John Brooks Henderson Jr. (February 18, 1870 – January 4, 1923) was an American diplomat, educator, and malacologist.

Early life

Henderson was born in Pike County, Missouri on February 18, 1870. He was the son of United States Senator

John Brooks Henderson John Brooks Henderson (November 16, 1826April 12, 1913) was a United States senator from Missouri and a co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. For his role in the investigation of the Whiskey Ring, he was cons ...

(1826–1913) and social activist

Mary Foote Henderson Mary Foote Henderson (July 21, 1842 – July 16, 1931) was an American author, real estate developer, and social activist from the U.S. state of New York who was known as "The Empress of Sixteenth Street". Henderson was a notable supporter of wom ...

(1841–1931), who was known as "The Empress of Sixteenth Street." His father was known as the Senator who introduced the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution that abolished

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and one of seven Republicans who voted against the impeachment of President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

in May 1868. His maternal grandparents were Eunice (née Newton) Foote, a scientist and women's rights campaigner, and

Elisha Foote Elisha Foote (August 1, 1809 – October 22, 1883) was an American judge, inventor, and mathematician. He served as the eleventh United States Commissioner of Patents from 1868 to 1869 and was responsible for launching an investigation into pre ...

, a prominent lawyer and judge. His grandfather Elisha was the brother of prominent politician

Samuel Foote Samuel Foote (January 1720 – 21 October 1777) was a British dramatist, actor and theatre manager. He was known for his comedic acting and writing, and for turning the loss of a leg in a riding accident in 1766 to comedic opportunity. Early l ...

, who served as a member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

, and

Governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Connecticu ...

in the early 1800s. Henderson graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1891 and received his degree in law from Columbian University (now

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

) in 1893.

Career

From 1896 to 1897, he was Private Secretary to the

John W. Foster John Watson Foster (March 2, 1836 – November 15, 1917) was an American diplomat and military officer, as well as a lawyer and journalist. His highest public office was U.S. Secretary of State under Benjamin Harrison, although he also proved inf ...

while Foster was diplomatic advisor to the Chinese government. In 1897, he traveled with General

Nelson A. Miles Nelson Appleton Miles (August 8, 1839 – May 15, 1925) was an American military general who served in the American Civil War, the American Indian Wars, and the Spanish–American War. From 1895 to 1903, Miles served as the last Commanding Gen ...

to Europe and toured the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

as an unofficial observer. In 1911, Henderson was appointed a citizen member of the Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents, serving until his death in 1923. He collected shells as a youth, later focusing on the marine shell life of the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. He was involved with multiple expeditions to the Caribbean and he later donated his collection to the

United States National Museum The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. He wrote several articles for the '' Proceedings of the United States National Museum'' and ''

Bulletin of the United States National Museum The Smithsonian Contributions and Studies Series is a collection of serial periodical publications produced by the Smithsonian Institution, detailing advances in various scientific and societal fields to which the Smithsonian Institution has made c ...

''. In 1901, he was the author of ''American Diplomatic Questions'', and ''The Cruise of the Tomas Barrera'', in 1916, based on his expedition to Cuba in 1914.

Personal life

In 1903, he married Angelica Schuyler Crosby (1872–1907) of New York in Jefferson County, West Virginia. She was the daughter of Harriet (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Van Rensselaer) Crosby and

John Schuyler Crosby John Schuyler Crosby (September 19, 1839 – August 8, 1914) (usually referred to as J. Schuyler Crosby) was an American military officer and government official. He was most notable for his service in the Union Army during the American Civ ...

, the 5th Governor of the Montana Territory, and the paternal granddaughter of

Clarkson F. Crosby Clarkson Floyd Crosby (November 3, 1817 – February 22, 1858) was an American politician from New York. Early life Crosby was born on November 3, 1817. He was one of twelve children born to William Bedlow Crosby (1786–1865) and Harriet Asht ...

and Angelica (née Schuyler) Crosby (a relative of U.S. Senator and noted Revolutionary War General Philip Schuyler), and the great-great-granddaughter of William Floyd, a signer of the

United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ...

. Through her mother, she was the granddaughter of General

Stephen Van Rensselaer IV Stephen Van Rensselaer (March 29, 1789 – May 28, 1868), known as the "Young Patroon" and sometimes the "last of the patroons" was the last patroon of Rensselaerswyck. Early life Van Rensselaer was born on March 29, 1789 in Albany, New York. H ...

, who was the last patroon of Rensselaerwyck and the son of

Stephen Van Rensselaer III Stephen Van Rensselaer III (; November 1, 1764January 26, 1839) was an American landowner, businessman, militia officer, and politician. A graduate of Harvard College, at age 21, Van Rensselaer took control of Rensselaerswyck, his family's mano ...

. Together, they were the adoptive parents of Beatrice Van Rensselaer Henderson (1906–1992), who was married to Joseph Wholean (1894–1971) in 1926. Henderson died in Washington, D.C. on January 4, 1923.

Legacy

Henderson is commemorated in the

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

of a species of lizard, ''

Anolis hendersoni ''Anolis hendersoni'', also known commonly as Henderson's anole and the La Selle long-snouted anole, is a species of lizard in the family Dactyloidae. The species is native to the island of Hispaniola. There are two recognized subspecies. Etymo ...

'',Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . "Henderson, J.B.", p. 121). which is native to the West Indies. Schwartz A, Thomas R (1975). ''A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles''. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. (''Anolis hendersoni'', p. 85).

Publications

American Diplomatic Questions
1901, McMillan Company. New York.
Cruise of the Tomas Barrera
1916, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York.

References

External links

Smithsonian Institution Archives Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, John Brooks Jr. 19th-century American diplomats 1870 births 1923 deaths George Washington University Law School alumni Harvard University alumni John Brooks Henderson Jr. Smithsonian Institution people John Brooks Henderson Jr. Foote family