Alexander D. Henderson was born on February 16, 1895, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Alexander. D. Henderson Sr. and Ella Margaret Brown. He was the grandson of Joseph Henderson and brother to Girard B. Henderson. In 1909, the Henderson family moved to Suffern, New York. Henderson spent most of his early life in Suffern, in a large Georgian house on the hill facing the Nyack Turnpike in New York. In June 1914, when Henderson was 19, his father took the family on a two-month vacation-business trip to Europe. They saw fields of flowers and bought necessary oils from the French. The family also visited the oil factories that made the perfume for the California Perfume Company.
Marriage and children
On February 14, 1920, Henderson married Mary Barnes Billings Anthony at her parents' home in Ridgewood, New Jersey, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Dayton Anthony. The couple had two children:
Mary Ella Henderson, was married to Stuart Walter Hinrichs and had four children.
Alexander D. Henderson III, joined the U.S. Army in 1943 and was a businessman.
Mary and Henderson were divorced in Las Vegas in 1935. In 1936, he married Lucia Maria Ernst in New York City. On March 9, 1946, he and Lucy had a son, Allen Douglas Henderson who was born in New York City.
Military
From 1912 to 1915, Henderson attended the New York Military Academy, a boarding school at Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, just south of Newburgh. At the New York Military Academy, Henderson was listed as Lieutenant of Company B. In 1916, Henderson attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and belonged to the ZETA Chapter of the PSI Upsilon Fraternity. By midyear, he decided to leave Dartmouth and volunteer for the U. S. Army during World War I. On August 15, 1917, he was called into active service at the Student Officer Training Camp in the Ramapo, New York precinct. Because of his military experience while at the New York Military Academy, he became a 2nd Lieutenant in the Cavalry, stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He was also stationed at Company D, Hughes High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was promoted 1st Lieutenant on April 8, 1918. Henderson was discharged from the Army on January 28, 1919.
Professional life
California Perfume Company
Henderson started working for the California Perfume Company in 1919 in the shipping department. By 1925, Henderson had become vice president and a Director of CPC in charge of purchases. On October 6, 1939, The California Perfume Company changed its name to Allied Products and then, in 1939, to Avon Products Inc. On December 17, 1935, Henderson's mother created a holding company called the Alexander Dawson Inc., which was named after her husband, Alexander D. Henderson Sr. The certificate of incorporation of the company was filed with the Secretary of State of Trenton, New Jersey. Ella B. Henderson, Alexander D. Henderson, and Girard B. Henderson were the directors. ADI is still in existence today and is located in Las Vegas, Nevada. On April 12, 1940, it was reported that Henderson had resigned as vice-president of the Allied Products Company of Suffern, after 23 years of service. He would remain a director of the company. He was going to work with a boyhood friend, Sanford M.
Retirement
In 1946, Henderson and his family moved to Hillsboro Beach, Broward County, Florida. Henderson and his brother continued to serve on Avon's Board of Directors. From 1945 to 1960, A. D. Henderson was listed as Director in the company's Annual Reports.
Politics
Henderson became vice mayor of Hillsboro Beach, Florida in 1955. He became the Mayor of Hillsboro Beach in 1958 and held this position for six consecutive years. On June 1, 1965, after the death of Henderson, Police Chief Raymond McMullin presented a memorial to the former mayor's window, Lucy Henderson. She turned the plaque over to the town's present mayor. The memorial will be displayed in the Town Council Room.
Philanthropy
In 1953, Henderson created the Hillsboro Country Day School in Pompano Beach, Florida. Henderson was named building committee chairman for St. Andrew's School in 1961. Henderson contributed to the Saint Andrew's School, including the administration and the classroom building named, Henderson Hall.
Death
Henderson died on July 8, 1964, at the New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. His obituary ran in several newspapers across the county. The New York Times ran an obituary that said: "Alexander D. Henderson of Hillsboro Beach, Fla., a director and former vice president of Avon Products, inc., cosmetics company, died Wednesday in New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston. He was 69 years old." He was interned at the Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Central in Fort Lauderdale. His wife, Lucia Ernst Henderson is buried in the same crypt.
Post-Death
Alexander D. Henderson University
On December 1, 1968, the A.D. Henderson University School at the Florida Atlantic University College of Education was dedicated in his honor. The Alexander D. Henderson University School is a publicelementary and middle school and legislated school district operating as an educational laboratory on the FAU's Boca Raton campus.
