Mary Foote Henderson
| Mary Foote Henderson | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Mary Foote Henderson from the Washington Times of December 23, 1904
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| Born |
Mary Foote July 21, 1842 Seneca Falls, New York, |
| Died | July 16, 1931 (aged 88) Bar Harbor, Maine |
| Education |
Temple Grove Ladies Seminary Ashgrove Seminary |
| Spouse(s) | John B. Henderson (m. 1868; his death 1913) |
| Children | John Henderson Jr. |
| Parent(s) |
Eunice Newton Elisha Foote |
| Relatives | Samuel Foote (uncle) |
Mary Foote Henderson (July 21, 1841 - July 16, 1931) was an American author, real estate developer, and social activist from the U.S. state of New York who was known as "The Empress of Sixteenth Street".
She was born in Seneca Falls, New York, the daughter of Eunice Newton, a scientist and women's rights campaigner, and Elisha Foote, a prominent lawyer and judge, and the niece of Senator Samuel Foote of Connecticut.
Henderson was educated at Temple Grove Ladies Seminary (now Skidmore College), Saratoga Springs and at Ashgrove Seminary, in Albany, finishing at a French school in New York City. She was fluent in French and had a lifelong interest in painting and art collecting.
In June 1868, she married John B. Henderson, Senator from Missouri (1862–1869) who introduced the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution that abolished slavery and one of seven Republicans who voted against the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson in May 1868. That unpopular decision ended his career as senator, and he and his new wife moved back to Missouri, living first in the town of Louisiana and then in St. Louis.
Mary Henderson pursued many interests in St. Louis. Like her mother before her, she believed in woman's suffrage, and became president of the Missouri State Suffrage Association. She studied art at Washington University, and co-founded the St. Louis School of Design as well as the St. Louis Women's Exchange with Rebecca Naylor Hazard. Known as an excellent hostess, she wrote a guide to fine entertaining, Practical Cooking and Dinner Giving, in 1877. In 1885, Henderson published a second cookbook, Diet for the Sick, A Treatise on the Values of Foods.
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