Henry S. Thibodaux

Infobox Governor


order = 4th
office = Governor of Louisiana
term_start = 1824
term_end = 1824
lieutenant = none
predecessor = Thomas B. Robertson
successor = Henry Johnson
birth_date = 1769
birth_place = Albany, New York
death_date = death date|1827|10|23|mf=y
death_place = Thibodaux, Louisiana
party = Democratic Republican
spouse = Felecité Bonvillain
Bridget Belanger
religion = Catholic

Henry Schuyler Thibodaux (1769-1827) was Governor of Louisiana briefly. Born in Albany, New York the son of Alexis Thibodeaux of Canada, he was orphaned and adopted by General Philip Schuyler - American Revolutionary War hero and father-in-law of Alexander Hamilton. Thibodaux spent his childhood in Scotland.

He arrived in Louisiana in 1794, while it was under the control of the Spanish, and settled on the Acadian coast in St. James Parish. He was married twice, first to Felicité Bonvillian who bore him three children before she died a few years later. Then he married Bridgette Belanger with whom who had five children; one of whom was Bannon Goforth Thibodeaux, a Democrat Member of Congress in the 1840s.

Thibodaux moved to Lafourche Parish when he received a land grant from Spanish Governor Baron de Carondelet and later was elected Justice of the Peace and to the Territorial Legislature. From 1812-1824, Thibodaux was a State Senator representing Lafourche Parish and was President of the State Senate in 1824 when Governor Thomas B. Robertson resigned to become a federal judge. Thibodaux became Acting Governor until Henry Johnson was elected.

Governor Thibodaux was running again for Governor in 1827 when he died on October 24 while campaigning near Bayou Terrebonne. He is interred at Halfway Cemetery in Schriever, Louisiana. The city of Thibodaux, Louisiana is named after Henry S. Thibodaux.

External links

* [http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/362/Default.aspx State of Louisiana - Biography]
* [http://la-cemeteries.com/Governors/Thibodaux,%20Henry%20Schuyler/Thibodaux,%20Henry%20Schuyler.shtml Cemetery Memorial] by La-Cemeteries
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