Thomas Henry was an Anti-Masonic

Anti-Masonic Party

The Anti-Masonic Party was the first "third party" in the United States. It strongly opposed Freemasonry and was founded as a single-issue party aspiring to become a major party....

 and Whig

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

 member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

.

Henry was born in County Down

County Down

-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. Immigrated to America and settled in Beaver, Pennsylvania

Beaver, Pennsylvania

Beaver is a borough in and the county seat of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, at the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio Rivers. As of the 2000 census, the borough population was 4,775, having dropped from 5,641 in 1940....

, in 1798. He was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Simon Snyder

Simon Snyder

Simon Snyder was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1808 to 1817. A Jeffersonian Democrat, he served three terms as speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives before becoming governor...

 on December 24, 1808. He was elected county commissioner in 1810. He served as captain of a company that went from Beaver to help defend the northern frontier from a threatened British invasion in 1814. He was elected a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....

 in 1815. He served as prothonotary

Prothonotary

The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. prothonotarius , from Greek protonotarios "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine Empire, from Greek protos "first" + Latin notarius ; the -h-...

 and clerk of courts from 1816 to 1821, and was elected sheriff of the county in 1821. He was proprietor and editor of the Western Argus

Western Argus

The Western Argus was a newspaper published in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia by Hocking & Co. Ltd., from 1894-1938.-Further reading:* Kirwan, John, The story of a Goldfields newspaper : a romance of the press : Kalgoorlie early days. Journal and proceedings Western Australian Historical Society :...

from 1821 to 1831. He served as county treasurer in 1828 and 1829.

Henry was elected as an Anti-Masonic

Anti-Masonic Party

The Anti-Masonic Party was the first "third party" in the United States. It strongly opposed Freemasonry and was founded as a single-issue party aspiring to become a major party....

 candidate to the Twenty-fifth

25th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Richard Mentor Johnson * President pro tempore: William R. King - House of Representatives :* Speaker: James K. Polk -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...

 and Twenty-sixth

26th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:- Leadership :- Senate :*President: Richard M. Johnson *President pro tempore: William R. King - House of Representatives :*Speaker: Robert M.T. Hunter -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...

 Congresses and reelected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh

27th United States Congress

The Twenty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1841 to March 3, 1843, during the one-month...

Congress. He died in Beaver in 1849. Interment in Old Beaver Cemetery.