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An article written by E. H. Bashinsky was featured in a 1902 edition of the Troy Messenger, having been originally published by the Alabama Historical Society in one of its serial publications.

Jeremiah A. Henderson was born on Aug. 11, 1831.  He was the third son of Eli Henderson, one of the pioneer settlers of Pike County, who came from the Edgefield district in South Carolina and was successful as a farmer.

From his earliest boyhood, J. A. Henderson showed a natural tact for business, and his father placed him in charge of a general store in 1852.  The business was located at Gainer’s Store and what was known later as Henderson’s Store.

Before that time, his father, Eli Henderson, had resolved to move to Texas and had brought a place there on which he had raised a crop; in order to do this, Eli Henderson had to make two trips to Texas, each time all the way on horseback.

In connection with his farm, Eli Henderson opened a business in Texas, for the management of which he called his son from Alabama. J. A. Henderson conducted the store in Texas for one year. However, the intention of establishing a home in Texas was given up, and the father and the son both returned to Alabama.

J. A. Henderson had always been a Whig before the war. He was opposed to secession and voted for Bell and Everett in the national election preceding the war.

He was a man of insight, and he recognized the inequality of the struggle as undertaken by the South, foreseeing the disasters that must follow.  Thus, before the civil war broke out, he disposed of all his business interests and put his money in the only safe investment in times of war: lands.

He was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1861 and voted in accordance with the instructions of Pike County for secession.

After the outbreak of the war, he enlisted in Love’s Cavalry and remained in the army during the entire struggle.

After peace had been restored, he farmed for one year, but his natural bent for business reasserted itself, and he opened a store in a small way at Henderson in Pike County. 

In 1870, the Mobile & Girard Railroad was finished to Troy. Mr. Henderson here recognized a great opportunity for merchandising on a large scale. He moved to Troy in 1869 and immediately became Southern Alabama’s leading businessman. 

In all his dealings, J. A. Henderson was a man of great integrity, commanding the respect of all people to such an extent that in the country, it was considered almost a privilege to do business with him.  He was jovial and pleasant. Thus, when he was cut off upon the very threshold of the prime of life, he was mourned universally in all Southeast Alabama.

     His career was a remarkable one.  Coming to Troy in moderate circumstances in 1869, he died in April 1877, the richest man in his section of the country, accumulating the major portion of his wealth in the short span of eight years.

He died at the age of forty-six, leaving seven children.

At the age of 21, he married Miss Emily Hill, who has survived him.  His oldest son, Fox Henderson, is president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank at Troy and is largely interested in farming and in many enterprises in the Troy section.  He is a man of strong force of character and is counted among the wealthiest men in Alabama.  The second son, J. C. Henderson, is vice president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank and has been very successful as a businessman.  He takes a live interest in public affairs and has served the county and Troy in many various capacities of trust and always with great ability.  He was one of Pike County’s delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1901.  The third son, Charles Henderson, is also successful, and a man equally as interested in public affairs.  He is, at present, the mayor of Troy.  A fourth son, W. J. Henderson, has died in the meantime, and his youngest son, J. E. Henderson, is engaged in the lumber and sawmilling business on an extensive scale in South Alabama.  Both of his daughters are living in Montgomery; the elder, Ella, is the widow of W. L. Brock, and the youngest, Julia, is the wife of Dr. Hamilton M. Weedon, Jr.

All of these articles can be found in previous editions of The Troy Messenger.  Stay tuned for more.  Dianne Smith is the President of the Pike County Historical, Genealogical, and Preservation Society.