Franklin County FlArchives Biographies.....Henderson, Leland John 1874 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 12, 2008, 10:25 pm Author: B. F. Johnson (1909) Leland John Henderson For a new and young country these United States can show some remarkable changes. Thus the first English settlement is a heap of ruins, the second English settlement is a sleepy, country town, and the first Spanish settlement is merely a winter resort. Fort DuQuesne is now Pittburg. Kaskaskia is a forgotten village, and Fort Dearborn has risen under the name of Chicago to be a city of 2,000,000 people. Sixty years ago the South was in the saddle, it was the richest section, it had an extended seacoast and many navigable rivers, hence its shipping points and ports were of great importance in a day when railroads were not. Apalachicola was then a great port, its population was not great, but its exports exceeded in value those of Philadelphia. The times changed, and the Florida port went down to poverty. But again the times are changing, and men are beginning to see that around the great inland sea which we call the Gulf of Mexico is going to grow a cluster of splendid and prosperous cities far surpassing anything the Mediterranean has ever known because of the richer supporting country. Apalachicola is coming into the heritage which belongs to it by right of position. It is already feeling the pulse beat of this vigorous new life. Prominent among the men who are pressing the battle in the interests of Apalachicola is Leland John Henderson, civil engineer, Secretary of Apalachicola Board of Trade, of the Mississippi to Altantic Inland Waterway Association, of the Chipola-Flint-Chattahoochee-Apalachicola Waterway Association, of the Florida Land and Abstract Company, of the Florida Coast Realty Company, of the Florida Corporation. He was born July 1, 1874, at Harrisburg, Oregon. His parents were John Leland and Harriet E. (Humphrey) Henderson, both of excellent families of English descent. The great great-grandfather of our subject came from England to Pennsylvania. His great-grandfather, was that John Henderson, U. S. Senator from Mississippi, of whom Daniel Webster said that he was the greatest land lawyer in the United States. His father, John Leland Henderson, is a lawyer. Mr. Henderson was educated in the common schools, high school, and Olympia Collegiate Institute, at Olympia, Washington. The year 1893 found him, a youth of nineteen, established in Bay St. Louis, Miss., as a civil engineer and abstractor of lands. His business steadily prospered and he opened an office in New Orleans, and a business at Pass Christian, Miss., both of which he yet maintains. In 1906, attracted by the advantages of Apalachicola, he moved his headquarters and his family there, and at once became a leading factor in the business and public life of the city. That he is a "general utility" man is proven by the list of organizations with which he is officially connected. Not content with the performance of routine duty, he is a constant contributor to a large number of periodicals, possibly fifty all told, among them such journals as the Chattanooga Tradesman, Jacksonville Times-Union, Jacksonville Metropolis, Atlanta Georgian, Columbus Ledger, Pensacola Journal and Apalachicola Times. On June 1, 1898, he married Mary A. Ansley, daughter of Michael L., and Margaret M. Blackwell Ansley, of Bay St. Louis, Miss. Three children have been born to them, of whom one, Ruth Henderson, survives. Mr. Henderson is a member of the Methodist Church, the Democratic party, and the order of Knights of Pythias. He is an active and devoted church man, and in addition to his multifarious business duties finds time to act as a local preacher of his church. A constant reader, with a discriminating taste and judgment, he has accumulated a large and excellent library. Such a man naturally has clear cut views on all matters affecting the public welfare. He believes the best interests of Florida and the Nation may be promoted by the development of our inland waterways and improvement of our ports, by the careful conservation of our natural resources, by ceasing to export raw material and substituting the manufactured article, and by the building up of a merchant marine. Also he is strongly of the opinion that the obliteration of competition in necessities (for the purpose of reducing cost of production), would greatly benefit our people. He thinks life is becoming too complex, too artificial, and that greater simplicity and sincerity should be cultivated. An urgent question, needing the attention of every good citizen, is in Mr. Henderson's opinion, such an adjustment of the tariff as will restrict the power of a few to amass the wealth of the country. Mr. Henderson's public spirit and incessant labor exemplified by his motto, "Work-honesty," has been rewarded by the universal esteem of the people of Apalachicola. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. III. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. McCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. COPYRIGHT 1909 B. F. JOHNSON Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/franklin/photos/bios/henderso89gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/franklin/bios/henderso89gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 5.9 Kb