John Henry (Maryland)

John Henry ( * November 1750 in Dorchester County, Maryland, † December 16, 1798 ) was an American politician and 1797-1798 Governor of Maryland. Between 1789 and 1797 he represented his country in the U.S. Senate.

Early years and political rise

Henry attended the West Nottingham Academy, and then to about 1769, the College of New Jersey should later emerge from the Princeton University. He then studied at the Middle Temple School in London Jura. After his return in 1775 he started in Dorchester County to work as a lawyer. Between 1777 and 1779 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Maryland. At the same time, he was from 1778 to 1780 and again from 1785 to 1786 in the Continental Congress. He also belonged to the committee that created the foundations of the government in the Northwest Territory.

Senator and Governor

In 1788, Henry was elected in the first elections under the new U.S. Constitution in the U.S. Senate. In 1796 he was appointed in this position. He was the first senator of the Class 3 category from Maryland. In the presidential election of 1796, he received two electoral votes, without having officially a candidate.

On December 10, 1797 Henry resigned his seat in the Senate because he had meanwhile been elected by the legislature of his state to the new governor. Henry graduated only a single one-year term as governor, which ended on 14 November 1798. For health reasons, he renounced a possible re-election. During his tenure, the militia was reorganized and set up new troops. This happened against the backdrop of a then imminent war against France. John Henry survived the end of his term as governor only by one month. He died in December 1798. Campbell with his wife Margaret he had two children.