William Hendricks was the descendant of one of Pennsylvania's largest Buckskin Pioneer families. The Patriarch of this extended family was Albertus (a.k.a.: Albert) Hendrickson, an indentured servant to Joost de la Grange. He immigrated with de la Grange on February 5, 1662 and married de la Grange's maid, Aeltje. Their first son Jacobus Hendrickson (changed to James Hendricks c1700) was born while Albert was still under his term of indenture.

       Hendricks, William (1782-1850) of Madison, Ind. Brother of Thomas Hendricks and John Hendricks; uncle of Abram Hendricks, Thomas Andrews Hendricks and Abram W. Hendricks; father of William Hendricks, Jr.. Born in Ligonier Valley, Pa., November 12, 1782. Member of Indiana territorial House of Representatives, 1813-1814; U.S. Representative from Indiana at-large, 1816-1822; Governor of Indiana, 1822-1825; U.S. Senator from Indiana, 1825-1837. Died in Madison, Ind., May 16, 1850. Interment at Fairmount Cemetery, Madison, Ind. Hendricks County, Indiana is named for him. (See also his congressional biography.)

       Congressional Biography

HENDRICKS, William, 1782-1850

Years of Service: 1825-1829; 1829-1837

Party: Adams; Anti-Jackson

HENDRICKS, William, (uncle of Thomas Andrews Hendricks), a Representative and a Senator from Indiana; born in Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland County, Pa., November 12, 1782; attended the common schools and graduated from Jefferson College (later Washington and Jefferson College), Washington, Pa., in 1810; taught school 1810-1812; studied law in Cincinnati, Ohio; was admitted to the bar and practiced; moved to Madison, Indiana Territory, in 1813; became a printer and owner of the second printing press set up in the Territory; proprietor of the Western Eagle; elected to the territorial legislature in 1813 and 1814, and was chosen speaker of the Assembly in 1814; territorial printer; secretary of the first State constitutional convention in 1816; upon the admission of Indiana as a State into the Union was elected to the Fourteenth Congress; reelected to the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Congresses and served from December 11, 1816, until his resignation July 25, 1822, to become Governor; Governor of Indiana 1822-1825, when he resigned to become a Senator; elected to the United States Senate in 1824; reelected in 1830 and served from March 4, 1825, to March 3, 1837; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1836; chairman, Committee on Roads and Canals (Twenty-first through Twenty-fourth Congresses); resumed the practice of law in Madison, Ind.; trustee of Indiana University at Bloomington 1829-1840; died in Madison, Ind., May 16, 1850; interment in Fairmount Cemetery. Bibliography DAB; Hill, Frederick. William Hendricks Political Circulars to His Constituents: First Senatorial Term, 1826-1831. Indiana Magazine of History 71 (June 1975): 124-80; Hill, Frederick. William Hendricks Political Circulars to His Constituents: Second Senatorial Term, 1831-1837.

Information Credit: Indiana Magazine of History 71 (December 1975): 319-74.