HENRY, Hon. George W., b 1827; 1905 Bio, Delta County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/delta/bios/henrygw.txt --------------------------------------- Donated September 21, 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Hon. George W. Henry A valiant soldier in defense of the Union during the Civil war, an earnest and intelligent legislator in one of the great states of the Mississippi valley, a leading lawyer in several places and a county judge in two of the counties of this great commonwealth, Hon. George W. Henry, of Delta county, has had a career full of valuable suggestiveness to younger men and of interest to men of all ages. He was born in Clark county, Ohio, on February 25, 1827, and is the son of John and Rachel (Morris) Henry, who were born in Kentucky and married in Ohio, where the mother died in 1848. The father was a farmer and in 1870 he moved to Illinois, where he died in 1873, at the town of Oakland. They had a family of nine children, of whom their son George is now the only one living. He grew to manhood in his native state, and there he attended the public schools, a good academy and the Ohio Conference High School at Springfield. He taught school eleven years in Ohio and Illinois, going to the latter state in 1852, and locating in that part of Coles county that afterward became Douglas county. There he read law and was admitted to the bar, passing in 1857. Later he located at Louisville, Clay county, and began practicing his profession. On July 8, 1861, he enlisted in the Union army as a member of Company D, Eleventh Missouri Infantry, and was soon afterward commissioned first lieutenant in the quartermaster's service. In this capacity he served fourteen months and was then appointed captain of Company D and assigned to active field service. He was called into many important engagements, among them the one at Perryville, Missouri, the capture of Island No. 10 and New Madrid, the siege of Corinth, many expeditions and skirmishes in Tennessee and Mississippi, the battles of Iuka, Corinth, Vicksburg, Jackson, Chickasaw Bayou and others. After the fall of Vicksburg he was sent to Tennessee and later to his home on a veteran furlough. Not long after this he and many other commissioned officers resigned on the reorganization of the regiment as veterans, in order to give opportunity for the promotion of younger men. He went through the war without disaster, and after its close practiced law a number of years in Clay county, Illinois. In 1872 he was elected to the state senate of that state for a term of four years, and during his service in that body drafted a number of bills which were enacted into laws and are still on the statute books as they were originally passed. In 1877 he came to this state and located at Lake City, where he practiced law a number of years and served as county judge six. In 1887 he removed to Delta, and since then he has been in active practice in that county except during six years when he was serving as county judge there. He was a Republican in politics from the foundation of the party until the People's party was formed, and then he joined that organization. In Illinois he personally knew and greatly admired President Lincoln, and was on intimate terms of friendship with him. On April 2, 1857, Mr. Henry was married to Miss Rebecca A. Magner, a native of Indiana. They have had four children, two sons and two daughters. The sons, Lyman I. and William G., are living, and the daughters, Clara Frances and Mary Myrta, have died. Mr. Henry is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.