William Wirt Henry

William Wirt Henry (February 14, 1831 - December 5, 1900) was a Virginia lawyer and politician, historian and writer, a biographer of Patrick Henry his grandfather, and who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, and was president of The Virginia Bar Association and the American Historical Association.

Born in Charlotte County, Virginia, Henry graduated from the University of Virginia, and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He served in the Confederate Army. After the War, he moved his practice to Richmond in 1873, and specialized in appellate advocacy, and was elected two terms in the Virginia House of Delegates and a term in the Senate of Virginia.cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9403E3D9103BEF33A2575AC1A96F9C94629ED7CF|title=THE ORATOR OF THE DAY.; Character and Tastes of William Wirt Henry of Virginia|publisher=The New York Times, September 19, 1893|accessmonthday=March 8 |accessyear=2008]

Henry served as president of the American Historical Association in 1891,cite web|url=http://www.historians.org/info/AHA_history/wwhenry.htm|title= Presidential address of William Wirt Henry, 1891|publisher=The American Historical Association|accessmonthday=March 7 |accessyear=2008] and was president of the Virginia Historical Society for 1891-92. [cite web|url=http://www.vahistorical.org/about/annualreport06.pdf|title=Annual Report, 2006|publisher=Virginia Historical Society|accessmonthday=March 7 |accessyear=2008] Henry collected and wrote a three-volume work, "Patrick Henry: Life, Correspondence and Speeches", [cite book
last = Henry
first = William Wirt
title = Patrick Henry: Life, Correspondence and Speeches, vol. 1
publisher = Kessinger Publishing (accessed via Google Books)
date = 2006
isbn = 1428631151] of which the first volume was first published in 1891. Henry also wrote on the trials of Aaron Burr and Jefferson Davis. [cite book
last = Henry
first = William Wirt, et al.
title = The Trial of Aaron Burr and the Trials of Jefferson Davis
publisher = Kessinger Publishing (accessed via Google Books)
date = 2006
isbn = 1428657614] He also wrote widely-cited articles about Captain John Smithcite web|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1958/6/1958_6_28.shtml|title= Was John Smith a Liar?|publisher=American Heritage, October 1958 (citing Wirt)|accessmonthday=March 7 |accessyear=2008] and Sir Walter Raleigh.

Henry served as president of The Virginia Bar Association in 1896-97,cite web|url=http://www.vba.org/history.htm|title= VBA History and Heritage|publisher=The Virginia Bar Association|accessmonthday=March 7 |accessyear=2008] and was a vice-president of the American Bar Association, which included his obituary in its annual report for 1900. [cite book
title = Report of the Twenty-Third Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association
publisher = American Bar Association (accessed via Google Books)] Henry received honorary law degrees from both the College of William & Mary [cite web|url=http://swem.wm.edu/departments/special-collections/exhibits/degrees.pdf|title= Honorary degree recipients|publisher=Swem Library, College of William & Mary|accessmonthday=March 7 |accessyear=2008] and Washington & Lee University.cite web|url=http://ir.wlu.edu/factbook/academicaffairs/honors/honorarydegrees/alphabeticallist.htm|title= Honorary degrees conferred|publisher=Washington & Lee University|accessmonthday=March 7 |accessyear=2008]

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