Grove, Henry

Born: 1813-XX-XX Pennsylvania

Died: 1872-05-XX Peoria, Illinois

Henry Grove was an attorney, state representative, atheist, and Republican. Although born in Pennsylvania, he grew up in the backwoods of Ohio after his parents relocated there when he was still a boy. Lacking access to education early in life, Grove nevertheless undertook the study of law, earned admission to the bar, and became an attorney in Peoria, Illinois. In April 1839, he married Clarrissa Root, with whom he eventually had at least three children. In 1851, he partnered with Alexander McCoy, and their law firm became quite successful. Grove was a staunch opponent of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and, in 1854, Peoria County's voters elected him to the Illinois House of Representatives after he ran as an anti-Nebraska candidate. In 1860, he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and voted for Abraham Lincoln to become the party's candidate for president. By that time, Grove had become wealthy, owning $40,000 in personal and real property.

James M. Rice, Peoria City and County Illinois (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1912), 1:184, 367, 374-75; Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, 21 April 1839, Portage County (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2016); John M Palmer, ed., The Bench and the Bar of Illinois: Historical and Reminiscent (Chicago: Lewis, 1899), 1:302; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 2 January 1855, 2:3; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 5, Peoria, Peoria County, IL, 340; U.S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States (1870), Ward 7, Peoria, Peoria County, IL, 35; Gravestone, Springdale Cemetery and Mausoleum, Peoria, IL.