Henry Connelly

Henry Connelly (* 1800 in Nelson County, Kentucky; † August 12, 1866 in Santa Fe, New Mexico ) was an American politician and from 1861 to 1866 Governor of New Mexico Territory.

Early years

Henry Connelly attended the local schools of his home in Kentucky. Then he studied until 1828 at the Transylvania University Medicine. He then worked for a short time as a doctor in Liberty ( Missouri). After that he became the owner of a shop. Late 1840s he moved to Peralta, New Mexico, where he became a very successful trader. In 1851 he was elected to the Territorial Parliament, where he then spent almost ten years.

Territorial Governor of New Mexico

On September 4, 1861 Connelly was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as the new territorial governor of New Mexico. That was already after the outbreak of the American Civil War. Connelly was a supporter of the Union and opposed to slavery. Due to its geographical location, the region was threatened by the Confederate troops. After all, the neighboring state of Texas was part of the Confederacy. Only a victory for the Union troops at Peralta in 1862 ended the threat to the country. Another problem of those days in New Mexico was the Indian question. In the past it had come again and again to fight with the Indians. Connelly was quite radical in this question. He presented the Indians with the alternative either to live in reservations or die.

Between autumn 1862 and May 1863, the health of the governor was so struck that he had to take recreation leave for that time. On July 16, 1866, he then resigned from his post. In August of the same year died Henry Connelly then in Santa Fe. He was married twice and had six children.