History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Bernhart Henn
BERNHART HENN was born in 1820 at Cherry Valley, New York. He secured a good education and in 1839 came to Iowa, locating at Burlington where he was a clerk in the United States Land Office. In 1844 Mr. Henn was appointed Register of the United States Land Office which had been removed to Fairfield. After serving four years he was elected to Congress on the Democratic ticket from the First District. He was reëlected, serving four years. In 1853 he organized the firm of Henn, Williams & Company, which was extensively engaged in banking and real estate business in different parts of the State. This company laid out a portion of Fairfield and was among the original proprietors of Fort Dodge. Mr. Henn was a gifted writer and a frequent contributor to the Burlington Gazette. Although never a member of the State Legislature or a Constitutional Convention, Mr. Henn exercised wide influence in framing laws and shaping public policy in the early history of the Territory and State. He was an ardent Democrat of the old school and long one of the political leaders of the State. He died at Fairfield August 31, 1868.