After the Civil War, William A. Henderson practiced law in Knoxville and served as a judge prior to joining the Southern Railway in 1894 as assistant counsel. Living in Washington, D.C., and in Knoxville, he worked for the 1896-97 Tennessee Centennial Exposition Company and served as Vice President of the Tennessee Historical Society. He visited one of Sol Young’s six studios in New York City, possibly on a business trip and may have sent this image to his grandchildren in Tennessee and Georgia.