Descendants of American Revolutionary War Patriots On Display at Louisville International Airport

National Society Sons of the
American Revolution
Exhibit at the
Louisville International Airport

         

           A couple weeks ago I got a phone call from an Archivist at the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, headquartered in Louisville Kentucky asking me if I would be interested in participating in an exhibit which will be on display in the Louisville, International Airport, October 1 thru December 31, 2010. 

        Honored by such a request, I did decide to participate.  I later found out, it was the first time that my local Button Gwinnett SAR chapter here in Georgia had such an honor bestored on one of its members. According to the Archivist, "This will be a chance to show thousands of travelers how rewarding genealogy can be, as well as promote the National Society Sons of the American Revolution."

     As you can see in the above, my picture was placed in the upper left hand corner of the display with a brief caption about my research and connection to my patriot ancestor. 

Michael Nolden Henderson
Lieutenant Commander, USN Retired

       I realize the caption under the picture is a bit hard to read so here is what it says:

Lieutenant Commander Michael  Nolden Henderson,  Metro Atlanta, Ga.

On June 29th, Henderson, a retired U.S. Naval Officer, was inducted into the Button Gwinnett Chapter, Georgia Society of the SAR -- the first African American in Georgia to do so. Research led to his Louisiana Creole ancestry and to Mathieu Devaux dit Platilla, a French national from Marseilles, France. Devaux served as a militiaman under Spanish Governor General Bernardo Galvez. Henderson compiled birth, marriage, and death records for seven generations, as well as documents such as the December 16, 1779 manumission (freedom papers) of his fourth generation great-grandmother, and the 1810 will of his Revolutionary War patriot ancestor. The story of Henderson’s fourth generation great-grandparents and their connection to General Galvez and the American Revolution is the subject of a segment on PBS the series “History Detectives” titled “Galvez Papers,” which can be viewed online  (double click here) at pbs.org.