Early life, family and education thumb|left|Built by his father in 1888, the Fletcher Henderson House in Cuthbert, Georgia, where Henderson was born in 1897. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 17, 1982 James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson was born in Cuthbert, Georgia. He was raised in a middle-class African-American family. His father, Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (1857–1943), was the principal of the nearby Howard Normal Randolph School from 1880 until 1942. Their home is a historic site. Henderson's mother, a teacher, taught him and his brother Horace to play the piano. He began lessons by age six. His father would occasionally lock Fletcher in his room to practice for hours. By age 13, Henderson possessed a keen ability to read music and sense pitch. He pursued the studies with his mother and further engaged himself in lessons on European art.
Early life, family and education thumb|left|Built by his father in 1888, the Fletcher Henderson House in Cuthbert, Georgia, where Henderson was born in 1897. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 17, 1982 James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson was born in Cuthbert, Georgia. He was raised in a middle-class African-American family. His father, Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (1857–1943), was the principal of the nearby Howard Normal Randolph School from 1880 until 1942. Their home is a historic site. Henderson's mother, a teacher, taught him and his brother Horace to play the piano. He began lessons by age six. His father would occasionally lock Fletcher in his room to practice for hours. By age 13, Henderson possessed a keen ability to read music and sense pitch. He pursued the studies with his mother and further engaged himself in lessons on European art.