The Hendersons

Patriarch of the Henderson Family

Born in 1738, Alexander Henderson Sr was the youngest son of the Rev. Richard Archibald Henderson from Glasgow, Scotland. Alexander Sr moved to the American colonies in 1756, settling in Colchester, Virginia, where he worked as an agent for the John Glassford Company starting at age 20.

As an agent in the tobacco trade, his contract with Glassford stipulated that Alexander Sr could import goods for personal trading as a supplement to his salary. He purchased lots between the market in Colchester, Virginia, and the river, giving his business direct access to the waterfront to load barrels of tobacco onto flatboats from his large storehouse.

Serivces at Pohick with George Washington

Alexander Henderson Sr attended Pohick Church with George Washington and George Mason. Henderson’s pew, which he paid a little over 36 pounds, sat adjacent to Washington’s pew. Established prior to 1724, a new Pochick Church was built to replace the original one in 1774. Henderson served as a vestryman of the church for 20 years. The baptismal font, which dates from the eleventh or twelfth centuries, was taken from a monastery kitchen in England.

Service in the American Revolution

When the American Revolution began, the Continental Congress recognized the importance of naval power against Great Britain. Pennsylvania’s Committee of Safety developed the Pennsylvania Navy after commissioning the building of ships to patrol its waterways. Alexander Sr. served as captain of two of its row galleys—the Bulldog and the Dickenson. He resigned his commission on May 3, 1777 due to differences with his commanding officer, Commodore John Hazelwood. He returned to Colchester where he assumed another important role as the deputy commissary of military stores, overseeing the purchase and delivery of military supplies. Alexander Henderson Sr received bounty land warrants based on his service during the American Revolution. From 1779–1783, he purchased 29,037 acres in 51 transactions including 2,300 acres in western Virginia, where his sons would settle on the frontier.

Life in the Newly-Formed United States

As the tobacco market declined, Alexander Sr expanded his retail ventures. He moved to Dumfries, Virginia, in 1787, where he opened a store. Additional stores were opened in Colchester, Occoquan, and Alexandria, leading him to be considered the “father of the American chain store.”

In addition to being an entrepreneur and land prospector, Alexander Sr became involved in politics, serving as a delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates, as a magistrate of Fairfax and Prince William Counties, and as a delegate to the Mount Vernon Conference in 1785 which led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

In 1785, Alexander Henderson Sr worked alongside George Washington, James Madison, George Mason, and Thomas Jefferson to help finalize state boundaries and waterway boundaries between Maryland and Virginia. This compact established the navigation and exercise of jurisdiction in the waters of Chesapeake Bay and Potomac.

Family Life

Alexander Sr married Sarah Moore in 1773. A letter written by George Washington referenced his attendance at their wedding. The couple had 10 children: six sons—Alexander Jr, Archibald, James, John Glassford, Richard Henry, and Thomas; and four daughters—Anne, Margaret, Jane, and Mary. Sons Alexander Jr, John Glassford, and James moved from Dumfries to western Virginia, settling in present-day Wirt, Wood, and Pleasants County. Alexander Jr would become the progenitor of the Henderson family in West Virginia.