Richard Henderson (1815 – June 11, 1878) was an anti-secessionist attorney who served as the first post-

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

mayor of

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

Biography

Henderson was born in

Warren County, Tennessee Warren County is a County (United States), county located on the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of the United States of America, U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census ...

in 1815. After pursuing a legal career, he moved to Chattanooga in 1840 where he founded his own law office. He was against the secession of the South prior to the

and during the Union Army's occupation of Chattanooga, he worked with its commanders to administer the city. After the war, the city was returned to civilian control and an election authorized for October 7, 1865 although no citizens who supported secession or aided the Confederate government were allowed to vote or run for office. Henderson was elected mayor and spent the remainder of his term re-drafting all city ordinances to conform to a new post-

Slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

world. He served until December 28, 1865, when Charles Lewis was elected, the first full-term mayor of the city after the Civil War. He died on June 11, 1878.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Richard Mayors of Chattanooga, Tennessee 1815 births 1878 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Tennessee