THE HENDERSON FAMILY OF THIS AREA

It appears that James Henderson and at least five of his children came to New Brunswick (Mirimichi) from Caithness, Scotland after 1821. I am sure there are other children, mostly female, who have not been identified yet.

We know very little about the older boys, John and James, where they settled or who they married. We know John had a daughter Sarah who married Abraham Gill at the residence of Sergeant William Henderson on the Union Road and on her marriage license she was listed as the fourth daughter of John Henderson, merchant of Pictou, Nova Scotia.

We know from death notices and write-ups that Kenneth was born in Scotland, married in 1845 in Montreal to Jessie before coming to Prince Edward Island where he was a doctor and military man. In May 1852 a bible was presented to him from his non—commissioned officers for service. The bible was found inside a house on the Union Road when it was being renovated and is now in the possession of Ralph and Paulette (Mutch) Henderson, who is a great grandnephew to Kenneth. They now live on the Union Road across from where the first Henderson family lived.

On the inside cover of the bible is the following message: To Hospital Sergent Kenneth Henderson when about to be discharged after having served upwards of 21 years in the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, by a few of his brother non— commissioned ofi‘icers, in testimony of high respect for him as a most trustworthy companion, and of there undesigned admiration of his exemplary and straightforward conduct, as a man and a Christian, during the many years of their happy connection with him. Weedon barracks May I 852. Inside the bible we also find the birth and death dates for the family.

We know from records that Isaac was on Prince Edward Island as early as 1837 when he married Margaret Wares. This may have been the reason that William came to Prince Edward Island when the great fire took place in the Miramichi in 1843. It has been passed down in the family how William and his wife Ellen, who had been born in Chatham, New Brunswick, tried to save some of their belongings from the fire by putting them in a wooden barrel in the middle of the river.

It has been reported that several of the early Hendersons have returned to New Brunswick and

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Nova Scotia. More research is needed on the early family as many gaps still exist and one would need to travel to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to check records there.

The Henderson name has been married with many names found in the Marshfield and surrounding areas, names like Ferguson, Gill, Crockett, Harper, Auld, Boswell, McFarlane and Hardy to name a few. The family we will follow is William Henderson Sr. who settled on the Union Road on the farm called “Beech Hill”. He married Jessie Ferguson, daughter of James “New Inn” Ferguson and Catherine McFarlane. They had four children, three sons and a daughter.

Kenneth was a doctor and military man as already stated. In 1863 he was an assemblyman and played with politics until he retired in 1871. Kenneth’s oldest son James was a twin to his only daughter Margaret Jane. James died at age one month and Margaret died at age 24 after she had married and had one son to John A. Gordon of Brudenell River. The other two boys were doctors as their father before them was. Kenneth Jr. had a practise in Clyde River and James set up on the Union Road. Both doctors were well liked, worked long hard hours tending to their people.

Submitted by Linda Harding