Robert Chaney HENRY, '69, Mt. Ayr, Iowa, was born December 14, 1841, in Harrison County, Ohio, and removed to Iowa in 1844. Until he was twenty-seven years old he followed farming; then entered the Law Department of the State University, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1869. From January,. 1879, to January, 1883, and from January, 1887, to January, 1891, he was Judge of the Third Judicial District of Iowa. He served in the army as a private in Company A, I3th Iowa Infantry, and later as a member of Company F, 45th Iowa Infantry.

Judge R. C. HENRY, of Mount Ayr, Ringgold county, is the present incumbent of the district judgeship. He was born in Harrison county, Ohio, December 14, 1841, and in 1844 came with his father's family to Iowa, of which State he has since been a continuous resident. His legal education was received in the law school of the State University at Iowa City, from which he graduated in 1869. By his graduation he was admitted to the bar and immediately began the practice of his profession. Actively engaged in politics, he received the nomination for the district judgeship in 1879, and was duly elected in the fall of that year. He is a careful judge, weighs his opinions with great care, and commands the fullest respect of the barristers who practice before his bar. His term expires in 1883.

Twice-A-Week News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
June 12, 1896

Judge R. C. HENRY was born in Harrison county, Ohio, 1841. He came to Iowa with his prents in 1844, locating in Lee county, and has resided in this state ever since. He was raised on a farm and received his education in district schools and Denmark academy, and in 1869 graduated from the law department of the state university.

During the war of the rebellion, he was a soldier in the 13th Iowa infantry. In 1879, he came to Mt. Ayr and engaged in the practice of law and has been constantly in the practice ever since, except eight years, during which time he was judge of the district court of the third judicial disitrict of Iowa. He made an able and impartial judge, trying many important criminal and civil cases and was universally liked by the people and the bar.

As a practioner he possesses fine tact and ability in the examination of witnesses. He is a speaker of great force and magnetism before a jury and is recognized both in criminal and civil cases as an able lawyer.

Submission by Mike Avitt
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2010

Bedford Free Press
Bedford, Taylor County, Iowa

Judge R. C. HENRY and his daughter Mable of Mount Ayr, Iowa, are moving to Globe, Arizona.

Robert C. HENRY, senior member of the law firm of HENRY & SPENCE, was born near Cadiz, in Harrison County, Ohio, December 14, 1841, a son of Robert and Susan (CHANEY) HENRY, who were natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. They were the parents of thirteen children - seven sons and six daughters. Robert C. HENRY was taken by his parents to the Territory of Iowa in 1844, they locating in Lee County. He grew to manhood on the home farm, and received his education in the schools of his district and Demark Academy. He remained at home till twenty-four years of age, except while in the army, when he was married August 10, 1866, to Miss Jane F., eldest daughter of John HART, of Lee County, and to them have been born six children.

Mr. HENRY entered the law department of the university at Iowa City, where he took a full course, graduating in the class of 1869. He began the practice of law at Keosauqua, Iowa, where he remained till 1870, coming thence to Mt. Ayr, where he resumed his practice, forming a partnership with George W. BALL, which lasted but ninety days, when Mr. BALL went to Iowa City. Mr. HENRY was then associated with W. T. LAUGHLIN for a time, after which he carried on the office alone until the fall of 1878. He was then elected judge of the Third District, comprising the counties of Clarke, Decatur, Ringgold, Union, Adams, Taylor, Page, and Montgomery, and in that capacity occupied the bench four years. He then resumed the practice of his profession at Mt. Ayr, when he formed a partnership with R. H. SPENCE, thus forming the present law firm of HENRY & SPENCE, which carries on a general law business and practices in all the courts. Mr. HENRY is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

NOTE: Robert Chaney HENRY enlisted from Denmark, Iowa, as a Private into Company F of 45th Iowa Infantry during the Civil War. He was mustered out of service at Keokuk, Iowa, on September 16, 1864.

SOURCES:
Biography & Historical Record of Ringgold County, Iowa, Pp. 332-33, 1887.

American Civil War Soldiers Database, ancestry.com

Transcription and note by Sharon R. Becker, March of 2009

Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, May 26, 1910

MOUNT AYR, IA, May 22. Judge R[obert] C[heney] HENRY died yesterday at Globe, Ariz., at the home of his son. He was a pioneer lawyer here and was district judge for eight years. He is survived by a son and two daughters. The interment will be here, Wednesday.

NOTE: Judge HENRY's wife Jane was born in 1837, Rhode Island, and died in November of 1904, Mount Ayr, Iowa, of pneumonia. Their daughter Mabel HENRY died in September of 1909, Wewoka, Oklahoma. They were interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa.

SOURCE:

"University Alumni in Public Life" Iowa Historical Record p. 269. Iowa State Historical Society. Iowa City. 1896.

EVANS, Lyman. "Bedford Township"  Taylor County, Iowa History   p. 409. 1881

Transcription and note by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2009