Henry Denhardt

Henry Denhardt

Henry H. Denhardt (born March 8, 1876 in Bowling Green , Kentucky , †  September 20, 1937 in Shelbyville , Kentucky) was an American politician . Between 1923 and 1927 he was lieutenant governor of the state of Kentucky.

Career

Nothing is known about Henry Denhardt's youth and schooling. After studying law at Cumberland University and admission to the bar, he began working in the profession. In the meantime he also worked as a public prosecutor and judge. He took part in both the Spanish-American War of 1898 and World War I and achieved the rank of brigadier general. He then served as a colonel in the Kentucky National Guard. In the early 1920s he was involved in the crackdown on workers' uprisings in Kentucky. Politically, he joined the Democratic Party .

In 1923 he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky at the side of William J. Fields . He held this office between 1923 and 1927. He was Deputy Governor and Chairman of the State Senate . In 1927 he ran unsuccessfully for the office of governor of his state. Denhardt later served as Adjutant General in command of the Kentucky National Guard.

Henry Denhardt also went down in his state's criminal history. On November 6, 1936, his girlfriend Verna Taylor was found dead with a gunshot wound from Denhardt's gun on a street in Shelby County . Denhardt said it was suicide. The family of the dead assumed murder by Denhardt. The former lieutenant governor was charged. Since the jury could not agree, he was initially acquitted. The trial was scheduled to resume in September 1937. The brothers of the dead swore vengeance. On September 20, 1937, the day before his trial was resumed, Henry Denhardt was shot dead outside a hotel in Shelbyville. The three brothers were later acquitted of temporary mental insanity.

Web links

• Henry Denhardt in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• The Political Graveyard
• Article on Denhardt's trial
• Mention of Denhardt as a lawyer