The many firsts of Alexander Henderson Jr.
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Alexander Henderson Jr. was an early Wood County, W.Va., pioneer with numerous Marietta connections. I was captivated by his life's many high points, sadly intermingled with tragic low points. Alexander Jr. was known by his nickname (shared with his father), "Sandy." He was described as "fair, blue-eyed, handsome with a most cheerful and genial disposition." Many people of that era had nicknames. His wife, with the very proper name of Jane Hutchison Lithgow, was "Hutchie" to her family.
The Henderson family of Wood County has a storied past. Alexander Henderson Sr. was a successful merchant in Dumphries, Va., and friend of George Washington. Their families occupied adjoining church pews. Washington had acquired land in western Virginia and encouraged Henderson to do the same. He did, eventually owning 25,000 acres in today's Wood, Wirt and Pleasants counties in West Virginia in the late 1700s.
Alexander Jr. achieved a number of pioneering "firsts" in his Wood County and Washington County communities:
≤ One of the FIRST settlers in what is now Wirt County, then a remote wilderness
≤ Fought the FIRST (and probably only) recorded duel in Ohio, near Belpre in 1805
≤ One of the FIRST area settlers who overcame a permanent disability
≤ Was a Captain in the FIRST Wood County militia
≤ One of the FIRST magistrates in Wood County
≤ One of the FIRST people, with his brother, to alert President Thomas Jefferson of Aaron Burr's allegedly treasonous plot
≤ A charter member of the FIRST Washington Wood County Agricultural Association Board
≤ Worked at the FIRST chartered bank in Ohio -- the Bank of Marietta where he experienced another unpleasant first:
≤ Victim of the FIRST attempted bank robbery in Ohio. He was not injured.
≤ Was one of the FIRST members and vestrymen at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Marietta.
But there were devastating low points with life-changing impacts.
≤ The duel which inflicted permanent disability.
≤ The deaths of two of their daughters in the typhoid fever epidemic of 1823.
≤ Bankruptcy in 1826, requiring all of his assets to be sold to meet debts, from which he never recovered.
A duel? Seems unlikely for such an educated and sensible guy. Alexander had been feuding with a man named Stephen Wilson, branded by many as a jerk. Alexander called him a "paltroon and coward," in response to an accusation. Wilson challenged Alexander to a duel. Alexander's family tried unsuccessfully to dissuade him. A newspaper report: "The distance agreed upon was fifteen steps, and to wheel and fire; when the word was given, they both advanced, the one in a deliberate walk, the other at full speed, till when within an arm's length of each other, when they both fired and fell side by side."
Odd that they walked toward each other. Both survived, though Alexander suffered a permanent disability. Thereafter he walked with a cane and could ride a horse only with a special side saddle. You can see both at Henderson Hall, located just below Williamstown.
His bankruptcy in 1826 was not the result of irresponsible speculation but from debt assumed to placate family members. His financial crisis prompted his son, George Washington Henderson, to return from studying law in eastern Virginia. George founded what became Henderson Hall plantation; the stately home is today a fascinating museum.
Okay, maybe I went overboard with the FIRST label thing. But you get the idea. He and his family contributed much to his early Ohio and West Virginia communities.