# Robert L. Henry > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_L._Henry > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_L._Henry.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Henry > Source revision: 1329587392 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American politician For other people named Robert Henry, see [Robert Henry (disambiguation)](/source/Robert_Henry_(disambiguation)). Robert Lee Henry Chairman of the House Rules Committee In office March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1917 Speaker Champ Clark Preceded by John Dalzell Succeeded by Edward W. Pou Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus In office 1905–1907 Preceded by James Hay Succeeded by Henry D. Clayton Jr. Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas In office March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1917 Preceded by George C. Pendleton Succeeded by Tom Connally Constituency 7th district (1897–1903) 11th district (1903–17) Personal details Born (1864-05-12)May 12, 1864 Linden, Texas Died July 9, 1931(1931-07-09) (aged 67) Houston, Texas Party Democratic **Robert Lee Henry** (May 12, 1864 – July 9, 1931) was an American lawyer and politician who served ten terms as a [Democratic](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) member of the [United States House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) from [Texas](/source/Texas) from 1897 to 1917. ## Early life Robert Lee Henry was the great-great-great grandson of [Patrick Henry](/source/Patrick_Henry) and was born in [Linden, Texas](/source/Linden%2C_Texas) on May 12, 1864. While a child, he attended public schools and moved to Bowie County in 1878 and to McLennan County in 1895. He was graduated from [Southwestern University](/source/Southwestern_University) in Georgetown, Texas in 1885. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1886 and practiced for a short time in [Texarkana, Texas](/source/Texarkana%2C_Texas). He was graduated from the [University of Texas](/source/University_of_Texas) at Austin in 1887. ## Political career Henry was elected mayor of Texarkana in 1890 but resigned in 1891. He was then appointed First Assistant to the [Attorney General of Texas](/source/Attorney_General_of_Texas) 1891-1893 and Assistant Attorney General (1893–1896). He settled in [Waco, Texas](/source/Waco%2C_Texas) in 1895 and practiced law. ### Congress In 1896, he was elected as a Democrat to Congress and served ten consecutive terms from 1897 to 1917. From 1905 to 1907, Rep. Henry was Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. He was also Chairman of the House Committee on Rules, serving in that capacity from 1912 to 1917. A strong supporter of [Woodrow Wilson](/source/Woodrow_Wilson) in 1912, Henry was considered a progressive Democrat. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1916, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator. ### Later career He engaged in the practice of law in Waco, and again was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator in 1922 and 1928. He moved to [Houston, Texas](/source/Houston%2C_Texas) in 1923 and resumed the practice of his profession. ## Death and burial Robert L. Henry died in Houston, on July 9, 1931, from a self-inflicted gunshot to his head in an apparent suicide.[1] He was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Texarkana, Texas. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Suicide Ends Career of R.L. Henry in Texas. Ex-Member of Congress, Long a Political Figure, Was Ill and Had Met Reverses"](https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0A15F83C591B728DDDA90994DF405B818FF1D3). *[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)*. July 10, 1931. Retrieved 2008-12-07. ## External links - United States Congress. ["Robert L. Henry (id: H000516)"](http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000516). *[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress](/source/Biographical_Directory_of_the_United_States_Congress)*. - ["Robert Lee Henry"](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7785496). *US Congressman*. [Find a Grave](/source/Find_a_Grave). 22 August 2003. Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Robert Lee Henry](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Robert_Lee_Henry). U.S. House of Representatives Preceded by George C. Pendleton Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 7th congressional district 1897–1903 Succeeded by Alexander W. Gregg Preceded by Rudolph Kleberg Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 11th congressional district 1903–1917 Succeeded by Tom Connally Political offices Preceded by Joseph Gurney Cannon Illinois Chairman of House Rules Committee 1911–1917 Succeeded by Edward W. Pou North Carolina v t e Chairs of the United States House Committee on Rules (1880–present) Randall Keifer Carlisle Reed Crisp Reed Henderson Cannon Dalzell Henry Pou Campbell Snell Pou Bankhead O'Connor Sabath Allen Sabath Allen Smith Colmer Madden Delaney Bolling Pepper Moakley Solomon Dreier Slaughter Dreier Sessions McGovern Cole Burgess Foxx Authority control databases International VIAF FAST WorldCat National United States People US Congress Other NARA SNAC --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robert L. Henry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Henry) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Henry?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.