Henry M. Shaw

Henry Marchmore Shaw (November 20, 1817 – February 1, 1864) was a Congressional Representative from North Carolina, as well as an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was killed in action, one of a handful of former U.S. Congressmen to perish during the conflict.

Henry M. Shaw was born in Newport, Rhode Island, November 20, 1817. His parents were John Allen and Elizabeth Muchmore Shaw of Newport. His father was a silversmith with interests in the West Indies trade out of Newport. The family moved to North Carolina after his father lost ships and a good portion of his livelihood to the British in the War of 1812. It's said that his brother, Silas Gardner Shaw, took the lighthouse Keeper position at Beavertail Lighthouse (1858-1862, 1863-1869) to avoid fighting against his brother in the war. Their mother died in 1829, Silas at 6 years old was sent back to Newport to live with relatives; Henry stayed in North Carolina with his father. Henry completed preparatory studies and graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1838. He began his medical practice in Indiantown, North Carolina.

He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress (March 4, 1853–March 3, 1855). Shaw was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Thirty-fourth Congress. He was elected to the Thirty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1857–March 3, 1859) and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Thirty-sixth Congress.

Henry Debated "The Kansas Question" in April 1858; his brother Silas would take the government job at Beavertail Lighthouse in December of that same year. He was a vocal secessionist who called for North Carolina’s secession from the Union even prior to Lincoln’s election in 1860. He signed the North Carolina Ordinance of Secession on May 21 of 1861 with a quill pen he made especially for that purpose. The pen is on display at the North Carolina Museum of History located in Raleigh. The North Carolinians had convened the day before, marking the 86th anniversary of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.

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