Henry, James D.

Born: 1797 Pennsylvania

Died: 1834-03-05 New Orleans, Louisiana

Henry settled in Edwardsville, Illinois, in 1822. After 1825, he settled in Springfield, Illinois, where he served three terms as sheriff. He fought in the Winnebago War and the Black Hawk War. In the latter, he served in a spy battalion and ultimately earned the rank of general. In 1833, he went to New Orleans for the warmer climate as a remedy for his lung disease. In 1834, Abraham Lincoln and others in Sangamon County championed Henry as a candidate for governor of the state, but Henry died before the election.

John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 54-57, 369-70; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 5 April 1834 3:1; 12 April 1834, 3:1, 3:2.