Manoah Henry

Manoah Vaughan Henry (born February 8, 1848 in Brown's Valley Blount County; died December 30, 1935 in Birmingham) was a teacher, state legislator and Jefferson County Treasurer.

Henry enlisted into the Confederate Army when he turned 16 in 1865. He served in Major John R. Stuart's Battalion of Alabama Cavalry, and was taken prisoner at Selma. After returning home he completed his education, graduating from the Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1871.

Henry was a long-time educator. He taught at Oak Grove School for five years before moving to Birmingham in 1874. He co-founded the Bellevue Academy in 1883 and taught there for 20 years. He also served on the first board of trustees for the East Lake Atheneum in 1890 and served as president of the Seventh District Agricultural School (now Albertville High School) in Albertville, Marshall County. Henry was often given the title of "Professor" throughout his public career.

He was elected to the Alabama State House of Representatives in 1889 and was remembered for sponsoring the first state law to protect the health of coal miners and for sponsoring a bill the provided for local taxes to support public schools. After his two-year term he pursued real estate investments, before being elected County Treasurer in 1916. He was re-elected in 1920 and 1924. He also served as a steward of Wesley Chapel Methodist Church.

Henry had five children by his first wife, the former Mary Helen Baker of Danville, Morgan County, and four more with his second wife, the former Fannie Cochran of Albertville. His daughter Virginia Mayfield was the first female Circuit Court judge in Alabama.

Henry died in December 1935 and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery.

References

• "M. V. Henry Dies; Former Legislator" (December 31, 1935) Montgomery Advertiser