Eliza Henderson

Eliza was enslaved in Washington, D.C. After she was sexually assaulted, she attempted to escape but was caught. As punishment she was sold from the rest of her family and sent to Mississippi. There she married a Portuguese man, Shadrack Rodriguez and had a son, William Henderson. Her husband joined the Confederate Army and never returned.

After the Battle of Vicksburg, Eliza escaped bondage, taking her infant son with her. She hid him inside a trunk for safekeeping and walked back to Washington, D.C., following the Union soldiers.

After Emancipation, Eliza purchased land from her cousin, Fred Foote, Jr. The property was located on the corner of what is now Broad and Washington Streets and extended to the stone wall next to the Falls Church Episcopal cemetery. She lived the rest of her life in Falls Church, building a large Victorian home and a grocery store, which she ran for many years.

Eliza was the mother-in-law of Louisa Henderson and grandmother of Edwin B. Henderson.