Warmoth, Henry Clay, carpetbagger, Reconstruction governor, planter, businessman. Born McLeansboro, Hamilton County, Ill., May 9, 1842; son of Isaac Sanders Warmoth and Eleanor Lane. Attended village schools in Fairfield, Wayne County, worked as typesetter and read law locally. Removed to Lebanon, Mo., in 1860; admitted to Missouri bar the same year. Civil War service in Union Army: lieutenant colonel in Thirty-second Missouri; assigned to the staff of Maj. Gen. John A. McClernaud during Vicksburg campaign, wounded in action; dishonorably discharged by U.S. Grant, reinstated by Lincoln; rejoined his regiment and commanded at Lookout Mountain; reinforced General Banks during Red River retreat; served as judge of the provost court, Department of the Gulf, New Orleans, 1864; left the army and opened a law office in New Orleans in early 1865; took the lead in organizing Louisiana Grand Army of the Republic, chosen first Grand Commander in 1868. Political career as Republican: unofficial “Territorial delegate” to Congress, 1865; first Reconstruction governor, 1868-1872; state representative, 1877-1879; member of constitutional convention of 1879; Republican candidate for governor in 1888; collector of customs, New Orleans, 1890-1893. Married, May 30, 1877, Sally Durand of Neward N.J., daughter of James M. Durand. Three Children: Frank Sheridan, Reinette Lester, and Carroll Kennon. Business career: invested in Magnolia Plantation in early 1870s and became sole owner after Reconstruction; helped organize the Magnolia Sugar Refining Co., a consolidation of eight plantations; investigated beet-sugar industry in France and Germany in 1884 as official representative of U.S. Department of Agriculture; Washington lobbyist for Louisiana Sugar Planters’ Organization in 1890s. Died, New Orleans, September 30, 1931; interred Metairie Cemetery.

[Narrative taken from "A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography"]