder 59

Folder 60

1876 and undated 1876

Folder 61-63

Folder 61

Folder 62

Folder 63

1877 and undated 1877

Folder 64-65

Folder 64

Folder 65

1878

Folder 66-67

Folder 66

Folder 67

1879 and undated 1879

Folder 68

Undated 1870s

Folder 69-70

Folder 69

Folder 70

1880 and undated 1880

Folder 71-74

Folder 71

Folder 72

Folder 73

Folder 74

1881 and undated 1881

Folder 75

1882

Folder 76-77

Folder 76

Folder 77

1883 and undated 1883

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.3.1884-1916.

About 7,400 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Correspondence and other items from the period that begins with Henderson's campaign for and election to the United States House of Representatives in 1884, covers his five terms in Washington (1885-1895), and continues through his death in 1916. Much of the material focuses less on Henderson himself than on the activities of his wife, children, and other family members. Thus, while Henderson's political affairs are significant in this subseries, a considerable amount of correspondence is devoted to other topics. Because a single document may touch on more than one topic, the papers have been kept in chronological order. In the inventory for this subseries, however, the papers are described in four categories--family life, politics and public affairs, business matters, and social and cultural life.

FAMILY LIFE

Correspondence and other papers that document the private and public activities of the Henderson family. These items make clear the importance of family to John Steele Henderson. He complained about the loneliness of a congressman's life (e.g., 9 December 1885), and expressed his desire to leave Congress so that he would not miss the growth of his baby (16 April 1890). His concern about his children is reflected in his letters to them when he was away in Washington. His correspondence with his wife reveals a rather close partnership. Many of their letters from Henderson's congressional years deal with errands he could run for the family (such as buying clothes for the children or purchasing little luxuries unavailable in Salisbury) or with matters of family finance.

Correspondence from the Henderson children to their parents and maternal grandmother, Sarah Jane Bailey Cain, documents their growth into adulthood and their establishment of independent lives. The correspondence of John Jr., usually with his mother, from the time of his University of North Carolina graduation in 1902 until his wedding in 1914 is especially full. He faced the daunting task of making his way in the world far from home--working as an engineer for Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Chicago, upstate New York and Massachusetts. His letters express constant dissatisfaction with his jobs and also contain observations about northern social life and women from the perspective of a single, southern male. He eventually married a young woman from Massachusetts, Ruth King.

Correspondence of the Henderson daughters, Bessie and Mary, provides insights into the world of young, upper-class southern women at the turn of the century. Many of their letters concern parties, dances, and other social events designed to pair them with eligible young men. One correspondent of Bessie's wrote about the fine points of flirting in September 1892. From that year through 1898, Bessie received numerous letters from a young John Sprunt Hill (later a prominent North Carolina philanthropist and banker) and had other suitors as well. Both Bessie and Mary were apparently popular "southern belles." When students at the University of Virginia dedicated their 1895 annual to "southern womanhood," they asked to include Bessie's photograph (March 1895). In 1908, a beau of Mary's suggested poetically that she was the perfect belle.

During these years, the Hendersons also experienced the deaths of two young sons. William, Mary's twin brother, died in June 1886 at the age of eight months. Almost exactly ten years later, in June 1896, a second son named William, aged six years, died after a short illness. Both deaths elicited outpourings of sympathy from friends and members of the extended family (see especially June 1886 and June-July 1896). Mrs. Henderson's young cousin, Carrie Freer, also died during this period. She died shortly after giving birth to twins, a situation that prompted Bessie to write her mother than Carrie never should have married (November 1892).

POLITICS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Politics was a family affair for the Hendersons. Much of the political correspondence here is between various members of the Henderson clan and often touches on non-political matters as well. Political topics covered include Henderson's congressional campaigns, various presidential races, and the inaugurals of Grover Cleveland in 1885 and 1893 as well as subsequent Cabinet gossip. Henderson was plagued by persons seeking federal jobs such as postmaster (especially 1885 and May 1893). He also was called upon to assist constituents in other ways. H. H. Helper, a Rowan County native who had served in the Union Army and was the brother of controversial author Hinton Rowan Helper, sought Henderson's help in securing the job as superintendent of the federal cemetery in Salisbury (September-October 1885). Several letters in 1885 document a Dr. Long's efforts to enlist Henderson's aid in receiving compensation for two horses that Long lost while he was a federal employee in the 1870s. A veteran of the Mexican-American War also sought the congressman's help in securing a pension (May 1886).

In Washington, Henderson allied himself with President Cleveland and several items relate to their relationship. The collection includes correspondence about Cleveland's wedding as well as two calling cards signed by the president, apparently as gifts for the Henderson children (18 May 1886). Early in Cleveland's second term, Henderson showed one of Bessie's school compositions to Mrs. Cleveland. At the time, as he confided to his wife, he was trying to get close to the president in order to secure a federal appointment for himself (March 1893). As a Cleveland Democrat, Henderson defended gold coinage (e.g., January-February 1890). This position, as well as his opposition to the subtreasury, made him a target of the Farmers' Alliance, which led to his defeat by the Populist-Republican fusionists in 1894 (e.g., March-April 1890, October-December 1894). During this last congressional campaign, Josephus Daniels, Woodrow Wilson's future Navy Secretary but then an Interior Department official, corresponded with Henderson about the Populists (October 1894). Although Henderson told his wife he looked forward to leaving Congress and Bessie thought he looked much happier when she visited him during his last congressional session, still he was despondent about the future--especially because of the loss of his congressional salary (January 1895).

Following his congressional career, Henderson served in the N.C. Senate during the 1901 and 1903 legislative sessions. Important issues from this period include the divorce bill, which Henderson vehemently opposed (1902-1903), a Prohibition bill (January-February 1901), and the impeachment of several state Supreme Court judges (March 1901). There is also correspondence related to the 1916 Democratic national convention, which Henderson attended as a delegate (May-June 1916).

Women's suffrage, a political issue with which several female members of the family were especially involved, appears in some correspondence, although subseries 1.4 has more on this topic. Mrs. Henderson, when uncertain about her position on the issue, attended a suffragist meeting in Baltimore (see 8 and 11 June 1912). Mary Henderson objected to the more radical tactics of English suffragists. She labeled as "outrages" the tactics that closed much of London while she was visiting the British capital in June 1914. Overall, though, the women in the Henderson family were firm believers in women's suffrage. The Henderson men also supported women's suffrage, as demonstrated by John Jr.'s 7 February 1915 letter criticizing The New York Times's opposition to extending the vote to women.

This subseries also reflects the family's interest in international events, especially the war in Europe. Bessie commented upon German "atrocities" in France (18 April 1916), while on the homefront, John Jr., expressed his opinion that German-Americans should have their citizenship revoked (20 April 1916). His wife Ruth observed that all the maids were "colored" because white working women in her part of Massachusetts preferred to take jobs in munitions factories (25 April 1916).

BUSINESS

Letters and other papers relating to John Steele Henderson's support for the economic development of Piedmont North Carolina are included in this subseries. In letters of 18 and 19 April 1890, he noted the economic potential of North Carolina and how a boom in his home state might improve his own financial situation. He pushed railroad construction, suggesting after his defeat for reelection in 1894 that "The Southern Railway ought to give me lucrative employment" (25 February 1895). He promoted the development of the Yadkin River as a power source (e.g., August-September 1901) and was a director of the North Carolina Power Company (19 May 1903). A large landholder in the Salisbury area, he had a keen interest in the growth of that town (e.g., February-March 1903, 8 July 1906, 18 June 1912).

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL LIFE

The correspondence of John Steele Henderson and his family provides insights into numerous aspects of the social and cultural life of North Carolina (and to some extent of the United States as a whole) during the half century centered on 1900.

EDUCATION

A good deal of the correspondence in this subseries touches on education. Two members of the Henderson circle, John and Elizabeth's oldest son, Archibald, and Mrs. Henderson's brother, the mathematician and civil engineer William Cain, were members of the University of North Carolina faculty. Cain left the Citadel, South Carolina's military college, for the University of North Carolina in 1890 and remained there until his retirement in 1920. He wrote numerous letters to his sister and to his mother, Sarah Jane Bailey Cain, on Chapel Hill happenings, including a hazing incident that resulted in a student's death (13 October 1912). In the mid to late 1890s, Archibald Henderson and his younger brother John Steele Jr., were students at University of North Carolina. Their letters mention not only their studies but also sporting events and social life in Chapel Hill. It was after graduating in 1898 that Archibald joined his uncle, William Cain, as a mathematics instructor. (Archibald succeeded Cain as department head in 1920 when the older man retired.) Women in the family also pursued their educations. Mrs. Henderson's niece, Carrie Freer, whom the Hendersons raised after Carrie was orphaned, wrote about her experiences at Saint Mary's School for Girls in Raleigh (see 1883-1884). The Henderson daughters, Bessie and Mary, also attended Saint Mary's (see, for instance, 23-27 December 1892 and 16 May 1893). In addition, Mary attended the Stuart School in Washington, D.C., from 1902 to 1904 and wrote about social and cultural life in the nation's capital as well as scholastic matters (see October-November 1903, January 1904). Mary also studied law at the University of North Carolina in 1915-1916 (e.g., 23 September 1915).

CONFEDERATE MEMORIALS

Both John and Elizabeth Henderson worked to preserve the memory of the Confederate cause. In July 1896, Mrs. Henderson helped found and for many years presided over the Salisbury chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization that, as the letters in this subseries attest, occupied her time and that of Bessie for years to come. Her duties included keeping track of which Salisbury veterans should receive United Daughters of the Confederacy Crosses of Honor in commemoration of their Confederate service. The collection includes requests for Crosses of Honor from veterans as well as lists of those so honored (e.g., March-April 1901, October 1908). In October 1912, the year Mrs. Henderson stepped down as chapter president, the Salisbury chapter hosted the state United Daughters of the Confederacy convention, and John Steele Henderson gave the town's official welcome to the group. The next month, Mrs. Henderson attended the national United Daughters of the Confederacy convention in Washington. The Hendersons were involved in raising money for a Confederate soldiers' home and for a they were instrumental in the commissioning and unveiling of Salisbury's Confederate memorial statue by the sculptor F.W. Ruckstuhl (e.g., 24 March 1909). There is also correspondence from 1900 to 1908 concerning a United Daughters of the Confederacy-related play, Under the Southern Cross, by Frances Christine Fisher Tiernan, a North Carolina writer and relative of the Hendersons known by the pen name Christian Reid. Related items include a KKK postcard (4 November 1908), a piece of a neckerchief allegedly worn by Stonewall Jackson (enclosure, 20 April 1901), and an invitation to a reunion of a New York infantry regiment (20 September 1916).

RACE

Though few letters in the collection explicitly deal with race relations in North Carolina, this subseries contains several of interest. During October and especially November 1898, for instance, several letters deal with the racial situation in Wilmington and the riot that followed the 8 November election. Two letters, from a cousin of Mrs. Henderson who worked at a mill outside Wilmington, give an account of that election day and the day that followed. Other items document racial violence at other times and places during this period. In an October 1890 letter, a friend of Mrs. Henderson noted that she and her husband had been attacked in their bedroom by "a drunken infuriated negro," and she referred to other incidents of violence in her area. A July 1906 letter concerns accusations that three black men had murdered a white man near Salisbury and notes that troops would probably be required to prevent a lynching.

RELIGION

John and Elizabeth Henderson were quite active in the Episcopal Church. John attended a church convention in Richmond in October 1907, where race was an issue of discussion. Other correspondence documents his attendance at Episcopal conclaves in Nashville and Cincinnati in October 1910 and his activities at a meeting about Bible teaching in June 1909. Henderson took umbrage at Byron Clark's claim that the early Christian Church had a presbyterian rather than episcopal form of government, and he wrote a long letter to Clark explaining his errors (30 November 1909). His wife expressed concern that their daughter Bessie was not truly prepared for confirmation, but John urged that she go ahead and be confirmed (10 and 19 April and 14 May 1893).

TRAVEL

Although the Henderson family was always closely associated with North Carolina and especially with Salisbury, they also saw much of the world on numerous trips. John Steele Henderson's brother Richard served in the United States Navy and occasionally wrote to family members from points around the globe. These letters often urged John to use his political influence to get Richard a transfer to better duty or a promotion (e.g., 1890-92). Richard also provided some observations on the role of United States planters in the move to annex Hawaii to the United States (e.g., 18 October and 8 November 1892). Another naval officer in the family, Bessie's husband Lyman Cotten, wrote to his parents from the Indian Ocean and the Phillipines during the period before his marriage (see July 1899). After their July 1908 wedding, Bessie, who had previously traveled to Europe in 1905, spent time overseas with her husband. Most extensively covered in this collection are the periods when Lyman served two tours of duty as naval attache with the United States embassy in Tokyo. The first of these tours, in the mid-1910s, is included in this subseries. While Bessie was in Japan, her younger sister Mary came to visit for nearly a year during 1913-1914, after a brief stop in Hawaii. On her way home to Salisbury, Mary also toured India and Europe. Archibald made several trips to England from 1907 to 1911 in connection with his biography of George Bernard Shaw (see THE ARTS, below). Closer to home, members of the family vacationed in the North Carolina mountains and at the beach during the summers. These trips, like the foreign adventures, family members amply documented in letters home.

THE ARTS

The entire Henderson family showed a terrific interest in the arts--theatre, concerts, opera and fine literature. When they traveled, family members often took in live performances and provided reviews for those back home. Mary, for instance, frequently commented on plays and voice recitals that she attended while a student in Washington (e.g., October 1902, January 1904), while Archibald kept his mother up to date on the London stage when he visited England (e.g., July 1907). Indeed, Archibald, made quite a name for himself professionally as a drama and literary critic through his articles and books on these matters. His biography of George Bernard Shaw is the subject of several letters from 1906 to 1911 (e.g., July 1906, April-June 1907, 30 March and 31 July 1909, July and September 1911). En route to England to interview Shaw in 1907, Archibald struck up a relationship with his shipmate, Mark Twain, that is recounted in letters of 18 June 1907 and 16 March 1909. He also had the distinction of introducing Twain to Shaw (see 20 June 1907).

MEDICINE

A few items touch on subjects of interest to historians of medicine. Letters mention outbreaks of meningitis (April 1890) and smallpox (January 1900) in Salisbury; the influenza epidemic (October 1918); and smallpox in Washington, D.C. (January 1895). There are also references to efforts to prevent the sale of cigarettes to minors (March 1903). Mrs. Henderson also kept detailed medical information including medications for a sick person--most likely six-year-old William, who died in 1896.

Folder 78-80

Folder 78

Folder 79

Folder 80

1884 and undated 1884

Folder 81-89

Folder 81

Folder 82

Folder 83

Folder 84

Folder 85

Folder 86

Folder 87

Folder 88

Folder 89

1885 and undated 1885

Folder 90-98

Folder 90

Folder 91

Folder 92

Folder 93

Folder 94

Folder 95

Folder 96

Folder 97

Folder 98

1886 and undated 1886

Folder 99-103

Folder 99

Folder 100

Folder 101

Folder 102

Folder 103

1887 and undated 1887

Folder 104-114

Folder 104

Folder 105

Folder 106

Folder 107

Folder 108

Folder 109

Folder 110

Folder 111

Folder 112

Folder 113

Folder 114

1888 and undated 1888

Folder 115-121

Folder 115

Folder 116

Folder 117

Folder 118

Folder 119

Folder 120

Folder 121

1889 and undated 1889

Folder 122

Undated 1880s

Folder 123-132

Folder 123

Folder 124

Folder 125

Folder 126

Folder 127

Folder 128

Folder 129

Folder 130

Folder 131

Folder 132

1890 and undated 1890

Folder 133-140

Folder 133

Folder 134

Folder 135

Folder 136

Folder 137

Folder 138

Folder 139

Folder 140

1891 and undated 1891

Folder 141-151

Folder 141

Folder 142

Folder 143

Folder 144

Folder 145

Folder 146

Folder 147

Folder 148

Folder 149

Folder 150

Folder 151

1892 and undated 1892

Folder 152-162

Folder 152

Folder 153

Folder 154

Folder 155

Folder 156

Folder 157

Folder 158

Folder 159

Folder 160

Folder 161

Folder 162

1893 and undated 1893

Folder 163-175

Folder 163

Folder 164

Folder 165

Folder 166

Folder 167

Folder 168

Folder 169

Folder 170

Folder 171

Folder 172

Folder 173

Folder 174

Folder 175

1894 and undated 1894

Folder 176-183

Folder 176

Folder 177

Folder 178

Folder 179

Folder 180

Folder 181

Folder 182

Folder 183

1895 and undated 1895

Folder 184-192

Folder 184

Folder 185

Folder 186

Folder 187

Folder 188

Folder 189

Folder 190

Folder 191

Folder 192

1896 and undated 1896

Folder 193-198

Folder 193

Folder 194

Folder 195

Folder 196

Folder 197

Folder 198

1897 and undated 1897

Folder 199-206

Folder 199

Folder 200

Folder 201

Folder 202

Folder 203

Folder 204

Folder 205

Folder 206

1898 and undated 1898

Folder 207-214

Folder 207

Folder 208

Folder 209

Folder 210

Folder 211

Folder 212

Folder 213

Folder 214

1899 and undated 1899

Folder 215

Undated 1890s

Folder 216-223

Folder 216

Folder 217

Folder 218

Folder 219

Folder 220

Folder 221

Folder 222

Folder 223

1900 and undated 1900

Folder 224-234

Folder 224

Folder 225

Folder 226

Folder 227

Folder 228

Folder 229

Folder 230

Folder 231

Folder 232

Folder 233

Folder 234

1901 and undated 1901

Folder 235-241

Folder 235

Folder 236

Folder 237

Folder 238

Folder 239

Folder 240

Folder 241

1902 and undated 1902

Folder 242-253

Folder 242

Folder 243

Folder 244

Folder 245

Folder 246

Folder 247

Folder 248

Folder 249

Folder 250

Folder 251

Folder 252

Folder 253

1903 and undated 1903

Folder 254-264

Folder 254

Folder 255

Folder 256

Folder 257

Folder 258

Folder 259

Folder 260

Folder 261

Folder 262

Folder 263

Folder 264

1904

Folder 265-273

Folder 265

Folder 266

Folder 267

Folder 268

Folder 269

Folder 270

Folder 271

Folder 272

Folder 273

1905 and undated 1905

Folder 274-279

Folder 274

Folder 275

Folder 276

Folder 277

Folder 278

Folder 279

1906

Folder 280-284

Folder 280

Folder 281

Folder 282

Folder 283

Folder 284

1907 and undated 1907

Folder 285-288

Folder 285

Folder 286

Folder 287

Folder 288

1908

Folder 289-293

Folder 289

Folder 290

Folder 291

Folder 292

Folder 293

1909 and undated 1909

Folder 294

Undated 1900s

Folder 295-300

Folder 295

Folder 296

Folder 297

Folder 298

Folder 299

Folder 300

1910

Folder 301-304

Folder 301

Folder 302

Folder 303

Folder 304

1911 and undated 1911

Folder 305-310

Folder 305

Folder 306

Folder 307

Folder 308

Folder 309

Folder 310

1912 and undated 1912

Folder 311-322

Folder 311

Folder 312

Folder 313

Folder 314

Folder 315

Folder 316

Folder 317

Folder 318

Folder 319

Folder 320

Folder 321

Folder 322

1913

Folder 323

Travel and Miscellaneous, 1913

Folder 324-330

Folder 324

Folder 325

Folder 326

Folder 327

Folder 328

Folder 329

Folder 330

1914 and undated 1914

Folder 331-333

Folder 331

Folder 332

Folder 333

1915 and undated 1915

Folder 334-341

Folder 334

Folder 335

Folder 336

Folder 337

Folder 338

Folder 339

Folder 340

Folder 341

1916

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.4. 1917-1945, 1962.

About 850 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Correspondence and other papers related to the Henderson family following the death of John Steele Henderson on 9 October 1916. The bulk of the materials are from 1917 to 1929 with only three folders with material from after 1929. Letters to and from Mrs. John Steele Henderson until her death in 1929 make up a plurality of the items in the subseries. Second most significant and predominating beginning in the late 1920s are items related to Bessie Henderson (Mrs. Lyman) Cotten and her family. The 1962 items are two copies of an agreement about a financial trust involving Bessie Henderson Cotten, Mary F. Henderson, and John Steele Henderson Jr.

Correspondence documents the family's continued interest in politics, particularly in women's suffrage and women's participation in political affairs after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Letters document the activities of Ruth King Henderson, wife of John Jr., in securing the vote for women. She raised money for the cause at a suffrage bazaar (16 June 1920) and joined the National Women's Party (e.g., 16 March 1920, October 1922). In late 1917, Archibald and his wife, Barbara, used stationery imprinted with the heading "Votes for Women." Once women could vote, Bessie Henderson Cotten was approached about running for mayor of Salisbury, which she declined to do (28 February 1921). In the 1930s, national Democratic officials contacted Bessie about fundraising in North Carolina (18 September 1931) and about her interest in a federal job (20 January and 5 September 1933). Although Mary Henderson was quite involved in politics, only a few items relate to her political activities. One such item is a telegram she sent from the 1924 Democratic national convention, which she termed "preposterous" (9 July 1924).

Correspondence related to World Wars I and II as well as other international matters is included in this subseries. Notable items document Lyman Cotten's World War I service aboard the U.S.S. Nebraska, and Archibald Henderson's unsuccessful attempts to obtain an officer's commission in the army. On the homefront, William Cain noted the effect of the war on the University of North Carolina (see 1917-1918, especially April and December 1917, and September 1918) while John Steele Henderson Jr. considered its effects on the stock market (26 December 1917). After the war, concern about Bolshevism cropped up in family letters (e.g., April 1919). The Washington Disarmament Conference is also briefly mentioned (11 December 1921). In the early 1920s, Lyman and Bessie Cotten returned to Japan, where they experienced the 1923 Tokyo earthquake. Items from World War II include an invitation to the launching of the U.S.S. Cotten, named for Lyman, who died in 1926 (see 12 June 1943), and copies of Archibald Henderson Jr.'s army service records (e.g., 15 October 1943 and 18 November 1945).

Correspondence between Bessie Henderson Cotten and her sons, Lyman Jr., and John, gives insights into student life at Virginia's Woodberry Forest School and at the University of North Carolina in the late 1920s. Alcohol consumption, sports, and motion pictures are topics touched upon (e.g., November-December 1927). John Cotten exhibited the traditional family interest in the arts, as shown in his commentary on a concert given by the Polish pianist Paderewski in Charlottesville (see 18 January 1928).

Short biographical pamphlets and typescripts of biographical items published elsewhere relating to members of the family include two items of tribute to William Cain (December 1930); "A Cosmopolitan Villager," about Archibald Henderson (17 June 1937); and a piece by Bessie Henderson Cotten on Frances Christine Fisher Tiernan, also known as Christian Reid (13 May 1938).

Folder 342-346

Folder 342

Folder 343

Folder 344

Folder 345

Folder 346

1917 and undated 1917

Folder 347-349

Folder 347

Folder 348

Folder 349

1918 and undated 1918

Folder 350-352

Folder 350

Folder 351

Folder 352

1919 and undated 1919

Folder 353

Undated 1910s

Folder 354-356

Folder 354

Folder 355

Folder 356

1920

Folder 357-359

Folder 357

Folder 358

Folder 359

1921 and undated 1921

Folder 360-362

Folder 360

Folder 361

Folder 362

1922

Folder 363-365

Folder 363

Folder 364

Folder 365

1923 and undated 1923

Folder 366-368

Folder 366

Folder 367

Folder 368

1924 and undated 1924

Folder 369-372

Folder 369

Folder 370

Folder 371

Folder 372

1925

Folder 373-375

Folder 373

Folder 374

Folder 375

1926

Folder 376-379

Folder 376

Folder 377

Folder 378

Folder 379

1927

Folder 380-382

Folder 380

Folder 381

Folder 382

1928 and undated 1928

Folder 383-386

Folder 383

Folder 384

Folder 385

Folder 386

1929 and undated 1929

Folder 387

1930-1932

Folder 388

1933, 1936-1938

Folder 389

1943-1945, 1962

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.5. Undated Correspondence.

About 100 items.

Arrangement: Alphabetically by recipient.

Chiefly post-1865 (roughly 1865-1935) undated letters, arranged by recipient. In addition to the folders with letters to specific individuals, there is also a file of letters whose recipients are unclear, unknown or tangential to the collection.

Folder 390

Cain, Sarah Jane Bailey

Folder 391

Cotten, Elizabeth Henderson

Folder 392

Henderson, Archibald (1811-1880)

Folder 393

Henderson, Elizabeth Brownrigg Cain

Folder 394

Henderson, John Steele

Folder 395

Henderson, Mary Ferrand (d. circa 1890)

Folder 396

Henderson, Mary Ferrand (1885-1965)

Folder 397

Trantham, Mary Henderson

Folder 398

Recipients Unclear, Unknown, or Other

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.6. Other Undated and Miscellaneous Items.

About 100 items.

Arrangement: by subject.

Some writings of John Steele Henderson and others on politics, religion and other topics; lists of John Steele Henderson's books; undated bills and receipts; recipes and cures, mainly written by John Steele Henderson's mother, Mary Ferrand Henderson; undated papers related to the United Daughters of the Confederacy; and other undated miscellaneous items. Please note that any dated items, such as bills and receipts and United Daughters of the Confederacy papers, are included with the correspondence and other papers in the chronologically appropriate subseries.

Folder 399

Writings by John Steele Henderson

Folder 400

Writings by Others

Folder 401

Book Lists of John Steele Henderson

Folder 402

United Daughters of the Confederacy Papers

Folder 403

Recipes and Cures

Folder 404

Bills and Receipts

Folder 405

Miscellaneous Papers

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Volumes, 1850-1909.

14 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.1. 1850-1866.

5 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Folder 406

Volume 1: Account book, 1850-1856, 38 pages

Archibald Henderson's account with J. F. Chambers & Company., including an itemized record of small expenditures for household and personal goods. Entries are irregular after 1851.

Volume 2: Diary of Mary Ferrand Henderson, 1854-1861, about 1,400 pages

Consists of a series of 18 diary segments. Most of the entries, which tend to be long and recorded at intervals of a week or more, are concerned with illnesses of her children and other family matters. Typed transcriptions of parts 1-5 and a portion of part 10 were prepared in the 1940s and are filed after the parts to which they pertain. Some of the typescripts contain information from materials in private hands and not included in the holograph diary sections as it currently exists.

407: Part 1. 21 December 1854 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 407
408: Part 1. Typed transcription #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 408
409: Part 2. 30 June-20 July 1855 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 409
410: Part 2. Typed transcription #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 410
411: Part 3. 11-12 August 1855 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 411

(Typed transcription contains a small amount of additional information.)

412: Part 3. Typed transcription #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 412
413: Part 4. 3 September-11 October 1855 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 413
414: Part 4. Typed transcription #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 414
415: Part 5. 12-29 October 1855 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 415
416: Part 5. Typed transcription #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 416
417: Part 6. October-December 1855 with a few detached pages from 1855 or 1856 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 417
418: Part 7. December 1855-January 1856 and detached pages from February-December 1856 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 418
419: Part 8. 10 January-9 April 1857 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 419
420: Part 9. May-December 1857 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 420
421: Part 10. 11 January-4 April 1858 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 421

(1-10 January 1858 included in typed transcription.)

422: Part 10. Typed transcription (1-10 January 1858 and 11 January-1 February 1858) #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 422
423: Part 11. 5 April 1858 (continued)-23 January 1859 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 423
424: Part 12. 23 January (continued)-31 May 1859 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 424
425: Part 13. 1 June-23 September 1859 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 425
426: Part 14. 29 September 1859-20 January 1860 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 426
427: Part 15. 12 February-11 August 1860 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 427
428: Part 16. 11 August (continued)-6 November 1860 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 428
429: Part 17. 28 December 1860-14 April 1861 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 429
430: Part 18. 27 April-23 December 1861 #00327, Subseries 2. Volumes, 1850-1909. 2.1. 1850-1866., Folder 430
Folder 431

Volume 3: Account and memoranda book, 1865-1866, 96 pages

Possibly of Mary Ferrand Henderson, including a list of slaves belonging to Archibald Henderson in May 1865 and amounts owed to freedwomen.

Folder 432-433

Folder 432

Folder 433

Volume 4: Diary of John Steele Henderson, September 1864-January 1866, 43 pages

During this time, Henderson was at Poplar Grove in Rowan County, a student at the University of North Carolina, and in Salisbury reading law under Judge Nathaniel Boyden. A typed transcription is included.

Folder 434

Volume 5: Notebook of John Steele Henderson, June 1865, 60 pages

Chiefly contains notes on young ladies in Poplar Grove.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.2.1874-1909.

9 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Folder 435

Volume 6: Memoranda book of Elizabeth Brownrigg Henderson, February-April 1874

Folder 436

Volume 7: "Reminiscences of men and women who once lived in Salisbury, North Carolina," 1878

Written by Archibald Henderson at Poplar Grove in April 1878. Among those mentioned are Peter Brown and his descendants, p. 3; Albert Torrence, p. 13; A. T. Powe and his connections, p. 15; Daniel Cress, p. 29; John Murphy and his son William; and Thomas L. Cowan.

Folder 437

Volume 8: Account book of Mrs. Archibald Henderson, 1876-1883, including cures and recipes

Oversize Volume SV-327/9

Volume 9: "Document register," 1888-1890?

Contains mailing lists and notes concerning items mailed.

Folder 438

Folder not used

Folder 439-440

Folder 439

Folder 440

Volume 10: List of voters, 1884-1894?

Contains notes on political party registration of each person. Included are voters from Catawba, Davidson, Davie, Iredell, Randleman, and Yadkin counties.

Folder 441

Volume 11: "Charles Frederick Fisher: A Tribute: A Contribution to the History of the First Battle of Manassas and How It Was Won," 1901

Address delivered at the Presbyterian College for Women, Charlotte, N.C., 9 October 1901, on the occasion of the presentation of the portrait of Colonel Fisher to the Daughters of the Confederacy for the Confederate Museum at Richmond, Va.

Folder 442

Volume 12: Scrapbook of newspaper clippings, 1884-1905

Clippings relating to John Steele Henderson's public and political activities.

Folder 443

Volume 13: Diary of Elizabeth B. Henderson, 25 February-16 July 1905

Diary of a trip to Italy, France, and England.

Folder 444

Volume 14: Family data, 1881-1909

Assembled by John Steele Henderson, 1881-1909.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Clippings and Related Materials, 1790-1956.

About 1,000 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Newspaper clippings on various topics, including politics, obituaries of family members and friends, drama, and poetry. Some antebellum and Civil War period papers are included, but most of the clippings are from approximately 1875-1925. There is one file of clippings and notes on various public policy issues that John Steele Henderson apparently collected in 1888 when he served in Congress. Most of the clippings are from newspapers in Salisbury and other North Carolina towns, although Washington papers are also represented in the antebellum years. There is also a copy of the Honolulu Sunday Advertiser from 1913, apparently brought home by Mary F. Henderson.

Folder 445

1790-1849

Folder 446

1850-1860

Folder 447

1861

Folder 448

1862

Folder 449

1863

Folder 450

1864

Folder 451

1865

Folder 452

1861-1865 undated

Folder 453

1866-1879

Folder 454

1880-1884

Folder 455

1885

Folder 456

1886-1887

Folder 457

Public Issues, 1888 Notes and Clippings

Folder 458

1888-1889

Folder 459

1890

Folder 460

1891

Folder 461

1892

Folder 462

1893

Folder 463

1894

Folder 464

1895

Folder 465

1896

Folder 466

1897

Folder 467

1898

Folder 468

1899

Folder 469

1890s undated

Folder 470

1900

Folder 471

1901

Folder 472

1902

Folder 473

1903

Folder 474

1904

Folder 475

1905

Folder 476

1906

Folder 477

1907

Folder 478

1908

Folder 479

1909

Folder 480

1910

Folder 481

1911

Folder 482

1912

Folder 483

1913

Folder 484

1914

Folder 485

1915

Folder 486

1916

Folder 487

1919

Folder 488

1920-1927

Folder 489

1928

Folder 490

1929-1935

Folder 491

1936-1956

Folder 492

Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Pictures, circa 1880-circa 1935 and undated.

34 items.
Image P-327/1

Photograph of John Steele Henderson as a young man

Image P-327/2

Photograph of Elizabeth Brownrigg Cain Henderson (Mrs. John Steele Henderson)

Image P-327/3

Photograph of Elizabeth Henderson (Cotten), age 5, circa 1880

Image P-327/4

Photograph of Elizabeth Henderson (Cotten)

Image P-327/5

Photograph of Elizabeth Henderson (Cotten), Mamie Craige, Eleanor Alexander, and one unidentified young woman

Image P-327/6

Photograph of Mary Ferrand Henderson, daughter of John Steele Henderson, as a young girl

Image P-327/7

Photograph of Mary Ferrand Henderson and Florence Thomas, dated 29 May 1903

Image P-327/8

Photograph of painted portrait of John Branch (1782-1863), secretary of the Navy and governor of North Carolina and Florida

Image P-327/9

Photograph of an unidentified man

Image P-327/10

Photograph identified as "Saving Hay at Oakland"

Image P-327/11

Photograph of an unidentified house

Enclosed with a letter of Mrs. John Steele Henderson to her family that was postmarked 10 August 1912 from Chapel Hill, N.C.

Image P-327/12-24

P-327/12

P-327/13

P-327/14

P-327/15

P-327/16

P-327/17

P-327/18

P-327/19

P-327/20

P-327/21

P-327/22

P-327/23

P-327/24

Photographs of Taj Mahal and other sites in India

Sent to Salisbury, N.C., by Mary Ferrand Henderson while touring India. See April 1914 correspondence.

Image P-327/25-34

P-327/25

P-327/26

P-327/27

P-327/28

P-327/29

P-327/30

P-327/31

P-327/32

P-327/33

P-327/34

Photographs of Waverly and its grounds, dated 1935

Waverly, located near Columbus, Miss., was the home of a relative of Mrs. John Steele Henderson through her mother's Bailey relations. Elizabeth Henderson Cotten got the photos in March 1945.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Oversize Papers.

12 items.
Oversize Paper OP-327/1-12

OP-327/1

OP-327/2

OP-327/3

OP-327/4

OP-327/5

OP-327/6

OP-327/7

OP-327/8

OP-327/9

OP-327/10

OP-327/11

OP-327/12

Oversize Papers

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