Hiram Henderson (1826-1906) would be my great 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 added a lot of Hiram's military records from Ancestry.Com and I have added a number of census forms.  Other information is coming!

Hiram Henderson
Rachel McNew Henderson

Click here to see Hiram and Rachel and their immediate family!

Hiram and Rachel began their family living next door to his parents according to the 1850 census.

Click on the link below to see the 1850 Census. Look for for the picture album Census Records. The album will have a picture of a Census Record on the cover.  Click on the cover and you can view various census records. Remember to click on each record to see a description of that record.  Also there are multiple pages within the album. In this case you should be looking for the 1850 census of Cherokee County, Alabama.  The image will be a bit blurry at the higher resolutions. It is probably best viewed at the large scale.

http://www.burjoski.org/photos/index.cgi 

Mrs. Crane was unable to find a record of their marriage, it possibly was recorded in Cherokee County but since a fire destroyed their records we have no proof. They had five children while living in Alabama, Elijah (my great grandfather), William, Sarah Jane, James, and Hannah. After they moved to Dade County, Georgia they had Elizabeth, John, and George. We know they moved to Georgia prior to the 1860 census  since Elizabeth is listed as a year old.  According to the 1900 census , Rachel stated she had seven children dead and two living. Evidently the census taker misunderstood what she said for she had seven children living and two dead. When her ninth child died we do not know or its name.

Hiram's family was living in Trenton in 1860 he was working for the railroad. 

Click on the link below to see the 1860 Census. Look for for the picture album Census Records. The album will have a picture of a Census Record on the cover.  Click on the cover and you can view various census records. Remember to click on each record to see a description of that record.  Also there are multiple pages within the album. In this case you should be looking for the 1860 census of Cherokee County, Alabama.  It will have an A in front of it as there is also a 1860 census B showing Hiram's younger brother Marion who was also a railroader. Note that Hiram and Rachel had a borderer named John O'Neal who also worked for the railroad. John listed his birthplace as Ireland. That has always kind of intrigued me.

http://www.burjoski.org/photos/index.cgi 

For a description of Hiram's military career in the Confederate Army and to view copies of various military documents showing his movements and whereabouts click here.

Rachel and their seven children stayed in Trenton and Mrs. Crane thinks she may have had to rely on Elijah and William to help her through this terrible time. Mrs. Crane does not believe Hiram came home on furlough during this time because Rachel had no children as many wives did. The only story Mrs. Crane came by was concerning Lizzie. It seems when the Yankees were on the mountain foraging for food, they came to their house and were catching the chickens which were running loose in the yard. The ones that were home were told to remain inside. Lizzie slipped out on the porch and with hands on her hips said, "Damn Yankees, take all them chickens". The soldiers seeing and hearing the small child left the chickens and the farm.

Mrs. Crane could not found this family in Georgia, Alabama, or Tennessee in the 1870's but since George was born in 1870/71 in Georgia, she believes they stayed there until Hiram lost his leg. In 1880, Mrs. Crane found them back in Cherokee County, Alabama living next door to Rachel's father Elijah McNew II. Mrs. Crane later learned they omitted a number of families in Dade County in the 1870 census.

I still have nothing to report from the 1870 census.

The 1880 census of Beats 19 and 20 of Cherokee County Alabama was one of the most exciting finds I have ever made and I have looked at hundreds of census records.   

Click on the link below to see why I was so excited and still am when I look at it. Look for for the picture album Census Records. The album will have a picture of a Census Record on the cover.  Click on the cover and you can view various census records. Remember to click on each record to see a description of that record.  Also there are multiple pages within the album. In this case you should be looking for the 1880 census of Cherokee County, Alabama.

http://www.burjoski.org/photos/index.cgi 

Most of the 1890 census will forever be lost.  There was a huge fire in Washington D.C. and most of the records were burned.  Ancestry. COM and other genealogical societies are attempting to piece together information from a myriad of sources.  However, for those of us researching rural areas, we still do not have a lot of information.

I found Hiram in the 1900 census.  Hiram is living with his son John Henderson who was married to Martha Bartlett after the death of her first husband James who was the older brother of John and also one of Hiram's sons.  John Henderson purchased land in 1898 in DeKalb County Section 20, T7-S, R-10E near Moores, Alabama. (Reference: Family Maps of DeKalb County, Alabama  Deluxe Edition, Gregory A. Boyd, J.D., 2007). It is interesting that Section 20 is southeast of Section 18 where Hannah King owned land that was purchased in 1891.  Elijah McNew and William McNew both owned land in Section 18 though their land had a patent date of 1859. Hannah McNew King would have been John Henderson's aunt and Hiram's sister-in-law.  I hope to publish more information on the King family at a later date.

Click on the link below to see the 1900 Census. Look for for the picture album Census Records. The album will have a picture of a Census Record on the cover.  Click on the cover and you can view various census records. Remember to click on each record to see a description of that record.  Also there are multiple pages within the album. In this case you should be looking for the 1900 census of DeKalb County, Alabama. In the 1900 Census you will see the proximity of Hannah King, her son William King and John Henderson.

http://www.burjoski.org/photos/index.cgi 

Early on in her book, Mrs. Crane describes a Mr. and Mrs. Beanner Robert Ervin who had purchased part of Elijah McNew's homestead. The Ervins allowed nature to protect a small 32 grave cemetery which came to be known as the McNew Cemetery.  Mrs. Crane states:

"Today, that area is owned by James "Jim" Clayton Ervin.  Mr. Ervin allowed some descendants of Elijah and Sallie McNew to place four military stones for the veterans buried there.  The descendants had their wives names engraved on the stones also.  Elijah and Sallie, William King's wife is buried in the King cemetery, Hiram H. Henderson and his wife Rachel McNew Henderson, and Charles F. Sutterlin and his wife Joanna McNew Sutterlin.  Those descendants who helped place the stones were: William King, Loy Eugene "Gene" Crane, Sr. and Edna Louise Henderson Durham; great great grandchildren of Elijah and Sallie. Patsy McCullough Graves, Dean Crane, Loy Eugene "Butch" Crane, Jr.; great great great grandchildren of Elijah and Sallie and there were Leslie Thornhill, fiancée of Dean, Bernice Crane wife of Gene, and Henry Durham.  On that day, March 9, 1996, Jim's son Cheny gave us a grand tour of this homestead.  Lucille Sutterlin and her son J. M. and her nephew Randall Henderson, she is the granddaughter of Joanna and Charles and all descendants of Elijah and Sallie put their stone April 17."  You can view a copy of Hiram's grave marker or stone by following the link above to his military career.

Mrs. Crane goes on to state:  "We thank you the family of Beanner Robert Ervin who married Lockie Adaline Stanley and their children: Robert Manual. Velma Gay, Billy Ray, Beanner Stanley, Laura Frances, James Clayton and Lockie Gladys Ann and their grandchildren."

Children of Hiram and Rachel McNew Henderson are as follows:

I. Elijah Henderson was the oldest of Hiram and Rachel's children.  He was born in 1849 in Cherokee County Alabama and died March 18, 1931 in Chattooga County Georgia.  He married Elizabeth Bartlett in 1878.  Elizabeth was the daughter of  Nathan Blake and Emmaline Tomlin Bartlett who we will have more to say about later on.  Elijah Henderson was my great grandfather. Click HERE to get to the section on Elijah.

II. William Henderson was born March 14, 1850 in Alabama and died May 11, 1916. Very little is known about William. He was married for a short time. Mrs. Crane says that she has been unable to find anyone who knew who he was married to. Was he a father? Mrs. Crane says that William was buried in Union Hill Cemetery. There is a William Henderson who was born on March 14, 1850 and died on may 11, 1916. Is this our William? Our William Henderson was born in 1850 in Cherokee County. He was eleven years old when the War Between the States started. Mrs. Crane has a picture of William in her book.

III. Sarah Jane "Sissy" Henderson was born in June of 1855 in Alabama and died about 1930 in Blount County Alabama.  She married Fredrick Holland "Richard" Allen who was born in September of 1851. Richard was the son of Holland A. and Edie Allen. He died in Alabama.  Sissy is buried in Morton's Chapel Cemetery in Etowah County Alabama. Mrs. Crane relates that Josie King Owens remembered going fishing with Sissy in Little River. She said Sissy always caught a long line of fish and she never caught one. We don't know the exact time Sissy and her family left the mountain but we do know she and Dick separated and Richard was living in South Alabama when he died. Richard is believed to be buried in Escambia County Florida.  Click here to see Sissy and her immediate family tree.

IV. James "Big Jim" Henderson was born in 1853 in Cherokee County Alabama and died about 1894 in Cherokee County Alabama.  Big Jim married Martha Bartlett who was born in May of 1864 and died March 19, 1941. Martha Bartlett was the daughter of Nathan Blake Bartlett and Emmaline Piper Tomlin. Martha was the sister of Elizabeth Bartlett who married Elijah. As far as Mrs. Crane could determine, James was the first of Hiram and Rachel's children to marry. James and Martha were married according to the 1880 census labeled DeKalb/Cherokee...around 1877. Their daughter Victoria is three years old and their daughter Della Lee is 3months old. James and Martha were living on the mountain close to James's in laws, brother and his parents. Mrs. Crane relates that at the time the location was in DeKalb County since that area was taken into DeKalb Co. in 1876. Click here to see the 1880 census of DeKalb County, Alabama!  Click here to see Big Jim and his immediate family tree.

V. Hannah Zora Henderson was in 1854 in Alabama and died in 1930. Hannah married John L. Crane who was born in 1857 and died in 1928. John was the son of Warren R. Davis and Clarissa J. Redden (Reddean) Crane. Hannah and John are buried in Union Hill Cemetery. Hannah and John had six children, three sons married three daughters of Charles and Eveline Whittle Hester. Hannah and John  lived on the Crane estate until they moved to Blanche in Cherokee County Alabama, shortly before 1900 and remained in this area until their deaths. Click here to see Hannah and her immediate family tree.

VI.  Elizabeth Jane "Lizzie" Henderson was born May 6, 1859  in Dade County Georgia and died June 30, 1934 in Floyd County Georgia. She married on December 30, 1883 (DeKalb County Book C page 359) to Samuel Bose Crane who was born on September 20, 1860 and died on December 25, 1933 in Floyd County, Georgia. He also was the son of Warren R. Davis and Clarissa Jane Redden (Reddean) Crane. They are buried in Union Hill Cemetery, Gaylesville, Alabama.  Lizzie and Bose lived on the Crane Farm on Lookout Mountain until sometime around 1906/07. All of their children were born there. Click here to see Elizabeth Jane and her immediate family tree.

VII. John A. Henderson born April 1861. I have a separate section on John A. Henderson. Click HERE to go to that section. 

VIII.  George Lee Henderson born 1871 in Dade County, GA died in the winter of 1930 in Marion County TN. George married Elizabeth Allen on December 13, 1891 in Cherokee County, AL. They had no children, she died several years later. He went north and found and married Minnie Bell Harris around 1900. They made their home in Marion County, TN. Minnie was the daughter of William and Margaret Jane Robinson Harris; Minnie was born in 1885 and died in 1958.  I have recently (April 4, 2007) come in contact with Thomas Lee Brown.  Lee is the grandson of Thomas Riley Henderson who was one of George Lee Henderson's sons.  Lee has been researching the George Lee Henderson family and has provided me with new and some corrected data for this family.  Lee has a family tree of George Lee and family on Ancestor. COM and is continually updating that family tree with pictures and new information.  Contact me for Lee's email address if you would like to add information to his family tree,

George had a beautiful head of black wavy hair and clear blue eyes, Minnie had a beautiful head of chestnut brown hair and brown eyes. Minnie wanted a blue eyed child but they were all born with brown eyes.

George worked for the Long Island Railroad on a Section Gang, later worked for a pipe shop in South Pittsburg TN and he liked to gamble.

George died of pneumonia, the ground was frozen, a large bond fire was built to thaw the ground. George is buried in New Hope Cemetery in Marion County, TN. He has no stone. Minnie Bell is buried in Chattanooga Memorial Cemetery in Hamilton County, TN.  Click here to see George Henderson and his immediate family tree.

At the completion of the section on Hiram and Rachel Mrs. Crane shared one more little item with the reader. Grace Woodall and her sister Ruby Woodall Mason told Gene and Mrs. Crane more personal things about Hiram than anyone. It seems Hiram had a speech impediment. He wasn't tongue-tied and he didn't stutter but there were certain letters he did not say. He was well aware of this problem but it did not seem to keep him from entertaining people. It was quite amusing when he would talk about going to war. He said he went to war to hoot and shoot but he was the one that ended up getting shot.

Mrs. Crane goes on to thank all who contributed information on the Henderson's: I am listing the contributors exactly as Mrs. Crane did in her book. They are: Nadine Vaughn, Geneva Reynolds, Patsy Graves, Bonnie Callaway, Ben and Hazel Henderson, Willie Mae Bullard, Betty Ann Cooper, Ann Strawn, Jessie Wilson, Jennie Martin, Jane Dotson, Lorene Holcomb, Edna Ruth Durham, Irene Anderson, Frances "Fannie Mae" Phillips, Terry Ray, Edna Parish, Kenneth Henderson, Wilma McGowan, Lois Story, Jerry Carroll, Cecil Henderson, Gloria Mason, Violet Kelly Mason, Buddy Roberts. Mrs. Crane goes on to say that she hopes she has not overlooked anyone.

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