Hill & Henderson was in business at 14 Canal Street by 1825. The firm operated as a direct importer, receiving hundreds of crates of English earthenware on ships from Boston, New York, and Liverpool. After the death of a business partner, the firm changed its name to Henderson & Gaines in 1836. Both Hill & Henderson and Henderson & Gaines were agents for the Davenport Pottery in Staffordshire, England. Ceramics bearing the retailers’ marks have been found in public and private collections and in archaeological digs throughout the Mississippi Valley.