COUNTY
TENNESSEE
Ben R. Henderson, who flgured for many years as an active and representative business man of Memphis, was connected with the Patterson Transfer Company and the Galloway Coal Company, being vice president of both corporations at the time of his demise. He was born in Huntingdon, Tennessee, July 27, 1842. His father was Anderson Henderson of Scotch descent and the mother was Susan (Hamilton) Henderson. In the year 1844 the father brought his family to Memphis and became a member of the firm of Richardson, Wormley & Henderson, which at that time conducted one of the leading wholesale grocery houses of the south and was also well known as a cotton factor. Mrs. Henderson belonged to the well known Hamilton family of Henry county, Tennessee, her father being Judge Hamilton of Henry county, first circuit court judge of that district, while her sister, Martha, became the wife of David Crockett, son of John Crockett.
Ben R. Henderson acquired his education in the public schools of Memphis and spent his young manhood in this city. For a time he was connected with a newspaper called the Avalanche and he had the distributing agency for a large number of papers for several years. Then came the Civil war and he enlisted, serving under Colonel Nealy of Bolivar, Tennessee. On account of a protracted illness be was honorably discharged.
Following his recovery Mr. Henderson was employed at the Memphis post office for several years and then became a member of the Patterson Transfer Company. Later he was also associated with the Galloway Coal Company and was identified with both to the time of his death, serving as vice president of each. Mr. Henderson was also prominent in public affairs and under the administration of Lucas Clapp as mayor he served for four years as vice mayor and for a like time under Mayor J. J. Williams. He thus took active part in administering the interests of the city and his aid and influence were ever on the side of progress, reform and improvement. He was an exceedingly popular man and he gave strength and prestige to the ticket on which he [p.369] was elected. He always voted with the democratic party and though he never sought nor desired political preferment he was intensely interested in the success of his friends and those whom the party placed upon its ticket
Mr. Henderson was married at Memphis on the 14th of January, 1872, to Miss Sally Bailey, a daughter of Dr. William Thomas and Elizabeth (Winstead) Bailey of Athens, Georgia. The family came to Memphis to reside when their daughter, Sally, was but twelve years of age. By her marriage she has become the mother of seven children: William Bailey, the eldest, who was a law graduate of the Washington and Lee University and later became city attorney of Memphis, is deceased; Susan Hamilton is the wife of Reuben Van Pelt of Memphis; Ben R. is engaged in the insurance business; Elizabeth Winstead is the wife of John C. Boyle of St. Louis, Missouri; Robert Galloway is a physician and skin specialist of Memphis; Mary Yerger is the wife of Nat Heyward of Raleigh, North Carolina. Winstead is vice president of the Columbia Mortgage & Trust Company of Memphis and cashier of the Columbia Savings Bank.
Mr. Henderson's interest centered in his family and their welfare and he counted no personal effort or sacriflce on his part too great if it would enhance the best interests of those of his own household. He cooperated in many plans and movements for the general good and was on the board of Bolton College, of which he at one time served as president. He belonged to Angerona Lodge of Masons and he had membership in the Country Club. His religious faith was indicated in his connsction with the Alabama Street Presbyterian church, in which he served as an elder for many years. He was one of the most popular men in Memphis, noted for his integrity and uprightness, for his kindly qualities and generous spirit. His many admirable traits of character won him the kindly regard and love of all with whom he was associated. His nature was brimful of human sympathy and he was constantly reaching out a helping hand and shedding around him much of the sunshine of life.
Tennessee - The Volunteer State
