Henry C. Hansbrough

American politician (1848–1933)

Henry Clay Hansbrough (January 30, 1848November 16, 1933) was a United States politician who served as the first United States Representative from North Dakota, as well as a Senator from North Dakota.

Henry Clay Hansbrough was born in the historic Creole House in the village of Prairie du Rocher, Illinois. Henry Clay, who attended the wedding for his parents Elisha Hansbrough and Sarah Hagan, suggested to them that they name their first son after him, and they did. Henry attended the common schools, but his school was interrupted by the Civil War and was forced to close. In 1867, the family moved to San Jose, California. He learned the art of printing and worked at the trade in San Jose and later at Baraboo, Wisconsin. He was employed at one time at the San Jose Daily Independent and the San Francisco Chronicle. The two owned rival newspapers. Hansbrough owned the Devils Lake Inter Ocean and Creel owned the Devils Lake Pioneer Press. As a Republican in D. C., Hansbrough became friends with Theodore Roosevelt, another prominent member of the party. In 1928, he supported the Democratic candidate, Alfred E. Smith, over the Republican candidate, Herbert Hoover. Before his death in 1933, Hansbrough was also a supporter of President Franklin Roosevelt's farm programs during the Great Depression. Hansbrough resumed his former business pursuits in Devils Lake following his unsuccessful reelection and moved to Florida, New York, and finally to Washington, D. C., in 1927, where he died in 1933.

In 1933, Hansbrough visited his friend U. S. Senator Gerald Nye. Hansbrough requested Nye, upon his death, to scatter his ashes under an elm tree on the United States Capitol Grounds in Washington, D. C. Although it was not allowed, Nye fulfilled his friend’s request after he died, making Hansbrough the only person to have a final resting place on Capitol Hill.