John Joseph Henry (November 4, 1758 – April 15, 1811) was an American private soldier,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, and

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Biography

Henry, the son of William Henry of Lancaster and Ann Wood Henry, was born in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

. His father, an important gunsmith, apprenticed him at the age of 14 to an uncle, also a gunsmith, who moved with John Joseph to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. Perhaps due to lack of business, the young man returned to Lancaster, on foot, with a guide who died in the wilderness along the way. At age sixteen he enlisted as a rifleman in the Pennsylvania state troops and marched with

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold (#Brandt, Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American-born British military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of ...

's expedition to Quebec in 1775. Taken prisoner during the ill-fated attempt to storm the city on January 1, 1776, Henry remained confined for nine months. He was confined for a time aboard HMS ''Pearl'' in New York's harbor; while imprisoned there he witnessed the

Great Fire of New York The 1835 Great Fire of New York was one of three fires that rendered extensive damage to New York City in the 18th and 19th centuries. The fire occurred in the middle of an economic boom, covering 17 city blocks, killing two people, and destroyi ...

. He spent two years recuperating from his injuries at his father's home in Lancaster, and never healed completely. Henry began to study law and, after clerking for Stephen Chambers, a prominent Lancaster attorney, he was admitted to the bar in 1785. In 1793 he was appointed president judge of the second district of Pennsylvania. Henry married Chambers's younger sister, Jane. His will indicates that he had at least eight children: Anne-Mary, Caroline, Elisabeth, Harriet-Sidney, Amelia-Catherine, Lydia-Chambers, and Julian. The eighth and eldest, Stephen Chambers Henry, was "for good causes...absolutely exclude and disinherit d in his father's will. Stephen Chambers Henry (January 4, 1786 – August 12, 1834) earned his M.D. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and in 1809 moved to Detroit, where he was a surgeon during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

and, like his father, taken prisoner. He died of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

in 1834.John Joseph Henry, Last Will and Testament, Lancaster County Historical Society; Info on Stephen Chambers Henry also in LCHS "Henry" folder. John Joseph Henry's career as a lawyer and judge was cut short by the recurrence of the injuries that he had suffered during the march on Quebec. These injuries prevented his attendance at court, and in 1809 the legislature debated, only to reject, a petition to remove him from office. He resigned his office in January 1811. In his final years he wrote ''An Accurate and Interesting Account of the Hardships and Sufferings of That Band of Heroes, Who Traversed the Wilderness in the Campaign Against Quebec in 1775'', published in 1812 after his death. His account of the Arnold expedition has been often quoted and frequently reprinted.

Notes

References

* Henry, John Joseph. ''An Accurate and Interesting Account of the Hardships and Sufferings of That Band of Heroes, Who Traversed the Wilderness in the Campaign Against Quebec in 1775''. Lancaster, Pa., 1812

* Purcell, L. Edward. ''Who Was Who in the American Revolution''. New York: Facts on File, 1993. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, John Joseph 1758 births 1811 deaths American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain Continental Army soldiers Pennsylvania lawyers People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution People from Lancaster, Pennsylvania People from colonial Pennsylvania 19th-century American lawyers