Henry Southard (October 7, 1747 – May 22, 1842) was a

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from the state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Southard was born in Hempstead, Long Island, New York. He moved with his parents to

Basking Ridge, New Jersey Basking Ridge is an unincorporated community located within Bernards Township in the Somerset Hills region of Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the population for the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) 07920 w ...

in 1755, where he attended the common schools and worked on a farm. Later, Southard served as a private and later as wagon master during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. After the war, he engaged in agriculture, before serving as a Justice of the Peace from 1787 to 1792. Later, he served as a member of the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

, from 1797 to 1799 and again in 1811. He was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the

7th United States Congress The 7th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1801, ...

and to the four succeeding Congresses, where he served from March 4, 1801 to March 3, 1811. During the 11th Congress, Southard was Chairman of the Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business. He was later elected to the 14th, 15th, and

16th 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

Congresses, serving from March 4, 1815 to March 3, 1821. After leaving Congress for good, Southard returned to farming. He died in Basking Ridge in Somerset County, New Jersey, and was interred in Basking Ridge Cemetery. Henry Southard was the father of Isaac Southard and

Samuel Lewis Southard Samuel Lewis Southard (June 9, 1787June 26, 1842) was a prominent American statesman of the early 19th century, serving as a U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, and the tenth governor of New Jersey. He also served as President pro tempore of the ...

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1747 births 1842 deaths Members of the New Jersey General Assembly Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey Politicians from Somerset County, New Jersey {{NewJersey-politician-stub