Henry, Gustavus A. (Gustavus Adolphus), 1804-1880

Gustavus A. Henry (1804-1880) of Clarksville, Tenn., was a Whig politician, lawyer, and owner of plantations in Hinds County, Miss., and Desha County, Ark. Henry's family included his wife Marion McClure Henry (fl. 1828-1871); their children Susan (fl. 1846-1862), John (d. 1862), and Gustavus, Jr. (fl. 1849-1865); and Gustavus's brother Patrick Henry (fl. 1833-1850), plantation owner in Mississippi and Arkansas.

Gustavus A. Henry (1804-1880) was born in Scott County, Ky., on 8 October 1804, and died in Clarksville, Tenn., on 10 September 1880. He moved to Christian County, Ky., at the age of fourteen. He attended Transylvania University and later studied law. He opened his law practice in Hopkinsville, Christian County, Ky., and in 1831 was elected to the Kentucky legislature. In February 1833, he married Marion McClure of Clarksville, Tenn., and soon after settled in Clarksville. He served Tennessee as a lawyer, orator, and Whig politician. In 1840, he was the Whig presidential elector for his congressional district, and, in 1844, 1848, and 1852, he campaigned in Tennessee on behalf of the Whig presidential nominees. He was defeated in 1843 when he ran for Congress against Cave Johnson, and, in 1853, when he sought election to the governorship with Andrew Johnson as his opponent. In 1851 and 1852, he was a member of the Tennessee legislature, and, in 1861, was elected to serve as senator in the Confederate Congress.

In addition to his political and legal activities, Henry operated cotton plantations in Mississippi and Arkansas. He did not live on the plantations, but he visited them annually and entrusted them in the meantime to overseers. The papers indicate that he purchased the Mississippi plantation in Hinds County sometime in 1835 or 1836, and the Arkansas plantation in Desha County on the Mississippi River in 1854.

The papers indicate that Gustavus Henry had at least six brothers: Patrick (fl. 1833-1850), who owned plantations in Mississippi and Arkansas and whose first wife was Elizabeth (d. ca. 1839), and his second Bettie (fl. 1850); William; James; Thomas; Daniel, who lived in Kentucky; and John F., who lived in Bloomington, and later in Burlington, Ill., and whose wife was Lucy.

Marion McClure Henry (fl. 1828-1871) was the daughter of Susan and Hugh McClure (d. 1828). An undated note in the collection addressed by Marion to her mother as Mrs. Susan Kane shows that the latter married a second time. Marion had a sister named Eliza (fl. 1835-1836), who was married to Walter Drane, and a brother, James B. McClure (fl. 1828-1837), who also lived in Clarksville. Sarah (1828-1833) and Thomas Frazer (1828-1833) (also spelled Frazier) of Clarksville were Marion's aunt and uncle.

Marion and Gustavus had six children: Susan (fl. 1846-1862), Thomas F. (1836-1858), John F. (d. 1862), Gustavus A. (fl. 1849-1865), Patrick (fl. 1857-1895), and Benjamin (d. ca. 1845). Benjamin apparently lived only a short time and died sometime late in 1844 or early in 1845. Susan married George D. Martin, a tobacco planter, in late 1854 or January 1855. Their children mentioned in the papers were Gus, Abe, and Marion.