Friday's Faces from the Past - My Paternal Great-Grandfather, James (Jim) Rutledge Henderson, Jr. (1897-1959)

James "Jim" Rutledge Henderson, Jr. - 1897-1959

Last month, I inherited the photo above of my paternal great-grandfather, James "Jim" Rutledge Henderson, Jr., from my father.  Previously, I wrote about his first wife and my great-grandmother, Soulé "Sue" Olive Lee Henderson, in a another post. Also, I blogged about his grandfather, James Simmons Henderson, and his great-grandfather, Rev. Newton Pinckney Walker, Esq. (founder of the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind), in previous post.

James Henderson was born on 19 April 1896 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, to James Rutledge Henderson, Sr. (1864-1928) and Margaret Ida Spain Briggs Henderson (1863-1938).  His family also consisted of three older siblings - Louis Walker, Russell Spain, and Margaret Octavia - as well as two younger siblings - Thomas Briggs and Ida Louise. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, the Henderson family relocated from Spartanburg, South Carolina, to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he spent at least half of his childhood.

On 03 August 1920, Soulé and he married, and they went on to have two children - Elizabeth Lee Henderson Wood (1921-2005), my paternal grandmother, and James "Jimmy" Rutledge Henderson III (1925-1994). Additionally, Jim began his professional career circa 1924 as a Draftsman at Charlotte's Parks-Cramer Company. During his approximate 35 years with that company, he progressed up the ranks to become Chief Draftsman, Assistant Chief Engineer, Engineer, Assistant Vice President, and Sales Manager.

My great-grandmother passed away 01 November 1940 in Norfolk, Virginia.  On 22 March 1945, Jim married Emily Louise Heinlein Smalley (1903-1985), originally of Massachusetts, in Charlotte. Though I did not get to meet my great-grandfather or great-grandmother, I knew my step-great-grandmother, "Mom-Mom," very well and adored her.

On 07 August 1959, James Rutledge Henderson, Jr. died of metastatic carcinoma due to adenocarcinoma sigmoid colon at Mercy Hospital in Charlotte. His family laid him to rest on 10 August 1959 in Charlotte's Elmwood Cemetery.

(This post is part of +Genea Bloggers's Friday's Faces from the Past.)


©Amy Wood Kelly, 2015 - I am happy to share my genealogical research and writing with others, as well as to help others with their research efforts.  However, please do not reprint this post in full or in part or use excerpts from this post without giving full credit to me, Amy Wood Kelly, as the researcher and author as well as providing the permalink to this post.  Thank you, in advance, for showing respect for my request and the work I put into creating this post.