Hon. Archibald Henderson was born in Granville county, N.C., on the 7th of August, 1768; studied law with Judge Williams, his relative, and was pronounced by the late Judge Murphy, who knew him long and well, to be “the most perfect model of a lawyer that our bar has produced.” … No man could look upon him without pronouncing him one of the great men of the age. The impress of greatness was upon his countenance; not that greatness which is the offspring of any single talent or moral quality, but a greatness which is made up by blending the faculties of a fine intellect with exalted moral feelings. Although he was at all times accessible and entirely free from austerity, he seemed to live and move in an atmosphere of dignity. He exacted nothing by his manner, yet all approached him with reverence and left him with respect. His was the region of high sentiment; and here he occupied a standing that was pre-eminent in North Carolina. He contributed more than any man, since the time of General Davie and Alfred Moore, to give character to the bar of the State. His career at the bar has become identified with the history of North Carolina: and his life and his example furnish themes for instruction to gentlemen of the bench and to his brethren of the bar. May they study his life and profit by his example!
He represented his district in Congress from 1799 to 1803, and the town of Salisbury frequently in the State Legislature. He married Sarah, daughter of William Alexander, and sister of William Alexander and Nathaniel Alexander, afterward Governor of the State. He left two children, the late Archibald Henderson, Esq., of Salisbury, and Mrs. Boyden, wife of the late Hon. Nathaniel Boyden.
He died on the 21st of October, 1822, in the fifty-fourth year of his age.