28 Facts About Henry Stanbery

Henry Stanbery was Ohio's first attorney general from 1846 to 1851 and the United States Attorney General from 1866 to 1868.

Henry Stanbery resided for many years in Lancaster, where he practiced law in partnership with Thomas Ewing.

Henry Stanbery was selected by the state legislature to serve as Ohio's first state attorney general, a post he held from 1846 to 1851.

Henry Stanbery served until 1868 and worked to sustain President Andrew Johnson's view that the president should control post-Civil War Reconstruction, and that the former Confederate states should be readmitted to the Union even if they took no steps to guarantee rights to former slaves.

In 1868, Henry Stanbery resigned so he could join Johnson's defense team during his impeachment trial.

Henry Stanbery traveled to New York City for surgery to remove cataracts, which did not improve his vision, and he was blind for the last six months of his life.

Henry Stanbery was residing temporarily in New York City while continuing to seek treatment when he died on June 26,1881.

Henry Stanbery was born in New York City on February 20,1803, a son of Jonas Stanbery, a physician and land speculator, and his second wife Ann Lucy Seaman Stanbery.

The family moved to Zanesville, Ohio, in 1814, and Henry Stanbery revealed himself to be a precocious student while attending a special private school.

Henry Stanbery was admitted to the bar in 1824, and began to practice with Thomas Ewing in Fairfield County, Ohio.

In 1846, the Ohio General Assembly elected Henry Stanbery to serve as Ohio Attorney General, the first person to hold the post.

Henry Stanbery moved from his home in Lancaster to the state capital of Columbus to assume his new duties.

Henry Stanbery's work included creation of a case-tracking system and uniform crime report format for county prosecutors and a successful lobbying campaign to obtain the power to negotiate with individuals and corporations that were in debt to the state.

Once he obtained this power in 1848, Henry Stanbery cleared a backlog of existing lawsuits and cases by entering into agreements for partial payment or payment over time.

Henry Stanbery loyally supported Johnson during his longstanding fight with Congress over Reconstruction.

Henry Stanbery assisted in drafting Johnson's veto of the first Reconstruction Act.

Henry Stanbery agreed, arguing that the federal government had no right to interfere with the states in their administration of their governments and legal systems.

In Georgia v Stanton, Stanbery successfully argued that the court did not have jurisdiction over the political question of Reconstruction, which again left the matter to the executive and legislative branches.

When Congress moved to impeach Johnson as the result of the Reconstruction dispute, Henry Stanbery resigned as attorney general on March 12,1868, and joined his defense team.

Henry Stanbery then returned to Ohio to resume his law practice.

Henry Stanbery returned to the Cincinnati area, where he resumed practicing law and served as president of the city's bar association from 1873 to 1876.

Henry Stanbery wrote occasional articles on political and legal questions, and delivered lectures and speeches.

Henry Stanbery was a longtime member of St Paul's Episcopal Church in Newport, Kentucky.

Henry Stanbery underwent surgery to remove the cataracts, but his eyesight continued to fail until he was blind for the last six months of his life.

Henry Stanbery continued to reside in New York City while seeking treatment, but died there on June 26,1881, after bronchitis left him unable to breathe while on a carriage ride in Central Park.

Henry Stanbery was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.

Frances Beecher Henry Stanbery died in 1840, and in 1841 Henry Stanbery married Cecilia Key Bond, a daughter of William Key Bond.

Henry Stanbery's half-brother William Stanbery was an attorney, and served in the United States House of Representatives from 1827 to 1833.