Obit for HENDERSON, Martin (b.1848 d.1932), Watonwan Co., MN 
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Watonwan County Plaindealer
Aug 4, 1932
Vol 42
Num 26

M. Henderson
Pioneer of ‘66
Passes Away


Martin Henderson, a resident of Watonwan county since 1866, dies at his home 
on the shores of Kansas Lake, in Long Lake township on Friday, July 20, at 12 
o’clock noon. Mr. Henderson’s age at the time of his death was 83 years, 8 
months and 21 days.
Mr Henderson was born in Sweden December 3, 1848, and was the son of Hendrick 
and Martha Hendrickson. The Hendrickson family emigrated to the United States 
in 1852 locating first at Muskego, Wisconsin, where they spent one winter, 
then moved to Dane County in the same state, where they resided for a year. They 
then moved to Vernon county, where they bought a farm and lived until 1866.
In 1866 the Hendricksons decided to move to the then new state of Minnesota, 
where there was an unlimited quantity of fertile agricultural lands open to 
settlement. They came to Watowan county and on July 19, 1866, arrived on the 
banks of Kansas Lake, where they located the homestead which has been in the 
Hendrickson family ever since.
It may be proper to note here that the original family name, as it came from 
Sweden, was Hendrickson, but a clerk in the U. S. land office entered the name 
as Henderson, and, it was under this name that the homestead was taken, so 
Henderson it remained even to this day, with the Scottish rather than the 
Scandinavian sound.
The Henderson family were the first settlers in the Kansas Lake neighborhood, 
although others came that same summer.
The elder Henderson (or Hendrickson) preempted 125 acres of land and, in a
ddition bought 50 acres of railroad land. Mr. Hendrickson built up a fine farm 
and a comfortable home, dying just thirty years to a day from the time he 
reached the land which he selected for his future home. He wife died on June 19, 
1897, one year after the death of her husband.
Martin Henderson, the subject of this sketch, spent his younger years on the 
farm assisting his father. He received an education of a superior kind for 
that day, having attended the public schools of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the 
Curtiss Business College in Minneapolis. For fifteen years Mr. Henderson was 
engaged in railroad contract work, doing grading for various lines. His first 
job of this kind was in Canada in 1875. He preempted 160 acres of land in 
Cottonwood county, but lived on it only long enough to prove up.
Mrs. Henderson died about eight years ago. 
In 1892, four years before his father’s death, Mr. Henderson returned to the 
Kansas Lake family homestead, and began the active operation of the farm. He 
purchased more land, and finally became the owner of 230 acres of as good farm 
land as the sun ever shown upon.
Mr. Henderson made many improvements upon his farm, and built up one of the 
finest places in the county. His line was general farming with live stock as 
specialty. He was a stockholder in the old St. James Farmers Elevator Co.
Mr. Henderson was married on August 4, 1883, to Miss Christine Erickson, a 
native of Sweden, who came here in 1888. To this union eight children were born, 
seven of whom survive their parents. One son, Arthur, is dead,; the survivors 
are Henry Walter, Mathilda, who is the wife of Louis Boen; Marie, Phillip, 
Rodger, Thomas and Mrs. Ernest W. Guggisberg, St. Paul.
There are two grand children and one surviving sister, Mrs. Kate Johnson.
Mr. Henderson had for some years been retired from active life, and lived 
with his son’s family on the old homestead. He and all the family were members of 
the Lutheran church. During his active life he was one of the most prominent 
and successful farmers in the county, and during his residence here has seen 
the county progress from its pioneer stage to its present well settled and well 
farmed state. Sixty-six years is a long time. Mr. Henderson saw Kansas Lake 
for the first time when he was eighteen years old, and lived upon its shores 
until he was nearly 84.
Funeral services were held on Monday, August 1 at the home at 1 p. m. and at 
Long Lake church at 2 o’clock Rev. N. I. Evenson officiating.