Charles E. Henderson

Charles Edward Henderson was the founder of the Henderson Estates. One of the most respected citizens of Port Winston, Charles had the reputation of being a successful and honest businessman who treated his employees with fairness and respect.

He only appears in the first episode.

Early life
Charles E. Henderson grew up in Port Winston in a wine-making family. He married his first love and had two sons with her, Rudy and Richard. Shortly after Richard's birth in 1943, he left to fight in World War II in Germany where he sustained a leg injury, requiring him to use a walking cane for the rest of his life. Upon his return to the Port Winston, he began expanding the family business by buying up neighboring vineyards whose owners had been discouraged by years of bad harvests. He went on to employ the owners as workers and established a reputation for quality winemaking by importing European seeds and introducing a broader variety of grapes. He got married

Pre-1980
One day, Charles witnessed his worker Ted Stoneham beating his wife Martha. Charles went to her help and encouraged her to leave Ted, but she refused. Some time later, she discovered that Ted was also sexually abusing their two daughters Maggie and Doris. She went to Charles for help, who confronted Ted, resulting in Ted's death. Martha and Charles remained friends and he went on to financially support her and her children.

Season 1 (1980)
In Pilot, Charles had just learned about his daughter-in-law Vivienne's plans to force Martha to leave her house and lands - in order to expand the Henderson estates. He immediately drove to Martha's house to warn her. A panicked Bernie Cooper followed him, locked the doors and set the house on fire. Charles and Martha both died in the flames.

At Vivienne's urging, the two bodies were buried in two separate ceremonies on the same cementary - with Father Fitzpatrick officiating Martha's funeral and a Charlestown priest taking over Charles' much larger ceremony.

Charles' last will bequeathed equal parts of the Henderson estates to Rudy, Richard, his good friend Carl King and Maggie and Doris Henderson – infuriating Vivienne. This unexpected move led many to believe that Charles and Martha had been lovers and even that he was the real father of her daughters, which was proven untrue by a DNA test later.