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Family
Marriage: Children:
  1. Thomas Henderson: Birth: ABT 1808 in Nova Scotia, Canada. Death: 1879

  2. Polly Henderson: Birth: 1809. Death: UNKNOWN

  3. Matthew Henderson: Birth: 18 NOV 1813 in Nova Scotia. Death: BEF 1881

  4. William Henderson: Birth: ABT 1823 in Nova Scotia, Canada. Death: AFT 1881

  5. George Henderson


Notes
a. Note:   From Registry of Deeds, Colchester County, sent to me by Nan Harvey, Archivist for Colchester Historical Society: ****** 1 Sept. 1825 (Book 11, p. 425): refers to 'John Henderson of Tatamagouche in the district of Colchester County of Halifax and province of Nova Scotia- Yeoman, and Mary Henderson his wife... =============== From "The Henderson Family of Scotland and Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, and Allied Families," Compiled with commentary by Heather Dianne (Tidwell) Sumi. From the works of Frank Patterson, Catherine Dickie, Anthony Gagiani, the late Marjorie Durgin (Henderson) Miller, and her son Maxwell Borden Miller, George Donald Henderson, Ida MacDonald (Henderson) Higgins, Barbara J. Northan and many other family members who contributed. Page 9 THE FAMILY OF JOHN HENDERSON JR. AND ABIGAIL JOHNSON It seems that John Jr. may have been enlisted to help build the third Citadel in Halifax in his youth. Many of the menfolk were made to work on the building of the Citadel. For further reading on what was going on in Halifax in the 1700's, there's the HISTORY OF HALIFAX CITY, by the Nova Scotia Historical Society, and IMAGES OF CITADEL HILL. John Richards of Newfoundland was one of John Henderson Jr.'s friends on the project, and so was John Johnson. These three Johns ended up in the Tatamagouche BayHead area. William Lombard of Northern Ireland who settled in Tatamagouche is also said to have worked on the Citadel. Patterson said that William had three sons, George, John and Danford. George Lombard comes up in the family later on. They returned to the Tatamagouche area in the late 1790's, and had homes near each other. According to cousin Anthony Gagliani, John Henderson Jr. took for himself a wife named Abigail (Polly) Johnson. She was from the River Philip area, not too far from Tatamagouche. I have been told that Abigail's parents were Matthew Johnson and Ann (Ash), who came from Yorkshire England. There was a group of Methodists from Yorkshire, called the Yorkshire Settlers, who were followers of the preacher John Wesley. You can read about these people in the THE WESLEYAN METHODISTS OF CHIGNECTO, THE HISTORY OF CHARLES DIXON, 1ST, THE CHINECTO'CONNECTION', THE HISTORY OF SACKVILLE METHODIST/UNITED CHURCH, and NOTES OF FORT MONCKTON by E.T.P. Shewen, Department of Public Works.. John Wesley had spoken out against the failure of the Anglican Church to produce true Christlike individuals. He taught that a methodical Bible education was necessary, hence they were called Methodists by others. However, for various reasons, Wesley and his followers were persecuted. These people from Yorkshire who were followers of John Wesley had originally gone to Sackville, N.B., and the vicinity, including Abigail Johnson's parents. They later settled in River Phillip. Please read the FILMORE FAMILY - HISTORY OF RIVER PHILLIP, or WILLIAMSDALE, PAST AND PRESENT, and CUMBERLAND COUNTY FAMILIES. In the beginning, on arriving, the Yorkshire people lived in the vacated homes of the French Acadians who had escaped the English Armies in the mid-1750's. They also bought lands from previous New England owners who had moved back to New England. By 1784-85, many of these early settlers were finding land along River Philip very rich in minerals and farm land. Matthew and Ann Johnson obtained Lot 5 of the Yorkshire Land Grant of 1785. It was 500 Acres near Junction Road. Page 10 Now here is an interesting story that I heard from my distant cousin Anthony Gagliani, about Abigail Polly Johnson's mother's side. Actually Anthony was also thinking that she may have been called Nancy, but I don't know why. The story goes that Lady Ash fell in love with a coachman. Some feel that Ann Ash was really a Dobson, but her mother was Lady Ash, and so she had her mother's name. I don't know if I got the story correct, but it was something like that. The first child of John and Abigail was named Thomas, born in 1808 in Tatamagouche. Thomas married Elizabeth Mattatal, born in 1808, They had seven children together. (See page 1 1, and family charts for further details.) The second son of John and Abigail was named Matthew, born November 1813. Matthew married Katherine Lombard, born September 21, 1821. They had nine children together, and this is the branch I descended from. (See page 13, and family charts for further details.) ****Apparently this account was written by Ida MacDonald (Henderson) Higgins. The third son of John and Abigail was named George. George married Betty Lirabard, according to the research of Maxwell Miller. I located George Henderson on the Census of 1838, which appears to record three girls and two boys. (See page 31. and family charts for further details.) The fourth son of John and Abigail was named William, and he married Catherine Richards. They had seven children together. (See page 32, and family charts for further details.)


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