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Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Henderson


Honorary Member, admitted 1783

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Henderson

Born in Freehold, NJ on 15 Aug 1743 and died in Freehold, NJ on 15 Dec 1824. Member of the Freehold Committee of Observation 10 Dec 1774. Member of the New Jersey Committee of Safety in 1774. Began his service in the Revolutionary War as Lieutenant in the New Jersey Militia 1775. 2nd Major of Colonel Stewart’s Minute Men in the New Jersey Militia in 1776. Lt. Colonel of Forman’s Battalion of Heard’s Brigade from 12 Jan 1777. Brigade Major of the Monmouth County, NJ Militia. Lieutenant Colonel of Colonel David Forman’s Regiment Continental Army 12 Jan 1777. Served to Oct 1777. He was the solitary horseman who informed General Washington of the retreat and misconduct of General Charles Lee at Monmouth. When the town was laid waste, Dr. Henderson’s house was the first house destroyed. Member of the New Jersey Provincial Council 1777. Elected to be a delegate to the Continental Congress in Nov 1779 but declined. Member of the New Jersey State General Assembly 1780-1784. Member of the New Jersey State Council 1793-1794 as Vice-President of the Council. Member of the US Congress from New Jersey 1795-1797. Surrogate of Monmouth County. Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Monmouth County, NJ 1783-1799. Master of the Chancery in 1790. Presidential Elector 1792. On 30 Mar 1793 Governor William Paterson resigned from office and Henderson, as Vice-President of the Council became Acting Governor of New Jersey and served in this capacity until 3 Jun 1793. While Governor Howell was on military service outside the state in the Whiskey Rebellion, Acting Governor Henderson had to deal with Shays Uprising. Princeton AB Degree 1761 and AM Degree 1764. Studied medicine under Doctor Nathaniel Scudder. Member of the New Jersey State Council 1812-1813. On the commission to settle the boundaries between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Lieutenant Colonel in the New Jersey Militia. Doctor of Medicine in Monmouth from 1765. Member of the New Jersey Medical Society in 1766. Trustee and Elder in the Tennent Church. Author of Memoir of the Life of the Reverend William Tennent, Jr., 1807. Married 1st Mary Hendricks in 1767 and 2nd Rachel Burrowes in 1778. [Sources: ; ; (66); (98); (C);”Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography”, 1923; “Drake’s Dictionary of American Biography”, 1870; “Who Was Who in American History”;”Who Was Who in American Politics”; “Who Was Who in the American Revolution”; bioguide.congress.gov; Find A Grave Memorial;www.famousamericans.net.]