John Henry

John Henry ( – 1853) was a spy and adventurer of mysterious origins. He sold documents called the Henry letters to the United States suggesting treason by Federalists on the eve of the War of 1812 with Great Britain. The Henry letters helped build outrage against Britain which led to the United States declaring war in June 1812.

Early life It is reputed that Henry was born to a well to do family in Dublin, Ireland, probably in the 1770s. (One source states his age in 1812 was 36 indicating he was born about 1776.)

As a younger son, Henry was not entitled to an inheritance and, about 1790, left for the United States to join an elderly uncle named Daniel McCormick, Esq. in New York. (Some sources say his name was McGillivary, others Keane.)

Henry was described as being 5 feet 9 inches tall, blonde and "very handsome".

His disclosures, although considered by some to be fraudulent, were believed by President Madison and his Republican Party. They were made the subject of a special message to Congress, and created much excitement throughout the country. Some Federalists alleged that it was all a political trick that had been devised by the President to cause war with Great Britain.

Historians have been sharply critical of Madison. Richard Leopold wrote, "In buying sight unseen, in February, 1812, the worthless Henry letters at the cost of a badly needed frigate in order to expose the supposed intrigues of the New England Federalists, Madison and Secretary of State Monroe looked like fools as well as knaves."

Later life The last known report of Henry was that he was employed in 1820 by King George IV to spy on the king's wife, Caroline of Brunswick, while she was living in Rome. George was eager to divorce Caroline because of her suspected adultery of which proof was needed to obtain a legal divorce. Details of Henry's later life are few, but he is believed to have died in Paris in 1853.

Family Henry married Elizabeth Sophia Duché (born on September 18, 1774, in Philadelphia) on May 23, 1799, at Christ Church in Philadelphia. She was the daughter of Reverend Jacob Duché - a once-prominent Episcopal priest at Christ Church and the first official chaplain of the Continental Congress who later went over to the British side and was convicted of high treason against the state of Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth bore him two daughters, Sophia-Duché Henry (b. 1799, d. about 1829) and Elisabeth-Blois Henry (b. 1802, d. after 1882), prior to her untimely death on December 11, 1808, in Montreal at the age of 34.

Elisabeth-Blois Henry married (who later became a brigadier general in the French army and served in the Franco-Prussian War) on February 24, 1844, in Nantes, France.

When John Henry died, his daughter Elisabeth-Blois inherited his fortune estimated at 319,836 francs. With half of this sum, Elisabeth-Blois and her husband Adolphe de Chanal bought the in the department of Corrèze in France.