ELIJAH HENDERSON (1849-1931)

Elijah Henderson (1849-1931) would be my great grandfather on my father's side.  In this section I will continue to lean heavily on the information from Mrs. Bernice Crane and her book Alabama Kinfolks Crane Henderson King McNew Sutterlin researched and compiled by Bernice and Gene Crane 1997.  Elsewhere on this web site I have shown a picture of Mrs. Crane who I visited in 2005.  I also have several of the census records plus other information I will show in this section.


Elijah Henderson
Elizabeth Bartlett Henderson

Click here to see Elijah and Elizabeth and their immediate family!

Elijah Henderson was born ca. 1849 in Cherokee County, Alabama and died March 18, 1931 in Chattooga County, Georgia (Lyerly). Elijah married ca. 1878 Elizabeth Bartlett daughter of Nathan Blake and Emmaline Piper Tomlin Bartlett. Elizabeth was born in April 1857 in Georgia and died February 29, 1936 in Chattooga County, Georgia. Elijah and Elizabeth are buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery. They have no stone. Elijah and Elizabeth started their married life on Lookout Mountain in DeKalb County but spent most of their life in the rural area of Gaylesville, Alabama in Cherokee County. It is said that Elijah was an uneducated man but one who was very dependable and a loving family man. He and Elizabeth had eight children.

Elijah's grandson Lois William Story remembered the time he and his brother James Henry Story found a huge hump covered with sticks, thinking it was an animal they fired their guns and it turned out to be a copper milk jug filled with corn liquor. They ran home to tell their granddad (Elijah) who brought fruit jars and filled them and hid them in the cotton seeds they fed the animals. Lois and Henry found the jars one day and when granddad found them they were almost passed out laying in the cotton seed. The fact they became horribly sick was not enough and he remembers the whipping they got. Another time they were using his buggy to haul hay to the barn. They were being bounced around on the hay due to the springs on the buggy, scared the horse who began to run to the barn. Knowing what they had coming, they did out in the fields. Elijah yelled from the porch for them to come out it was no use to hide, they had to come out sometime and their punishment was going to the be same now or later.

Bernice Crane had a picture of Elijah and Elizabeth in which Elijah has lost most of his hair . All of the Henderson children that she had been able to obtain pictures of all have thick hair and it is usually curly. When Lois saw the picture he wanted to know if anyone had told Bernice how Elijah lost his hair. It seems Elijah was sitting in a straight chair in front of the fireplace with this back to the fireplace. He leaned backward got overbalanced and his head went into the fire. He recovered but most of his hair never grew back. Click here to see a picture of Elijah and Elizabeth probably from the late 1920s provided to me by my Aunt Wilma Henderson McGowan.  Elijah and Elizabeth Bartlett Henderson.

Many descendants of this couple now make their home in Cherokee County, Alabama and Chattooga County, Georgia. Elijah's brothers James and John married Elizabeth's sister Martha increasing the number of descendants of these two families living in Georgia and Alabama.

Elijah and Elizabeth had the following children: Nathan H., James Price "Jim", Sarah Rachel "Sallie", Hattie J. , Martha Missouri, Luna Elizabeth, Tennie P., and Willie.

I first found Elijah in the census of 1850 when he was one year old. Click here to see the 1850 census.  In the 1860 census, Elijah is living with his mom and dad in Dade County in Trenton Georgia where his father Hiram worked for the railroad. Click here to see the 1860 census of Dade County
Since his father went to war his mother Rachel and his seven siblings stayed in Trenton.  Mrs. Crane believes that Rachel had to rely on Elijah and his brother William to help her through those terrible times.  The 1870 census has proved elusive when it comes to Hiram or Elijah.  However, the 1880 census of Beats 9 and 20 of Cherokee County Alabama was one of the most exciting finds I have ever made.  Click below to see why I was so excited and still am when I look at it.

Click here to see the 1880 census of DeKalb County, Alabama!  In this census Elijah and Elizabeth have married and are living nearby Elizabeth's parents. They have two sons Nathan 2 years old and my grandfather James Price Henderson who is 7/12 of a year old.  The 1890 census was a bust for most anyone doing genealogical research as most of the census was destroyed due to a fire.  The 1900 census finds Elijah and his family still wholly intact living in the Lewis area of Cherokee County. The document is not of the highest quality so I have had to crop a great deal of it, yet one can still make out most of the details. Click here to see the 1900 census of Cherokee County, Alabama!  In the 1910 census, Elijah and Elizabeth with some of the remaining family have moved to northeast Cherokee County in what is listed as the Cedar Springs District.  My grandfather James Price Henderson is living with them but it appears he is not part of the nuclear family.  Click here to see the 1910 census of Cherokee County, Alabama!  The 1920 census was interesting in that my father Theodore Henderson first shows up.  He was four years old.  When I was searching for Elijah in the 1920 census, I was thrown off by a few things.  Elijah now calls himself Lige.  Then the enumerator for whatever reason named Arthur Mason as Arthur Henderson and I knew at this point we had no Arthur's in our family tree.  But finding Nathan and James and looking at the census in more detail I was able to discover Lige as Elijah. Arthur Garfield Mason had married Elijah and Elizabeth's daughter Luna Elizabeth.  I will have more to say on them later. Click here to see the 1920 census of Cherokee County, Alabama!  I will continue to look in the 1930 census, but so far I have not found Elijah.

Children of Elijah and Elizabeth Bartlett Henderson are as follows:

I. Nathan H. (believed to be Hiram) Henderson was born January 6, 1878 and died Nov. 19, 1961. Nathan was married June 26, 1904 in Chattooga County Georgia to Mary Etta Wilson daughter of Nathan J. and Sarah Hobbs Wilson. Mary Etta was born March 11, 1888 and died February 23, 1963. Nathan and Mary Etta are buried at Mill Creek Cemetery, Cherokee County Al. Nathan and Mary Etta had eleven children. Click here to see Nathan Henderson and his immediate family tree.

II. James Price Henderson was the second son of Elijah and and Elizabeth Henderson. It is pretty obvious from the scanty information that Mrs. Crane provided in her book not a lot of information about James Price and his family is known in Alabama and Georgia by descendants and ancestors. She has it listed thusly: James Price "Jim" Henderson was my grandfather and he was born October 2, 1879 and died June 17, 1934. He was married on April 25, 1913 to Hattie Louise Fuller who was born March 27, 1899 and died January 7, 1990. He is buried in Fellowship Cemetery, Wiamauma, Florida. Additional information I have entered about James Price and Hattie and their family has been sent to me by Betty Joyce Henderson Wunderlich who is my aunt. She had detailed information about James Price Henderson's children, Click here to see information on the Fuller Family of Cherokee County Alabama .   I also received information from Linda Mason Jackson about the Fullers as well as the goldmine document of Bernice and Gene Crane. Linda's grandmother's brother was my grandfather.  I will have more to say on my grandfather's family in the next section. Click here to see James Price Henderson and his immediate family tree.

III. Sarah Rachel " Sallie" Henderson was born April 29, 1882 and died in October of 1955. She was married to Alfred "Pat" Johnson who was born on July 29, 1876 and died October 15, 1949. Sarah and Alfred are buried in Adams Cemetery, Chattooga County, Georgia. Alfred was the son of John and Rebecca Johnson.  Click here to see Sarah Rachel Henderson and her immediate family tree.

IV. Hattie J. Henderson was born June 2, 1886 and died December 19, 1968. Hattie was married on November 17, 1908 to Judson G. Wilson who was the son of Nathan J. Wilson and Sarah Hobbs Wilson. Judson was born January 6, 1886 and died December 16, 1936. Hattie and Judson are both buried in New Providence Baptist Church Cemetery in Warren County, Cardley, Georgia. Judson was the older brother of Mary Etta Wilson who married Nathan Henderson who was Hattie's older brother.   Click here to see Hattie J. Henderson and her immediate family tree.

V. Martha Missouri Henderson was born on June 14, 1888 and died on April 15, 1964. Martha was married on January 10, 1909 to Thomas Benton "Tom" Johnson (he is the older brother of Alfred "Pat" Johnson who married Martha's older Sarah). Tom was born on February 14, 1888 and died on January 11, 1959. Tom was the son of John and Rebecca J. Johnson.  Martha and Tom are buried in Adams Cemetery, Chattooga County, Georgia. Click here to see Martha Missouri Henderson and her immediate family tree.


VI.  Luna Elizabeth Henderson was born on June 22, 1892 and died on April 29 1975. She was married on January 4, 1915 to Arthur Garfield Mason son of John and Ingram Unknown Mason. Arthur was born on April 15, 1884 and died on December 24, 1969.  Luna and Arthur are buried in the Mill Creek Cemetery, Cherokee County, Alabama.  Luna Elizabeth is the grandmother of my double first cousin Linda Mason Jackson.  I will have more to say on the Mason family later. Click here to see Luna Elizabeth Henderson and her immediate family tree.


VII. Tennie P. Henderson was born on December 25, 1894 and died on August 20, 1973. Tennie married Charles A. Wilson. They are buried in Mill Creek Cemetery, Cherokee County, Alabama.  Charles was the son of Nathan J. and Sarah Hobbs Wilson. Charles was born on March 27, 1892 and died on August 15, 1974. This was the third marriage of Wilson and Henderson brothers and sisters. Nathan and Sarah Wilson had Nathan Henderson as a son-in-law, Hattie J. Henderson as a daughter-in-law and Tennie P. Henderson as a daughter-in-law. On the other  hand Elijah and Elizabeth Henderson had Etta Wilson as a daughter-in law, Judson Wilson as a son-in-law, and Charles A. Wilson as a son-in-law.  Click here to see Tennie P. Henderson and her immediate family tree.

VIII. Willie Henderson was born October 29, 1896 and died March 17, 1932. Willie married John L Leonard Story "Flint" who was born on July 25, 1897 and died June 19, 1972 in Floyd County,
Georgia. Willie is buried in Mill Creek Cemetery, Cherokee County, Alabama. John is buried in Oaknoll Cemetery, Floyd County, Georgia.  Click here to see Willie Henderson and her immediate family tree.

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