My Genealogy Hound

Samuel M. Henderson, owner and proprietor of the Benton Jug Factory at Benton, established in 1885, was born in Saline County in the year 1842, and is a son of Samuel T. and Belinda (Bland) Henderson, born in Maury County, Tenn., in 1814, and (now) Saline County, Ark, in 1815, respectively. The father came to Saline County about the year 1834, and was married three years later. He resided here until 1852, and then moved to Garland County, where he remained until 1863, changing his location at that time to Texas until after the war. On his return to Arkansas he settled at Benton, where he passed the remainder of his days. He was a prominent miller and farmer, a leading merchant at Benton, and was held in high esteem by the entire county. In secret orders he was a member of Hot Springs Lodge, A. F. & A. M., for many years, and took a deep interest in Masonic affairs. He served through the Seminole War with distinction in Florida, and was known as one of the best strategists in Indian warfare. Before the War of the Rebellion he had accumulated considerable property which was all destroyed and lost during that event, but he afterward recovered the greater part of his fortune by industry, good management and fine business tact. He was a son of the Rev. Samuel Henderson, of South Carolina, a noted Missionary Baptist minister, who came to Saline County, Ark., in 1833, and established the first church of his denomination erected in that county, the Spring Creek Church, at Benton. He also organized churches at various places in Arkansas, and built the first Missionary Baptist Church in Perry County. Eleven children were born to him and his wife, some of them attaining high prominence in public and commercial life, and of whom only two are yet living. His father was one of four brothers who came from Ireland to America at an early period, and settled at Charleston, S. C. The maternal grandfather, Rev. Jesse Bland, was a Baptist minister and one of the pioneer preachers of Saline County, having come here from Kentucky in 1833. He was one of the most original and unique characters in that county, being known by the cognomen of “Old Hardside,” but withal a powerful and eloquent speaker whose voice could hold his hearers spellbound for hours, as they listened to the words that fell from his lips. In his boyhood days his father’s entire family was massacred by Indians in Kentucky, and he alone escaped death, but was taken by the red men and reared among them until he reached his twelfth year, when he was sold to the whites. Samuel M. Henderson, the principal in this sketch, was the third of nine children born to his parents, and was educated in the public schools of his birthplace. He served four years through the Civil War, and was a member of Company C, Third Arkansas Cavalry, holding the rank of lieutenant, and taking part in the battles at Iuka, Corinth, all through the Alabama campaign and a number of hard skirmishes. He was with Gen. Johnston at the surrender, and afterward returned home, where he was married, in March, 1865, to Antonia, daughter of Dickerson and Nancy Futrell, who moved from Mississippi to Saline County about the year 1850, where the mother died in 1865. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Henderson, of whom five sons and three daughters are yet living. Soon after his marriage he moved with his wife to Texas, where he was engaged in merchandising and trading in beef, cattle, and various commodities until 1870, when he returned to Saline County and commenced farming. He remained at this calling until 1879, and then embarked in milling, and also railroading for a while, that it is now one of the best paying industries in Saline County. His establishment has a capacity of 5,000 gallon jugs per week, employing on an average of twelve people, and is using the latest improved clay crusher, manufactured at Roseville, Ohio. In politics Mr. Henderson is a strong supporter of the Democratic party, and cast his first vote for Seymour in 1868. In secret societies he is a member of Monticello Lodge No. 62, A. F. & A. M., and the K. of H. at Benton. In religious faith he and wife are Methodists in good standing.