EARLY HISTORY OF THE
HENDERSON FAMILY
-- Scottish Roots
Traditionally, the Hendersons,
Clan Eanruig, inhabited Glencoe long before the arrival of the MacIain
MacDonalds, and their ancestor was Eanruig Mor Mac Righ Neachtain, "Great
Hendry, son of King Nectan.
The line of chiefs descended
from this legendary ancestor terminated in an heiress, Daughter of Gugald
MacHendry, who married a brother of the lord of the Isles. Their son Iain
was the first MacIain MacDonald of Glencoe.
The assimilation of Hendersons
and MacDonalds seems to have proceeded smoothly. The Hendersons, who had a
reputation for physical strength, enjoyed certain honorific duties reflecting
their priority, forming the MacIain chief's bodyguard and, on his death, bearing
his coffin. Hendersons were also hereditary pipers to the clan.
There were other groups of
Hendersons, or Mackendricks (Gaelic Mac Eanruig) in other parts, apparently
unconcerned with the Hendersons of Glencoe.
The Henderson's were part of
the Gunn Clan in Scotland. They are recorded as being Presbyterians and
were probably part of the transplantation that the British forced from Scotland
to Northern Ireland to help eradicate Catholicism after forming the Church of
England.
From
Scotland to Ireland
When James I became King of
Scotland in 1603, he transported large numbers of Scottish Presbyterians into
Northern Ireland. His purpose in so doing was to use the influence of
these stable people to hold down the turbulent Irishmen, with whom he had
problems. In Ireland these Scotsmen leased small farms and developed an industry
weaving linen and woolen cloth.
In the early 1700's their
100-year leases began to expire and their landlords demanded higher rents.
About the same time the English passed legislation that forbid them from
exporting their woolens to England. Also, they were being taxed to support the
Anglican Church, which they resented.
These people, who had merged
with the Irish and became known as Scotch-Irish, began to migrate to America in
large numbers. As a race, they had qualities that made them highly suitable for
frontier life. They were intelligent, large, angular with jutting chins, and
forceful personalities. They had strong wills, a sense of practicality, self
reliance and physically were hardy with great endurance. Accustomed to fighting
in Ireland, they were extremely bold and became excellent Indian fighters. Many
of our leading citizens were their descendents, including President Andrew
Jackson, James Polk, Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, and Woodrow Wilson.
On arrival in America these
people, as well as heavy influx of Germans from the Rhine Valley and Southern
Germany, initially settled in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. About 1750
they began to trek southward into the Piedmont of Virginia and the Carolinas.
This was due to the fact that the northern colonies were becoming heavily
settled and they had to go to the southern interior to find land that was open
for settlement.
The earliest settlement of the
South was confined to the coastal tidelands, except for a few adventurous
souls. These Colonial Settlers, who were predominantly English, wanted to make
America as much like England as possible. They wanted to maintain class
distinction and privilege and as a result developed the large plantations on
which slavery flourished.
Both the Scotch-Irish and
Germans were advocates of Democracy, as we know it today. Because they had been
oppressed, they believed in freedom and social and political equality. They
hated what the plantation owners stood for and had a strong contempt for the use
of slave labor. The use of slaves did not fit their style of diversified
farming and they also had large families, which provided them with an abundant
supply of willing and also ambitious labor. On moral grounds, their churches
frowned on slavery.
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