3/4/2012:
Henry Hansbrough began the first of his three Senate terms on this date in 1891. His parent named him after Henry Clay, who attended their wedding and suggested they name their first son for him. He was raised and educated in Illinois, but moved to California in 1867 to learn the printing trade. In 1881, he moved to Dakota Territory and established the Grand Forks News. The paper’s success led him to establish the Inter-Ocean at Devils Lake in 1883. He served as Mayor of Devils Lake before being elected to Congress. In 1891, he won the Senate race, and served the next eighteen years. Afterward, he returned to Devils Lake, but in retirement he moved to Florida, New York, and Washington, DC. After his death in 1933, his ashes were scattered under an elm on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Sources:
Lounsberry, Clement Augustus. 1919. Early History of North Dakota: Essential Outlines of American History. p. 442. Washington, DC: Liberty Press.
Schlup, Leonard C. and Mary Ann Blochowiak. 2007. Henry C. Hansbrough: Political Maverick of the Northern Plains. Akron, Ohio: Midwest Press Inc.
The New York Times. “Henry Hansbrough’s Career, From a Tramp Printer to a United States Senator. February 2, 1891.
http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/sen_agriculture/ch3.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_C._Hansbrough