{{short description|American politician (1806–1875)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Henry Michael Hyams | image = | image_size = | caption = | order1 = 7th | office1 = Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana | term_start1 = 1860 | term_end1 = 1864 | governor1 = [[Thomas Overton Moore]] | predecessor1 = [[William F. Griffin]] | successor1 = [[Benjamin W. Pearce]] | office2 = Member of the [[Louisiana Senate]] | term2 = 1855 | birth_name = | birth_date = March 4, 1806 | birth_place = Charleston, South Carolina | death_date = June 25, 1875 (aged 69) | death_place = New Orleans, Louisiana | death_cause = | resting_place = Lafayette Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | employer = | occupation = Lawyer, politician | title = | salary = | networth = | term = | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] | boards = | spouse = Laurel Matilda Smith | children = | parents = | relatives = | box_width = }} '''Henry Michael Hyams''' (March 4, 1806 – June 25, 1875) was an American lawyer, planter and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] politician. He served as the seventh [[lieutenant governor of Louisiana]] from 1860 to 1864 under Governor [[Thomas Overton Moore]] during the [[American Civil War]], when Louisiana joined the [[Confederate States of America]]. He was an advocate of [[slavery in the United States]].<ref name="lsulibraries"/>
==Early life== Henry M. Hyams was born on March 4, 1806, in [[Charleston, South Carolina]].<ref name="lsulibraries">[http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/findaid/1392.pdf Louisiana State University Libraries: Hyams (Henry M. and Family) Papers]</ref> His cousin was [[Judah P. Benjamin]] (1811–1884).<ref name="rosenxi">Robert N. Rosen, ''[[The Jewish Confederates]]'', Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2000, p. xi</ref><ref name="elinevans">[[Eli N. Evans]], ''Judah P. Benjamin: The Jewish Confederate'', New York City: Simon and Schuster, 1988, p. 29 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Iv8qYPusXWcC&pg=PA29]</ref><ref name="marcie">Marcie Cohen Ferris, Mark I. Greenberg, ''Jewish Roots in Southern Soil: A New History'', Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2006, p. 109 [https://books.google.com/books?id=fmPthcjNHRoC&pg=PA109]</ref><ref name="isjl">[http://www.isjl.org/louisiana-alexandria-encyclopedia.html Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities - Alexandria, Louisiana], [[Institute of Southern Jewish Life]]</ref>
==Career== Hyams worked for the Canal Bank in [[Donaldsonville, Louisiana]].<ref name="timepicayuneobit">{{cite news|title=Death of Gov. Henry M. Hyams|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/26995048/?terms=%22Henry%2BM.%2BHyams%22|accessdate=August 13, 2017|work=The Times-Picayune|date=June 26, 1875|page=4|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration |location=New Orleans, Louisiana}}</ref> He was admitted to the Louisiana bar in 1830, and he joined the law firm Dunbar and Elgee in [[Alexandria, Louisiana]], becoming one of the first Jews living in Alexandria.<ref name="isjl"/> He also operated a plantation.<ref name="isjl"/>
Hyams moved to [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], in 1853,<ref name="timepicayuneobit"/> where he practised the law.<ref name="lsulibraries"/><ref name="isjl"/> He then served as a clerk of the District Court of [[Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana]]. He was elected to the [[Louisiana State Senate]] as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] in 1855.<ref name="lsulibraries"/> He then served as the [[List of Governors of Louisiana|Lieutenant Governor]] of [[Louisiana]] from 1862 to 1864.<ref name="rosenxi"/><ref name="elinevans"/><ref name="marcie"/><ref name="rosen143">Robert N. Rosen, ''The Jewish Confederates'', Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2000, p. 143</ref><ref>Jonathan D. Sarna, Adam Mendelsohn, ''Jews and the Civil War: A Reader'', New York City: NYU Press, 2010, p. 37 [https://books.google.com/books?id=AXu-Ba49o2QC&pg=PA37]</ref><ref>Samuel S. Hill, ''Religion in the Southern States: A Historical Study'', Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1983, p. 143 [https://books.google.com/books?id=8YglsnWiXJYC&pg=PA143]</ref>
Hyams supported [[slavery in the United States|slavery]].<ref name="lsulibraries"/> Indeed, as early as the 1830s, he joined a [[vigilante]] group to defend the institution of slavery.<ref name="lsulibraries"/>
==Personal life and death== Hyams was an observant Jew.<ref name="rosen143"/> He married Laurel Matilda Smith and had thirteen children. His son, Henry M. Hyams Jr. (1846–1887), became a lawyer and practiced law in New Orleans.<ref>[https://www.lib.lsu.edu/sites/default/files/sc/findaid/1392.pdf Hyams (Henry M. and Family) Papers], ''LSU Libraries Special Collections''</ref>
Hyams died on June 25, 1875, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His funeral was held by Rabbi [[James Koppel Gutheim]], and he was buried in [[Lafayette Cemetery]] in New Orleans.<ref name="obsequiesofthelate">{{cite news|title=Obsequies of the Late Lieut. Gov Henry M. Hyams|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/26995063/?terms=%22Henry%2BM.%2BHyams%22|accessdate=August 13, 2017|work=The Times-Picayune|date=June 28, 1875|page=1|location=New Orleans, Louisiana|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration }}</ref> His obituary in ''[[The Times-Picayune]]'' described him as "a standard-bearer of the ''ancient regime''."<ref name="timepicayuneobit"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=William F. Griffin}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana]]|years=1860-1864}} {{s-aft|after=Benjamin W. Pearce}} {{s-end}}
{{Lieutenant Governors of Louisiana}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyams, Henry M.}} [[Category:1806 births]] [[Category:1875 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century owners of plantations in the United States]] [[Category:American vigilantes]] [[Category:Jewish state legislators in Louisiana]] [[Category:Confederate Jews]] [[Category:Lawyers from New Orleans]] [[Category:Democratic Party Louisiana state senators]] [[Category:Politicians from Alexandria, Virginia]] [[Category:Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina]] [[Category:Politicians from New Orleans]] [[Category:Lawyers from Charleston, South Carolina]] [[Category:Lawyers from Alexandria, Virginia]] [[Category:19th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature]] [[Category:Owners of plantations in Louisiana]]