Person:Henry Hansbrough (1)

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Henry Clay Hansbrough (January 30, 1848November 16, 1933) was a United States politician who served as the first United States Representative from North Dakota, as well as a Senator from North Dakota.

Henry Clay, who shortly before had been defeated for the Presidency by James K. Polk, attended the wedding of Elisha Hansbrough and his second wife, Sarah Hagan. As he rode off, on horseback, after the wedding, he halloed back that their first boy should be named for him. In due course, this was done.^[5]

Henry Clay Hansbrough, Senator, was born in Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, January 30, 1848; son of Elisha and Sarah (Hagan) Hansbrough, grandson of William H. and Elizabeth (Miller) Hansbrough, of Virginia, and a descendant of John Hansbrough who came from England and settled in Virginia in 1640. His parents moved to Illinois from Kentucky in 1846, and he was brought up on his father's farm. The advent of the Civil War closed the school in which he was preparing for college, and in 1866, he moved with his parents to California. He learned the trade of printing in the office of the San Jose Mercury, and in 1869, was a partner in publishing a daily paper in San Jose. He moved to San Francisco and was employed on the Chronicle, 1869-1872, in the printing department; as telegraph editor and then assistant managing editor, 1872-1879; engaged in journalism in Wisconsin, 1880, and in 1882 went to Dakota Territory, where he continued in active newspaper work until he entered the field of politics in 1888.

He was the first representative from North Dakota in the 51st Congress, 1889-1891; a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1888 and National Committeeman from North Dakota, 1888-1896. He was elected U. S. Senator, January 23, 1891. Took his seat at the close of his term as representative, March 4, 1891, andwas re-elected, January 20, 1897, for the term expiring March 3, 1903. His first wife, Josephine, daughter of James Orr of Newburg, New York, died in January 1895. He was married again in 1897 to Mary Berri Chapman of Washington, D.C.

"After the end of his second term in the Senate, in 1909, he resumed his former pursuits in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, from which he retired and moved to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1919; moved to Water Mill, Long Island, New York, in 1925 and thence to Washington, D.C. in 1927 where he died on November 16, 1933. His remains were cremated and the ashes scattered under an elm tree on the United States Capitol Grounds, Washington, D.C.^[6]

The senator is the only man known to rest forever on Capitol Hill. "One fall morning in 1933, the 85 year old Hansbrough walked into the office of Gerald P. Nye, to enlist his help in carrying out one last request. A month later Hansbrough died. His ashes were delivered in an ordinary shoe box to Senator Nye's office. Late in the afternoon of November 18, 1933, Senator Nye and his office staff solemnly scattered the ashes of Henry Clay Hansbrough beneath an elm tree on Capitol Hill, exactly as the former senator requested."^[7]

1. ↑ Hansborough, John W. (John William). History and genealogy of the Hansborough - Hansbrough family: with data on the Hanbury, Garrard, Lash, Devous, Davis, Wathen and Bell families. (Austin, Texas: J. W. Hansborough, c1981)
   75-76.

   62.HENRY CLAY HANSBROUGH: (34 Elisha) Born January 30, 1848.

2.   Henry C. Hansbrough, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
3.   Treese, Joel D. Biographical directory of the American Congress, 1774-1996: the Continental Congress, September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788 and the Congress of the United States from the first through the 104th congresses, March 4, 1789, to January 3, 1997. (Alexandria, Virginia: CQ Staff Directories, c1997).
4.   Brown, John Howard (editor), and Rossiter (editor) Johnson. The Twentieth century biographical dictionary of notable Americans: brief biographies of authors, administrators, clergymen, commanders, editors, engineers, jurists, merchants, officials, philanthropists, scientists, statesmen, and others who are making American history. (Boston, Mass.: The Biographical Society. Reprinted by Gale Research, 1968., 1904).
5. ↑ Hansborough, John W. History and Genealogy of the Hansborough - Hansbrough Family
6. ↑ Extracted from the Biographical Directory of the American Congress and from The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans.
7. ↑ "The Capitol Nobody Knows," by Bill and Juana Wilson, published in Popular Mechanics, January 1967.)