Laura Montgomery Henderson

Laura Montgomery Henderson (May 2, 1867 – December 28, 1940) was an American clubwoman and civic leader who served as First Lady of Alabama from 1915 to 1919. In addition to serving as State president of the Alabama Federation of Women’s Clubs, she was a leader in the civic, patriotic and religious life of the state. During World War I, she was one of the four-minute speakers. The Henderson Hall dormitory at Troy Normal School (now, Troy University), was named in her honor.

Early life and education Laura Parker Montgomery was born May 2, 1867, in Warrenton, North Carolina. the former a Confederate States soldier, planter and commission merchant, who removed to New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1871, where he died two years later. She was a granddaughter of William and Charlotte (Jordan) Montgomery, planter, and of Maj. Anthony and Mary (Adams) Dowtin, all of Warren County, North Carolina, the latter couple living at "White Oak Grove", the Dowtin ancestral home. She was a great-granddaughter of Seth and Martha (Ward) Jordan, of Bute County, North Carolina, and of John Dowtin, of Warren County, North Carolina, who served in the Revolutionary War, and was buried in that county with his forefathers who emigrated to North Carolina from Wales in an early period of U.S. history. She was a great-great-granddaughter of Benjamin Ward, a member of the Halifax congress, which met in Halifax County, North Carolina, November 12, 1776, to frame the State constitution, and was also a prominent member of the Provincial council of safety, proposing the measure, immediately adopted, whereby each head of a family became a member of the committee of safety, and was high sheriff of Bute County, from which both Warren and Granville counties were formed. The Montgomery family is of French origin, the name being spelled formerly Montgomerie, the American founder being William Montgomery, whose ancestors were French Huguenots who were expelled from their native country during a period of religious persecution, going first to England, and then to Scotland and to Ireland.

On November 7, 1888, in Raleigh, North Carolina, she married Charles Henderson.

Henderson Hall, a female dormitory at Troy Normal School, was named in her honor.