Henry Smith LANE, Congress, IN (1811-1881)

LANE, Henry Smith, a Representative and a Senator from Indiana; born near Sharpsburg, Bath County, Ky., February 24, 1811; received a classical education from private tutors; studied law; admitted to the bar in Mount Sterling, Ky., in 1832 and commenced practice at Crawfordsville, Ind., in 1834; member, State senate 1837; member, State house of representatives 1838-1839; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Tilghman A. Howard; reelected to the Twenty-seventh Congress and served from August 3, 1840, to March 3, 1843; served in the Mexican War at the head of a company he had raised; rose to lieutenant colonel of the First Indiana Regiment; abandoned the profession of law and engaged in the banking business at Crawfordsville, Ind., in 1854; elected Governor of Indiana in 1860; was inaugurated January 14, 1861, and served just two days, when, by previous arrangement, he was elected to the Senate; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1867; chairman, Committee on Engrossed Bills (Thirty-seventh through Thirty-ninth Congresses), Committee on Pensions (Thirty-ninth Congress); served as special Indian commissioner 1869-1871; commissioner for improvement of the Mississippi River in 1872; died in Crawfordsville, Ind., June 18, 1881; interment in Oak Hill Cemetery.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Barringer, Graham. “The Life and Letters of Henry S. Lane.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Indiana, 1927; Sharp, Walter. “Henry S. Lane and the Formation of the Republican Party in Indiana.” Mississippi Valley Historical Review 7 (September 1920): 93-112.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present