James Pinckney Henderson

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James Pinckney Henderson

James Pinckney Henderson (born March 31, 1808 in Lincoln , Lincoln County , North Carolina , †  June 4, 1858 in Washington, DC ) was an American lawyer and politician . He served as the US Senator for Texas and was the first governor of that state .

Henderson was born to Lawson and Elizabeth (née Carruth) Henderson in Lincoln. He attended Lincoln Academy and studied law at the University of North Carolina . In 1829 he was admitted to the bar and then served in the North Carolina militia , where he was colonel of a regiment in 1830. In 1835 he left the military and moved to Canton ( Mississippi ). After the outbreak of the War of Independence between Texas and Mexico on October 2, 1835, he moved to Velasco . David G. Burnet made him Brigadier General and sent him to the United States to recruit volunteers for the Texas Army . Henderson went back to North Carolina and raised an army at his own expense, with which he arrived in Texas in November 1836. In the same month he became Attorney General of the Republic of Texas in the administration of President Sam Houston and in December, after the death of Stephen F. Austin , his successor as Secretary of State.

In 1837 he became the Texan envoy to England and France . As a result of his work, there were trade agreements between Texas and the two states and Texas received support for his freedom struggle. During a stay in France he met Frances Cox from Philadelphia , whom he married in October 1839 in London . In 1840 he returned to Texas and opened his own law firm in San Augustine . In 1844 he was ordered to Washington DC to negotiate with Isaac Van Zandt the conditions for admission from Texas to the USA. The first contract for this was signed by Texas on April 12, 1844, but rejected by the USA on June 8, 1844, whereupon Henderson was recalled.

On February 19, 1846, he was appointed governor of Texas, which he remained until December 21, 1847. With the declaration of the Mexican-American War , he returned to the military and led the 2nd Texas Regiment in the Battle of Monterrey . His successor in office as governor was George T. Wood . After the war, he turned down a second term as governor that had been offered to him and went back to work in his own law firm. From November 9, 1857, he served as a Democratic Senator and remained so until his death on June 4, 1858. He was buried in the Congress Cemetery in Washington. In 1930 his bones were reburied in Austin State Cemetery. Henderson County , formed in 1846, was named after him.

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personal data
SURNAME Henderson, James Pinckney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 31, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH Lincoln , North Carolina
DATE OF DEATH June 4, 1858
Place of death Washington, DC