Born in Deppe, (an unincorporated community near
White Oak),
North Carolina, Henderson attended the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and
read law in 1905. He was in private practice in
New Bern, North Carolina from 1905 to 1918, and then in
Charlotte, North Carolina from 1918 to 1945. He was the
United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina from 1945 to 1948. ==Federal judicial service==