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John B. Henderson
John Brooks Henderson (November 16, 1826 – April 12, 1913) was an American attorney and politician who represented Missouri in the United States Senate from 1862 to 1869.
Henderson is most noteworthy for co-authoring the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery except as punishment for crime. After leaving the Senate, Henderson served as the first special prosecutor in United States history, investigating the Whiskey Ring, until he was fired by President Ulysses S. Grant.
Born near Danville, Virginia, he moved with his parents to Lincoln County, Missouri, studied on his own while a farm hand, taught school, was admitted to the bar in 1844, and practiced.
Henderson was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives in 1848-1850 and 1856–1858, and was active in Democratic politics. He was commissioned a brigadier general in the Missouri State Militia in 1861, commanding federal forces in northeast Missouri.
On January 17, 1862, Henderson was appointed to the U.S. Senate as a Unionist to fill the vacancy caused by the expulsion of Trusten Polk. He won the January 1863 special election to complete Polk's term and was re-elected later that year, serving until 1869. Henderson changed parties several times during this period as the party system in Missouri underwent a political realignment. A conservative unionist, he was nominated by the Emancipation Party in the January 1863 special election, representing the moderate wing of the party that favored gradual emancipation. He campaigned for the Conservative candidates in the 1863 Missouri judicial elections, but afterwards formed an alliance with the Radicals in the Missouri General Assembly and was re-elected as a Radical Unionist in November 1863.
As a United States Senator representing a slave state, Henderson co-authored and co-sponsored the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution permanently prohibiting slavery in the United States. Henderson's original proposal, made January 11, 1864, was submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and on February 10, 1864, it presented the Senate with a proposal combining the drafts of congressmen James Mitchell Ashley (Republican, Ohio), James Falconer Wilson, (Republican, Iowa), Charles Sumner (Republican, Massachusetts), and Henderson.
On January 31, 1865, the 13th Amendment was approved by the U.S. Congress, and on February 1, 1865, it was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated before the amendment was ratified by the State of Georgia on December 6, 1865.
While in the Senate, Henderson was chairman of the committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expense (Thirty-ninth Congress) and a member of the Committee on Indian Affairs (Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses).
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John B. Henderson
John Brooks Henderson (November 16, 1826 – April 12, 1913) was an American attorney and politician who represented Missouri in the United States Senate from 1862 to 1869.
Henderson is most noteworthy for co-authoring the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery except as punishment for crime. After leaving the Senate, Henderson served as the first special prosecutor in United States history, investigating the Whiskey Ring, until he was fired by President Ulysses S. Grant.
Born near Danville, Virginia, he moved with his parents to Lincoln County, Missouri, studied on his own while a farm hand, taught school, was admitted to the bar in 1844, and practiced.
Henderson was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives in 1848-1850 and 1856–1858, and was active in Democratic politics. He was commissioned a brigadier general in the Missouri State Militia in 1861, commanding federal forces in northeast Missouri.
On January 17, 1862, Henderson was appointed to the U.S. Senate as a Unionist to fill the vacancy caused by the expulsion of Trusten Polk. He won the January 1863 special election to complete Polk's term and was re-elected later that year, serving until 1869. Henderson changed parties several times during this period as the party system in Missouri underwent a political realignment. A conservative unionist, he was nominated by the Emancipation Party in the January 1863 special election, representing the moderate wing of the party that favored gradual emancipation. He campaigned for the Conservative candidates in the 1863 Missouri judicial elections, but afterwards formed an alliance with the Radicals in the Missouri General Assembly and was re-elected as a Radical Unionist in November 1863.
As a United States Senator representing a slave state, Henderson co-authored and co-sponsored the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution permanently prohibiting slavery in the United States. Henderson's original proposal, made January 11, 1864, was submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and on February 10, 1864, it presented the Senate with a proposal combining the drafts of congressmen James Mitchell Ashley (Republican, Ohio), James Falconer Wilson, (Republican, Iowa), Charles Sumner (Republican, Massachusetts), and Henderson.
On January 31, 1865, the 13th Amendment was approved by the U.S. Congress, and on February 1, 1865, it was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated before the amendment was ratified by the State of Georgia on December 6, 1865.
While in the Senate, Henderson was chairman of the committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expense (Thirty-ninth Congress) and a member of the Committee on Indian Affairs (Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses).