Peronneau Finley Henderson (1877-1968)

Portrait from the Aiken Journal and Review, February 23, 1927.

  During a long life that extended ninety years, Peronneau Finley Henderson attained distinction in multiple fields in his native South Carolina, being an attorney, club-man, civic leader, Presbyterian Synod moderator, power company executive, hardware company director, and president of the South Carolina Bar Association. On the political front Henderson was long an active Democrat in his state, and in addition to being a delegate to the 1924 Democratic National Convention would serve at various times as an acting circuit court judge and justice of the state supreme court. 

  The son of Daniel Sullivan (1849-1921) and Lillie (Ripley) Henderson (1856-1921), Peronneau Finley "P. Finley" Henderson was born in Aiken, South Carolina on November 29, 1877. A prominent attorney and political leader in his own right, David S. Henderson served multiple terms in the South Carolina state senate (1880-83 and 1897-1902) and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 1884. During his legislative tenure, Henderson gained further prominence when he authored the bill to prevent dueling in South Carolina and introduced a "dueling oath" into the state constitution when he was a delegate to the 1895 constitutional convention.

  A student at the Aiken Institute, P. Finley Henderson would enroll at Davidson College, graduating in the class of 1897. He began reading law under the tutelage of his father and uncle in their law office, the Henderson Brothers. He continued studies at Harvard University during the summer session, 1897-98. After his admittance to the South Carolina bar in 1899 Henderson began practice in Aiken with his father and uncle, the firm undergoing a name change to the Hendersons. He married in Aiken in 1904 to Grace Powell (1879-1943), to who he was wed for nearly forty years. This union produced two daughters, Eleanor and Adelaide (1906-1988).

  Through the succeeding years, Henderson's firm grew to be one of the most prominent law firms in Aiken County, being retained as legal counsel for the following businesses: The Southern Bell Telephone Company, the Southern Railway Co., the Real Estate and Fidelity Co. of Aiken, the Bank of Western Carolina, the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Aiken, the Warren Manufacturing Co., the Graniteville Manufacturing Co., the Aiken Mills, and the Carolina Light and Power Co. 

  With his name firmly established in Aiken County legal circles, Henderson took an active role in the civic life of his community, and during the First World War took charge of the local Liberty Loan Drive to aid in the ongoing war effort. Additionally, Henderson would hold directorships of the Real Estate and Fidelity Company of Aiken, the Carolina Light and Power Company, the Highland Park Hotel Co., and the Powells Hardware Co. During the 1920s Henderson was secretary and treasurer of the Aiken Hospital Association and was a past president of the Aiken Chamber of Commerce.

  Active in Democratic political circles in Aiken County, Henderson served as part of the South Carolina delegation to the Democratic National Convention of 1924, where John W. Davis was nominated for the presidency. Two years later Henderson entered into a one year term as President of the South Carolina Bar Association and garnered additional repute with his service as an acting associate justice of the state supreme court and special judge of the court of common pleas.

From the Aiken Standard and Review, April 8, 1968.

  A leading club-man in his region, Henderson served as Grand Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias of South Carolina from 1921-22 and held additional memberships in the Masonic order, the Kiwanis Club, and the Highland Park Golf Club. Active in the Presbyterian church, Henderson was a moderator of both the Congaree Presbytery and Presbyterian Synod of South Carolina and was a member of the Permanent Committee of the Southern Presbyterian General Assembly on Company Operation and Union.

  Widowed in 1943, Henderson remarried in April 1945 to June Nicholson Rainsford (1895-1993), the daughter of Thomas Hobbs Rainsford (1861-1932), a multiterm South Carolina state representative and former chair of the Edgefield County Democratic Party. Late in his life Henderson added the title of author to his resume when he completed work on "A Short History of Aiken and Aiken County", which saw publication in 1951.

  Peronneau Finley Henderson celebrated his 90th birthday in November 1967 and died several months later on April 7, 1968. He was survived by his daughters and second wife June and was interred at the Bethany Cemetery in Aiken.