Charlie Henderson's Life Was Well Lived, His Advise For A Long Life - Don't Worry

Charles Washington Henderson, born November 7, 1873, was the eighth of George and Millie Henderson’s eleven children.  The Henderson family had moved from Macon County into the old Tom Cantrell cabin in the Tiptop (later renamed Quebec) area of Transylvania County in 1872.

George Henderson was instrumental in establishing Oak Grove Baptist Church.  He was actively involved in the church his entire life and ensured that his children were as well.  According to son, Charlie, “Father and Mother never sent their children to Church and Sunday School. They always took them. That gives us an example we never forget.”

The old Quebec School.

The children attended school in the old Quebec log schoolhouse when it held short sessions but had limited opportunities for education outside of the home.  As they got older, the boys went to a private academy in Jackson County, later attending high school and taking courses at the State Normal School for teachers in Cullowhee.  Four of the boys would teach school at some point in their lives and two went on to careers as preachers.

As a young man, Charlie Henderson worked in a grist mill and a saw mill, he drove an oxen team to market, worked on a railroad construction crew and taught school for four years.  He was paid $77.76 to teach a three-month session at Montvale’s one-room school in 1898.  There were 72 children registered from the A.B.C. class through 8^th grade.

Charlie Henderson, a carpenter, built this large
Craftsman-influenced house around 1930
after the family's home burned.

Charlie married Janie Cash on December 24, 1905. They had a 137-acre farm near Quebec where they kept chickens, milk cows and hogs, as well as a large garden and an apple orchard.  They also raised eight children, plus three grandchildren after the death of oldest daughter, Berdell.  Henderson spent most of his career working as a carpenter though.  He is reported to have cut the first board for the Toxaway Inn.

Charlie or Uncle Charlie, as he was fondly called in later years, was a natural storyteller and had a sharp memory.  In 1975 the Transylvania Times ran a series of his reminiscences in the newspaper.  These stories provided a history of the Henderson family and a vivid picture of growing up in the mountains in the late 1800s.  

He tells of the sheep the family raised, adventures with brother, T.C., to earn money and much more.  His mother sheared the sheep, then cleaned, carded and spun the wool into thread, which she used to weave cloth.  She sewed all the family’s clothes by hand.  His father made their shoes. 

As young men, Charlie and T.C. decided to walk over the mountains to Asheville for jobs.  They spend some time working as carpenters, shingling the roof on the Skyland Hotel.  After a quick walk home to check in with family, they walked back to Asheville, then caught a train to White Pine, Tennessee where they spent a season harvesting wheat.

Henderson’s advice for a long life was not to worry.  He said, “A body should never sit down and brood and worry about his mistakes.  He should forget them and look ahead and plan ahead.”  Charles Washington “Uncle Charlie” Henderson died October 12, 1976 just shy of his 103^rd birthday.  He is buried at Oak Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Quebec.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. For more information contact Marcy at 828-884-1820 or marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org.