The Enslaved People of the J. H. Polley Plantation, Whitehall, Sutherland Springs, Texas--Theodore Henderson

On Saturday, 3 February 2024, a new exhibit opened at the Sutherland Springs Historical Museum. The exhibit is my attempt to honor the people who were enslaved by J. H. Polley. In some cases I have managed to gather quite a bit of information. Sometimes my story is stitched together from a variety of sources and may or may not be completely correct. In some cases I have been able to find very little about the people at all. I welcome corrections and additions. I have managed, I think, to discover all of their names. My research included J. B. Polley's "Historical Reminiscences" articles in the San Antonio Daily Express, Josephine Golson's book, Bailey's Light, Slave Schedules, Census Records, Deeds, Probate Wills, newspaper articles, Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, Death Certificates, Marriage Licenses, Public School Tax Records, Tiner Diaries, Mark Gretchen's Slave Transactions of Guadalupe Co., Texas, La Vernia Historical Association's La Vernia Family Legacies, Jamie Lou Walker Harris' African Americans in Wilson County 1860-1885: An Aid for Family Historians, and some personal narratives.

The exhibit covers one wall in the "Polley Room" at the Sutherland Springs Historical Museum. It consists of 29 panels, each describing one of the enslaved people. Because I could find no images of the enslaved people, I made a paper quilt square to represent each of the people. Over the next few weeks I will be presenting posts about my research into the lives of these resilient individuals. I begin with the last person that J. H. Polley purchased—Theodore Henderson.

Theodore Henderson (1838-1904)

Theodore, purchased by Joseph H. Polley from his son-in-law, Connally Findlay Henderson on 5 January 1860, for $2000, was described as a 22 year-old male with mulatto color. He was a blacksmith by trade.

Connally Findlay Henderson had come from Tennessee to Texas with his younger brother, Bennett Granville Henderson. They both married girls in Guadalupe County. Bennett married Mary Ann Morrison, and Connally married Susan Rebecca Polley. In 1860 both brothers were living in LaVernia. Bennett Henderson had 4 slaves, and Connally Henderson had 4 slaves, aged 58, 22 (a mulatto), 27, and 32. The 22-year-old was Theodore. Both brothers were killed in the Civil War — Connally at the Battle of Gaines Mill, 27 June 1862, and Bennett in the Battle of Sharpsburg, 17 September 1862. 

In July 1865 Joseph H. Polley made an agreement with Theodore Henderson, a freedman of Guadalupe County, to employ him as a servant until 25 December 1865. 

I was unable to find out definitively what happened to Theodore  after that.

There was a Theodore Henderson, born in Tennessee, living in San Antonio in 1867. So perhaps Theodore moved to the east side of San Antonio. He owned some kind of shop, perhaps a blacksmith shop, and lived on Centre Street. The Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of San Antonio at the time located a blacksmith shop a couple of blocks from Centre Street. 

 

He married at least two times, possibly three — Hopi Richardson on 31 May 1876, and Ella Swisher on 7 April 1884. His marriages were difficult. Hopi died 3 April 1882, perhaps in childbirth. In 1883, he gave the care of his one-year-old baby to Mr. Jim Crow. Jim Crow, a neighbor who also lived on Center Street, was a hack driver in the city. His second wife attempted suicide three times in 1884 by taking an overdose of laudanum. This was reported in the San Antonio Light and the Galveston Daily News. The San Antonio Light article explains that, despite the difficult situation with his wife, "Theodore Henderson has the reputation of being one of the most respectable of our colored citizens and an attentive husband."

 

Theodore was arrested for being drunk during an altercation with his second wife, although the case was dismissed.

 

Later, after he remarried, he tried to legally reclaim his six-year-old child.

He appeared in the San Antonio tax records in 1874, 1888, 1889, 1893, and 1894.

Theodore Henderson, a 65-year-old black male, died in San Antonio, on June 17, 1904. 

His quilt square is “The Anvil,” because he was a blacksmith.

I welcome any information that you might have about Theodore Henderson. How did Hopi Henderson die? Did Theodore get his child back? Did Theodore's second wife succeed in killing herself? Was Theodore married a third time? What was the name of Theodore's child?