William Henry (politician, 1729)

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William Henry (born May 19, 1729 in Lancaster , Province of Pennsylvania , †  December 15, 1786 ibid) was an American politician , armorer , arms dealer and inventor . In 1784, 1785 and 1786 he was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress .

Career

William Henry was of Scottish Irish descent. He was the son of John Henry and Elizabeth Deveny Henry. He attended the public schools in his home country and then worked like his father as a weapons manufacturer. During the Seven Years' War he supplied the British troops with his rifles for the Battle of Monongahela . In 1758 he accompanied John Forbes' mission against Fort Duquesne as an armourer . Later he also worked in the iron industry and in trade. He then dropped out of arms production, which was continued by his sons, and instead traded in arms. During the War of Independence , he provided the American troops not only with weapons, but also with clothing and flour.

Political career

Before, during and after the revolution, Henry held various offices in his homeland. He was an appeal judge in 1770, 1773, and 1777. A law degree is not noted in the sources. In 1771 he was sewer commissioner for the then British province of Pennsylvania. In 1776 he became a member of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania . During the war of independence he held the rank of colonel. He was Assistant Commissary General . In this capacity, as mentioned above, he supplied the American units with the materials they needed, especially in his home district. In 1777, Henry became a member of his homeland security committee and from 1777 to 1785 he was County Chamberlain in Lancaster County . In 1780 he was also presiding judge at the local court of appeal. In 1784 and 1785 he represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society .

Inventions

In 1760 William Henry traveled to England . On this trip, the idea of ​​building a ship that was powered by a steam engine may have arisen . He is said to have equipped America's first boat with a steam engine and paddle wheel in 1763, but it sank on the Conestoga . Robert Fulton was probably inspired by him to build steam ships. In 1768 William Henry invented a device for automatically regulating the exhaust air of a furnace. In 1771 he invented a screw conveyor .

family

In January 1755 he married Ann Wood. They had 13 children. William Henry died on December 15, 1786 in his hometown of Lancaster.

Web links

literature

  • Biographical Sketch of William Henry, of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 27, No. 1, 1903, pp. 91-93 ( online )
  • John W. Jordan: Colonial And Revolutionary Families Of Pennsylvania , 1911, p. 142 ( online )
  • Francis Jordan: The life of William Henry, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1729-1786, patriot, military officer, inventor of the steamboat; a contribution to revolutionary history , Lancaster 1910 ( online )

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member History: William Henry. American Philosophical Society, accessed September 28, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Basil Clark: Steamboat Evolution , Lulu.com, 2010, pp. 56–57 ( online )
  3. ^ William Henry: A Description of a Self-Moving or Sentinel Register; Invented by Mr. William Henry, of Lancaster, in Pennsylvania in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society , Volume 1, pp. 286–289 ( online )
personal data
SURNAME Henry, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician, armorer, arms dealer, and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH May 19, 1729
PLACE OF BIRTH Lancaster , Province of Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH December 15, 1786
Place of death Lancaster , Province of Pennsylvania