We have records on three individuals which gave us a head start in attempting to put together a history of this generation.

1. We've tied Hannah Henderson Cathers (whose will names her children, significantly Joseph Henderson and Hannah Ruggles) to our ancestor Joseph Henderson, who married Catharine McDonald. (Hannah Ruggles was the mother of Alice Ruggles Reed, who was in turn the mother of John D. Reed, who was given guardianship of Joseph and Catharine's three surviving children after Catharine died, and called himself "cousin" on the Census form in which we found two of those young men living with his family).

2. We know something of the history of Hannah's grandson, our ancestor Joseph Henderson who married Catharine Henderson. Middle names they gave to some or all of their children provide us some clues, although "Wright" (Joseph Wright) and "Ruggles" (Samuel Ruggles Henderson) are the only two we've solved so far. Joseph Wright Henderson was given his maternal grandfather's surname, and Samuel Ruggles was Alice Ruggles Reed's brother.

3. We know that Joseph's brother, James M. Henderson, was given guardianship of James and Samuel (James' guardianship was then given to John D. Reed), and we find Samuel living with James, designated as "uncle" and his wife Isabella in Philadelphia. On this same census form, James and Isabella both designated that they were born in West Virginia, a fact which jives with family legends that have this Joseph having lived in West Virginia for awhile.

From Hannah's marriage record, we know that she was widowed sometime before December 4, 1799, when she married John Cathers.

In her will, she mentions her children in this order: Hannah Ruggles, Joseph Henderson, Guy Henderson, and Elizabeth Stewart. The assumption might be that they are listed in the order of their birth, making Joseph the second oldest. From Guy's Death Record, we know that he was born in 1783.

A marriage record exists for Joseph Henderson to Mary Harrington in 1792 in the Second Presbyterian Church where Hannah Henderson, the mother was married to John Cathers in 1799, and where Hannah Henderson, the daughter, was married to Sherman Ruggles in 1796. What we don't know is whether this Joseph is Hannah's son Joseph. The name "Harrington" has not been found in any of the subsequent children's names, nor can any information be found on the Harrington family. If Joseph was born in 1777, as he indicates on his Census, he would most likely have been too young to have married in 1792.

Our Joseph was born between 1798 and 1800 (a family source gave us the date 1799, but I don't have a substantiating record for that). The 1850 and 1860 Censuses for him both indicate he was born about 1800 in Pennsylvania. His death certificate indicates he was born in about 1798.

His brother James was born in 1823. The Find-a-Grave folks have recorded the information on his tombstone, and that information includes a date of birth. He was buried in Monongalia County, West Virginia, and we've been able to follow his Census information from West Virginia, to Philadelphia, and then back to West Virginia, where he was living as a widower with his married daughter when he died. Documents for James can be found on his own page.

Based on the information we have, we know that this Joseph was in Pennsylvania when his son Joseph was born in 1799, and that he was in West Virginia when his son James was born in 1823.

Through census information, I've put together what I believe is the information about the family of this Joseph Henderson. That analysis appears at the end of this page. The large gap between the first, Joseph, and the next child could indicate either 1) the death of a first wife and a gap in child bearing until the marriage to a second wife, OR 2) children who were born during this gap, but had left home before they could be captured on their parents' Census form and whom we've found no other records for.

DOCUMENTS FOR WHAT WE KNOW

We know the marriage records for the Hannah Henderson married to John Cathers and the one for her daughter married to Sherman Ruggles are for the Hannah Hendersons in our family tree.

 

The abstract of the will for Hannah indicates that she had four children still alive when she wrote her will. She died in 1824 and was buried the 7th Presbyterian Church Cemetery.

The death record for Hannah Cathers drawn from the Church Cemetery records.

 

Documents for Joseph Henderson (husband of Catharine McDonald).

Documents for James M. Henderson (brother of Joseph above).

SOLVING THE PUZZLE:

Using the information we know, we began researching Hendersons in both Philadelphia and Monongalia County, Virginia (now West Virginia) to arrive at the family we believe is that of both Joseph and James M. Henderson, whose mother was Hannah Henderson Cathers. The information below has not been authenticated except as shown.

1790 Census

What we would expect: A household with two adults (Hannah and her husband), and four children -- Hannah who might have been over 16, Joseph, Guy, and Elizabeth. The Joseph who lived in Monongalia County, West Virginia in 1860 was born about 1777 (probably too young to have married Mary Harrington in 1792). In pulling up all censuses for Hendersons living in Philadelphia at the 1790 census, there were three, two Johns and a Matt (who was a "gentleman").

What works about Matt as a possible husband to Hannah is that he is a "gentleman". He also has the correct number of females.

What makes him unlikely is:

1. He only has one male under 16. We know he had to have had two if the later census ages are correct: Joseph, b. 1777 would have been 13 and Guy, .b. 1783, would have been 7.

2. The name "Matthew" does not seem to appear in the family unless James M. Henderson, Joseph's last son is a James Matthew.

3. He lives the furthest from the Cherry Street neighborhood where Hannah and her children found their homes in later decades.

The John Henderson of Northern Liberties has the correct number of females, and has at least enough males under 16 to be our Henderson family. The John Henderson in the Water Street East Side district has exactly the number of persons. The census page for the Northern Liberties John does not offer an occupation. The Water Street John Henderson was listed as a "Carpr" (Carpenter), and someone has corrected the name to "Hendrich". Neither of these "John's" lives in one of the neighborhoods where the family settled. It's also possible that Hannah Henderson was widowed before she left Ireland.

1800 Census

What we would expect: Hannah the senior married John Cathers in 1799. Her daughter married Sherman Ruggles in 1796. We would expect a Census for the John Cathers household and the Sherman Ruggles household. Her son Joseph would have been 22 or 23 in 1900, and would have had his son Joseph, born in 1799. Sherman and Hannah Ruggles were located in Bristol with one child at this Census. None could be found for John Cathers.

The location of this Joseph Henderson makes him seem very likely, but the child in the household is a female under 16. And there are two adults, but the female is over 45.

Unless something is wrong with the Census ages and the gender, this Joseph Henderson is not ours.

There were no other Joseph Hendersons in Philadelphia in 1800.

 

1810 Census

What we would expect: A Cathers household with two adults over 44 (John and Hannah) and 1 or 2 of her children (Guy and Elizabeth) and perhaps Joseph and his wife plus their children.

It appears from the Census that John and Hannah Cathers had only one of Hannah's children remaining with them. We know that daughter Hannah was with her husband Sherman Ruggles. Guy's first child was born in about 1813, so it's probable that he was either single and living somewhere on his own, or just married. But where is Joseph and his family? We can't locate a census for them. The possibility is that they were with his wife's family. Unfortunately, we don't know who she was.

1820 Census

What we would expect: Sherman and Hannah Ruggles with a family of three children (Alice, Hannah, and Samuel G.); Guy with an expanding family; Elizabeth married to a Stewart, and Joseph in either Philadelphia or Monongalia County with his family.

An 1820 Census could not be found for Sherman/Hannah Ruggles. We're not certain of the first name of the Stewart that Elizabeth married. (It appears it may have been "William"). We find two Censuses for the family in 1820 of interest.

The first is for Joseph Henderson, alone in Monongalia County, Virginia. It appears he may have left his family with his mother and step-father in 1820 while he went to set up the farm in Virginia.

John and Hannah Cathers' 1820 Census shows 16 people living in the house. We've fitted in who we know from the Sherman Ruggles family (four children), who are all asterisked. And we've fitted in who we know of Joseph's family (far right column).

Martha Henderson is a woman's name who was found on Ancestry with a birth record that indicates that she was born 1802 to 1806, and that her parents were Joseph and Hannah Henderson. This death record lists her birthplace as West Virginia; however, Census records for her indicate she was born in Pennsylvania, which would be consistent with her having been a daughter of Joseph. If that's the case, then Joseph's wife's name is also Hannah.

That still leaves some older people and some young ones unaccounted for. Additionally, Joseph had two sons who would have fit the first category of boys under 16, but the Census shows only 1. With this many people being counted, it's not difficult to imagine errors being made. It's also possible that Allen relatives were living with the Cathers at the time.

1830 Census

What we would expect: John and Hannah's household returned to two. Hannah was living with her two youngest children. Her husband does not appear on the Census. Her older two children had households of their own in Philadelphia. Joseph's oldest son Joseph had a household in Philadelphia with his first wife Zillah. There are children there of whom we know nothing. Guy had his own household, and we assume, Elizabeth Stewart is with her husband somewhere in Philadelphia.

1850 Census

No Census for 1840 could be found. In 1850, we find the first census which listed the names of each person in the household. The information filled in above was obtained with the 1850 censuses.

At the 1850 Census, Joseph was living with four of his children. His wife, whose name we've not yet learned, had apparently died by this time.

The Census could be found on Ancestry under "Ann", but not by "Joseph". The detail of the Census lines appears below.

1880 Census

The 1880 Census is the first we knew of the POSSIBLE existence of Joseph's daughter Elizabeth. This Elizabeth, identified as "Elizabeth S. Hawthorn" rather than Elizabeth H. Hawthorn had a brother Samuel Henderson living with her family. However, her marriage record indicates she was married in 1855, AFTER the 1850 census which shows everyone living in the Joseph Henderson household.

If she is Joseph's daughter, either she was erroneously left off of the 1850 census or she was living elsewhere at the time.