The Semi-weekly leader. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1905-1941, 1908-03-14
COL. R. II. HENRY ANNOUNCES.
He win Run for Congress in John
Sharp Williams District.

Col. r. Il. Henry, editor of the
Clarion Ledger, and one of the
best-known journalists in the
United States, last week formally
announced his candidacy for the
seat in congress now occupied by
Hon. John Sharp Williams. who
will retire at the expiration of
his present term.
The announcement Of Col. Hen
~ is not in the nature Of a sur
prise, as it has been known for
several months that he contem-
plated thn action, and he has re-
ceiVed hundred of letters from his
friends throughout the district
urging him to become an aspirant.
However, his formal announce
ment is of more than passing in
terest, for it means that he will
shortly commence an active and
aggressive campaign, covering the
counties of Kinds. Warren, va
zoo, Rankin and Madison.
Col. Henry is so widely known
throughout Mississippi that to say
anything concerning his personal
life seems nothing short of super
fuous. His long connection with
the field of journalism has brought
him prominently in the public
eye, while the paper over whose
editorial columns he presides has
long been regarded as one of the
foremost in the state. He was
born in Scott county fifty five
years ago, and, like majority of
the successful editors of today,
graduated from the common
schools into a country printing
Office where he learned the art
preservative. He established the
Ledger at Newton in 1871, and in
1875 moved to Brookhaven where
he edited paper until 1888, when
hee moved to Jackson, and has
since resided in that city.
Although be has been promi-
nent in public affairs for more
than twenty years, Col. Henry
has never held any public office
except that of state printer. to
which he was elected by the legis-
lature. holding the Office for a
period of ten years. He perform
ed a notable work in behalf of the
state, as Mississippi commission
er to the Louisiana Purchase Ex-
position at st. Louis, our COM
monwealth capturing fifty-six
prizes on exhibits during that
event. He has attended all demo
cratic national conventions since
Tii4en's nomination in 1876, and
has taken an active and aggressive
in state and national poll
iical contests. Col. Henry is un-
'loubtedly entitled to the dis
tinction of being Mississippi's
original Bryan man, having in
duced the distinguished Nebraskan
to visit this city in 1895, when he
was not even thought of as a pres
idential possibility.
With but three exceptions, Col.
Henry is the oldest editor in
active service in Mississippi, and
a review of his thirty-six years
of journalistic work shows much
to commend, and a great deal that
is deserving of the most unstinted
praise. He is a man of exception
al executive ability and extraor-
dinary energy, often spending
sixteen hours continually at the
editorial desk, yet in spite of his
long period of service in the har-
ness he is Of unusual physical vi
taIity, and when the campaign gets
we'll under way he will undoubt-
edly show some of the younger
candidates q few things in the way
of physical endurance. Personal
ly, he is genial, approachahIe,
affable and whole souled gentle
man, broad minded in his views
on all public questions and his
entry into the campaign means
that the other candidates will have
"a powerful personality to reckon
with.