Thomas J. Henderson (politician)

Thomas Jefferson Henderson (November 29, 1824 – February 6, 1911) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois and a Union Army officer during the American Civil War.

Thomas J. Henderson
Chairman of the House Republican Conference
In office March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1895
Speaker	Thomas B. Reed (1889–1891) Charles F. Crisp (1891–1895)
Preceded by	Joseph G. Cannon
Succeeded by	Charles H. Grosvenor
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois
In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1895
Preceded by	John B. Hawley (6th) William Cullen (7th)
Succeeded by	Robert R. Hitt (6th) George Edmund Foss (7th)
Constituency	6th district (1875–1883) 7th district (1883–1895)
Member of the Illinois Senate
In office 1852-1860
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
In office 1857-1860
Personal details
Born	(1824-11-29)November 29, 1824 Brownsville, Tennessee
Died	February 6, 1911(1911-02-06) (aged 86) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Republican

Biography

Born in Brownsville, Tennessee, Henderson moved with his parents to Illinois at the age of eleven. He served as clerk of the Board of Commissioners of Stark County, Illinois from 1847 to 1849. and as clerk of the court of Stark County from 1849 to 1853. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1852 and commenced practice in Toulon, Illinois.

Henderson served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1855 and 1856 and then as a member of the Illinois Senate (1857–1860). He entered the Union Army in 1862 as colonel of the 112th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment and fought in the Siege of Knoxville and Atlanta Campaign being wounded at the Battle of Resaca. He commanded the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, XXIII Corps, from August 12, 1864. He was brevetted brigadier general in January 1865 and led his brigade at the Battle of Wilmington.

With the war's end, Henderson resumed the practice of law and moved to Princeton, Illinois, in 1867. He was appointed collector of internal revenue for the fifth district of Illinois in 1871.

Henderson was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fourth and to the nine succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1895). He served as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs (Forty-seventh Congress), and of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors (Fifty-first Congress). He also served as chairman of the Republican conference in the House. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1894.

He was appointed to the board of managers for the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in 1896. He was appointed civilian member on the Board of Ordnance and Fortifications in 1900 and served until his death in Washington, D.C. on February 6, 1911. He was interred in Oakland Cemetery in Princeton, Illinois.

References

• United States Congress. "Thomas J. Henderson (id: H000489)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by John B. Hawley	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 6th congressional district 1875–1883	Succeeded by Robert R. Hitt
Preceded by William Cullen	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 7th congressional district 1883–1895	Succeeded by George E. Foss

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.