Early Life
Henderson was born in Hanover County, Virginia. In 1762, he moved to Granville County, North Carolina, studied law, was admitted to the bar, practiced law, and in 1769 was appointed judge of the Superior Court. He was the presiding judge who condemned captured tax resistors to death during the War of the Regulation. Viewed as a member of the gentry, he had been a target of Regulator violence. He was a member of a Church of England parish in Williamsboro during this time.
After the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the organization of the state government in North Carolina, he was re-elected judge, but was prevented from accepting that position by his participation in a scheme organized under the name of the Transylvania Land Company.
Read more about this topic: Richard Henderson (jurist)
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