Henry Hastings Sibley
| Henry Hastings Sibley | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 1st Governor of Minnesota | |
|
In office May 24, 1858 – January 2, 1860 |
|
| Lieutenant | William Holcombe |
| Preceded by |
Samuel Medary as Territorial Governor |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Ramsey |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota Territory's at-large district |
|
|
In office July 7, 1849 – March 3, 1853 Delegate |
|
| Preceded by | New district |
| Succeeded by | Henry Mower Rice |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin Territory's at-large district |
|
|
In office October 30, 1848 – March 3, 1849 Delegate |
|
| Preceded by | John H. Tweedy |
| Succeeded by | District abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 20, 1811 Detroit, Michigan |
| Died | February 18, 1891 (aged 79) Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Jane (Hume) Steele |
| Profession | supply-purchasing agent |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
United States of America Union |
| Service/branch |
United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1862–1866 |
| Rank |
 Brigadier General, USV Brevet Major General, USV
|
| Commands | District of Minnesota |
| Battles/wars |
American Civil War Dakota War of 1862 |
Henry Hastings Sibley (February 20, 1811 – February 18, 1891) was the first Governor of the U.S. state of Minnesota and a U.S. Representative of the Minnesota Territory and the Wisconsin Territory.
Henry Hastings Sibley was born in Detroit, Michigan, where his parents, Solomon Sibley (1769–1846), a native of Sutton, Massachusetts, and Sarah Whipple (Sproat) Sibley had moved in 1797. It was part of a major westward migration after the American Revolutionary War by New Englanders. Solomon Sibley became a prominent judge in the early history of the city and state. He was of entirely English ancestry, all of which had been in North America since the early 1600s.
As a young man, Henry Sibley read about and studied law in his father's office to prepare for the bar and licensing.
In 1828, the young Sibley started as a clerk at a mercantile house in Sault Ste. Marie, a prominent fur trading center on both the United States and Canadian sides. From 1829–1834, he worked as a supply-purchasing agent of the American Fur Company at Mackinac. In 1834, Sibley became a partner in the company and relocated to their headquarters in St. Peter's (now called Mendota), Minnesota. He lived there from 1834–1862.
In 1836, Sibley built the first stone house in Minnesota, which is now the Sibley House Historic Site. The home, in Mendota, overlooked Fort Snelling from across the Mississippi River. Over the winter of 1839-40 he entered a de facto marriage with Red Blanket Woman, granddaughter of a Mdewakanton Dakota chief; a daughter, Helen Hastings Sibley, also known as Wahkiyee (Bird), was born in August 1841. The circumstances of Sibley and Red Blanket Woman's relationship are obscure, but several sources suggest that she remarried a Dakota man, perhaps in 1842, and died in early 1843.
...
Wikipedia