Henry, Jacob

ca. 1775–October 1847

Jacob Henry, legislator, was the son of Joel and Amelia Henry. His birthplace is not known, but by the time of the 1790 census Jacob, then under age sixteen, and his parents were living in Carteret County. The family enslaved eight people.

Despite the fact that the North Carolina constitution of 1776 forbade the holding of public office by those who denied the "truth of the Protestant religion" or the "divine authority" of the New Testament, Henry, a Jewish person, was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons in 1808 and reelected in 1809. On 5 December, soon after the beginning of his second term, Hugh C. Mills, a member from Rockingham County, cited the constitution in declaring that Henry was not qualified as he "denies the divine authority of the New Testament, and refused to take the oath prescribed by law for his qualification." The house resolved itself into a committee of the whole with Thomas Love, of Haywood County, presiding; no proof was presented to support the charges and the resolution was rejected. Henry continued to hold his seat. At the time of the 1810 census Henry was living in the town of Beaufort, Carteret County, but by 1820 he had moved to Charleston, S.C.

In 1801 he married Esther Whitehurst, and they were the parents of at least seven children: Denah, Joel, Philip Jacob, Samuel, Judah (Judith), Cordelia, and Sarah. Esther died in Charleston in July 1823; Henry's mother died there in June 1825. Henry also died in Charleston and probably was buried alongside his wife and mother in the local Hebrew cemetery.