Shortly after becoming a lawyer, Henderson served in the North Carolina militia, rising to the rank of colonel. In 1835, Colonel Henderson moved to Canton, Mississippi where he opened a law practice. His attention soon turned to the Texas struggle against Mexico. Henderson began making speeches to raise money and an army to go to the aid of the Texas cause. Henderson and several volunteers traveled to Texas hoping to participate in the fight for independence. By the time the group arrived in June 1836, many of the major events had already taken place. The Texas Declaration of Independence had already been signed on March 2, and David G. Burnet was elected interim President of the new Republic of Texas on March 10. The Alamo had fallen on March 6, and Sam Houston had been victorious on April 21 at the Battle of San Jacinto. On May 14, 1836, Antonio López de Santa Anna has signed the Treaties of Velasco agreeing to withdraw his troops from Texas. Interim President Burnet commissioned Henderson as a Brigadier general in the Texas Army, with orders to return to North Carolina to raise troops to serve in Texas. This Henderson did at his own expense.
Government service in the Republic
Sam Houston became President of the Republic of Texas on September 5, 1836, and appointed Henderson as the Republic's attorney general. In December of that same year, Henderson was named by Houston to replace the recently deceased Stephen F. Austin as Secretary of State for the Republic. In early 1837, Houston decreed Henderson as minister from the Republic of Texas to France at the Tuileries Palace, and to England at the Court of St. James's. During his tenure as minister, he was successful in securing the recognition of the independence of the Republic of Texas, and negotiated trade agreements with both countries.
In 1840, Henderson returned to Texas and set up a private law practice in San Augustine. He was sent to Washington, D.C. in 1844 to work in coordination with Isaac Van Zandt to secure the annexation of Texas to the United States. Although the annexation treaty was signed, it was rejected by the United States Senate, and Henderson was recalled to Texas. An annexation treaty approved the United States Senate was finally passed on December 29, 1845. In preparation for anticipated statehood, the Texas gubernatorial election, 1845 elected Henderson as its first governor. He took office on February 19, 1846. When the Mexican–American War broke out in April of that year, Henderson took a leave of absence as governor to command a Texas volunteer cavalry division. He served with the rank of major general under Zachary Taylor. He returned home to resume his duties as governor, but did not run for a second term. He later served in the United States Senate from November 9, 1857 until his death on June 4, 1858.
Henderson met his future wife Frances Cox when he represented the Republic of Texas as a minister to France and England. Cox was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and educated in Europe. She was a multi-linguist literary translator. On October 30, 1839, they were wed at St George's, Hanover Square. In 1840, the new couple established a residence and law office in San Augustine, Texas. The couple had five children, of which daughters Martha, Fanny and Julia lived to adulthood. Henderson died in Washington, D.C. in 1858 while he was serving as senator for the State of Texas. He is buried at the Texas State Cemetery. After his death during the Civil War years, his widow and daughters moved to Europe. Martha died at age eighteen. Fanny married into the Austrian aristocracy. Julia married an American sugar-plantation owner. Frances Cox Henderson died in 1897 and is buried at Rosedale Cemetery in New Jersey, where she had been living with daughter Julia and son-in-law Edward White Adams.
Legacy
, which was established in 1846, and the city of Henderson, founded in 1843 in Rusk County, are named in his honor. James Pinckney Henderson Elementary School, in Houston, is named for him.
