Henry Riggs Rathbone

:"For his father, see Henry Reed Rathbone."Infobox Congressman
name=Henry Riggs Rathbone

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width=220px
state=Illinois
district=27th
party=Republican
term=March 4, 1923 – July 15, 1928
preceded=Winnifred Sprague Mason Huck
succeeded=Ruth Hanna McCormick
date of birth=birth date|1870|2|12|mf=y
place of birth=Washington, D.C., U.S.
date of death=death date and age|1928|7|15|1870|2|12|mf=y
place of death=Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
spouse=
religion=
profession=Politician, Lawyer
footnotes=

Henry Riggs Rathbone (February 12, 1870 – July 15, 1928) was a congressman from Illinois. His parents were present at Abraham Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865. Coincidentally, he was born on what would have been Lincoln's 61st birthday.

Born in Washington, D.C. to Major Henry Reed Rathbone and Clara Harris, the daughter of U.S. Senator, Ira Harris, he moved to Hanover, Germany with his family in 1882 when his father was appointed Consul to Kingdom of Hanover. The next year, Major Rathbone murdered young Henry's mother and tried to kill himself as well. Major Rathbone was admitted to an asylum for the criminally insane in Hildesheim and Henry and his siblings were brought back to the United States to be raised by their uncle, William Harris.

Despite the heartbreaking tragedy concerning his parents, Rathbone managed to graduate from Phillips Academy in 1888, from Yale University in 1892, and from the Law Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1894. He was admitted to the Bar in 1895, and commenced practicing law in Chicago, Illinois.

Rathbone later became involved in politics. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1916 which nominated Charles Evans Hughes for the presidency. He was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1922, and served from 1923 until his death in 1928. He was interred in Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7671231 Henry Riggs Rathbone] at Find A Grave