The Henderson Family: From Ellsworth to Marianna
Through my research of historical records, I traced the life of James Patrick Henderson and his family from Ellsworth to Marianna, Pennsylvania, and later to Philadelphia.
James Patrick Henderson was born in 1860 in Fife, Scotland, to William and Mary Henderson. He immigrated to the United States and eventually settled in Ellsworth, Pennsylvania, where he married Mary Agnes Burns on April 3, 1889. Together, they had several children:
William J. Sr., Helen Agatha, James Thomas Henderson (born in Dunbar, PA), Marie E., Margaret, Anna C., Veronica C., Arthur Euwing, and Agnes Teresa.
On November 28, 1908, James Patrick Henderson died in the Marianna Coal Mine Disaster. His death left the family fatherless. By the time of the April 1910 Federal Census, seventeen months later, his teenage son James Thomas Henderson, age 16, was recorded as head of the household in Marianna. Living with him were his siblings:
Ellen (Helen Agatha, 9), Mary (14), Maggie (Margaret, 12), and Anna (10).
Also listed in the household were extended family members:
Ellen Burns, 68 (possibly grandmother), Mary Burns, 28 (possibly aunt), and Baby Burns, 0. The census contains some discrepancies: it lists Veronica (8), Arthur (5), and Agnes (3) as James Thomas Henderson’s children, but according to my reading of other records, they were actually his younger siblings.
His mother, Mary Agnes Burns Henderson, does not appear in the record, though she was still living at the time.
A Note on the Henderson Residence: Some have speculated that James Thomas Henderson may have lived in the old general superintendent’s house on Beeson Avenue—the home of Alexander Beeson, mining engineer and general superintendent—but this seems unlikely and cannot be confirmed. A widely circulated photograph from July 4, 1910, depicts Beeson’s house. The April 1910 Federal Census records show no evidence on where exactly Henderson lived in Marianna (but I'll still do some digging because I think it was 54 Beeson Avenue they lived, according to another document that I need to look at further). It is possible he moved there later, or that the two households were always separate.
After the Marianna Mine disaster, the Pittsburg-Buffalo Company may have placed the Henderson family in the old superintendent’s home, similar to the arrangement in which the sole survivor was allegedly given a home. But for now, the exact address of Henderson’s 1910 residence remains unknown.
Later, James Thomas Henderson moved to Philadelphia, where he lived for fifteen years. He died on November 5, 1961, at the age of 68. His wife, Mary Delores O’Keefe, died in 1973. Their children were:
James T. Henderson, William Joseph Henderson, Mary Delores Henderson, and Doris T. Henderson.
Some details of the Henderson family’s life in Marianna remain a mystery, despite my extensive research into census records, photographs, and local histories. I hope this account brings their story to life, and I will update it if new information emerges or any details are found to be incorrect.
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A Note on a Different Henderson Family in Ellsworth
James Henderson, a 16-year-old mine laborer, was tragically killed in the Ellsworth Mine on August 20, 1907. His mother, Catherine Honeyman Henderson (born 1859), had died earlier that same year in Ellsworth at age 48. His father, James C. Henderson (born 1860), worked as a mine boss in Westmoreland County.
The family had several children, according to my research, including:
James, Agnes, Philip, Margaret, Robert, Catherine Grace, Ellen, Mary Jane, Jessie, Phillip Shafter, George David, G. Dewey, and Charles Henderson.
There may be a connection to the Henderson family of Marianna, but I haven’t been able to confirm it, and so far, nothing indicates that they are related. I’m posting this as a reminder of another life cut short by mining.
