Leonard Henderson was an American jurist, judge and educator. Henderson was also a trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Background
Leonard Henderson was born on October 6, 1772, in Nutbush Creek, North Carolina, United States. He was a brother of Archibald Henderson, and he was the third son of Richard and Elizabeth (Keeling) Henderson. His father died when Leonard was twelve years old and his mother five years later.
Education
Leonard was educated, like his father, by private tutors, reading Greek and Latin with a Presbyterian minister of the community. Inevitably inclined to the profession in which so many of his relatives were engaged and in which his father had attained eminence, he studied law in the office of his kinsman, Judge John Williams, at Hillsboro.
Career
Leonard Henderson was admitted to the bar in 1794. It was not until 1800, however, that he began the practice of law, the intervening years being spent as clerk of the district court at Hillsboro. His native ability, powerfully reinforced by his family connections, soon brought him into prominence, with the result that in 1808 he was elected a judge of the superior court of North Carolina, a position held by his father in pre-Revolutionary days. This position he held until 1816, when he resigned. Subsequently the judicial system of North Carolina was revised involving the erection of a supreme court of three members. To the bench of this court Henderson was elected in 1818 and eleven years later, upon the death of John Louis Taylor, he was appointed to succeed him as chief justice. In this, the highest judicial position in the state, he continued until his death.
It was probably in the role of teacher that Henderson exerted the greatest influence on the history of his state. For thirty years he conducted a law school in connection with his law office and the most eminent of the North Carolina lawyers of the next generation received their legal training from him. As a judge he was esteemed by his contemporaries more for his acumen and sound judgment than for his knowledge of respect for precedents. His impatience with precedents, however, was probably due rather to his self-confidence than to defective legal training.
Achievements
Religion
In religious matters Henderson was a free-thinker and seems to have made no profession of religion until at a very advanced age.
Personality
Henderson was a large man over six feet tall weighing 212 pounds, dark hair, grey eyes.