Henry, John

Born: 1800-11-01 Lincoln County, Kentucky

Died: 1882-04-28 Saint Louis, Missouri

Henry married Isabella Wilson in Fayette County, Kentucky, on April 5, 1821. They moved to Morgan County, Illinois, in the 1820s. From 1832 to 1836 and 1838 to 1840, he served in the Illinois House of Representatives, where he represented Morgan County. From 1840 to 1847, he served in the Illinois Senate, where he again represented Morgan County. Voters elected him as a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives for the Twenty-ninth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edward D. Baker. He served from February 5 to March 3, 1847, and Abraham Lincoln succeeded him in the Thirtieth Congress. In 1843, he was a trustee for the town of Jacksonville, and in the 1850s, he served as a trustee for the Illinois Hospital for the Insane. In 1850, he was a hotel keeper in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1860, he was a railroad contractor in Jacksonville, and he owned $2,500 in real property and $300 in personal property.

Kentucky, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1802-1850, 5 April 1821, Fayette County (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 1997); Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1201; History of Morgan County, Illinois (Chicago: Donnelley, Loyd, 1878), 358, 408; U.S. Census Office, Fifth Census of the United States (1830), Morgan County, IL, 88; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), St. Louis County, MO, 472; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Morgan County, IL, 26; Gravestone, Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, MO.