Henry, William, 1729-1786

William Henry (May 19, 1729 – December 15, 1786) was an American gunsmith, engineer, politician, and merchant from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress in 1784 and 1785. Inventor of the screw auger, Henry is also noted for his contributions in development of the first steam engines.

Born in Chester County in the Province of Pennsylvania, Henry attended the common schools before working as a gunsmith providing rifles to the British during the French and Indian War; Henry himself, serving as armorer, accompanied troops on John Forbes's successful mission to retake Fort Duquesne in 1758. By 1760, Henry had largely abandoned his occupation of gunsmith and had become a successful ironmonger and merchant in Lancaster. Henry later served in many positions of public responsibility, including Assistant Commissary General to the Continental Army for the district of Lancaster and, in 1779, Commissary of Hides for Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. He served as justice of the court of common pleas of Lancaster County in 1770, 1773, and 1777, as canal commissioner of Pennsylvania in 1771, and as a member of the State assembly in 1776.

During the Revolutionary War, Henry served assistant commissary general with the rank of colonel for the district of Lancaster, Pennsylvania and as a member of the council of safety in 1777. Henry served as treasurer of Lancaster County from 1777 to 1785 and as president judge of the court of common pleas in 1780. He served as a member of the Continental Congress in 1784 and 1785. Henry died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; initially buried in Lancaster's Moravian Cemetery, he was later reinterred in the city's Greenwood Cemetery.