The Hendersons

The youngest son of Alexander Henderson Sr, Thomas was a surgeon in the U.S. Army at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia. He is known as conducting the first recorded surgery using anesthesia in Washington, D.C., in 1804.

Thomas married Anna Maria Truxtun, daughter of Commodore Thomas Truxton in 1809. The couple had nine children, two of which died very young. Two songs, James and Francis, served in the military like their father. Their eldest daughter Sara married General Francis H. Smith who the Virginia Military Institute’s first superintendent, a position he held for 50 years.

After studying medicine in Philadelphia, he started his medical practive in Warrenton, Virginia. In 1816 the couple moved to Georgetown, and then to Washington, where for he took a position at Columbian College in 1826 as Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine.

Thomas became well known as military doctor. In 1833 he entered the army as surgeon—a position he held for more than twenty years. During this time, Thomas wrote the first written manual on medicine for the Department of the Arm. He also wrote about and lectured on topics such as yellow fever, military disability evaluations, mental disabilities, and military medical practices.

As a minister in the Episcopal Church, Thomas started the first Episcopal Church in Georgetown in 1817 along with his friend Francis Scott Key. Thomas and Francis served together in the militia during the War of 1812 and were present at the Battle of Fort McHenry.