State Historical Society of Missouri

GEYER, Henry Sheffie, a Senator from Missouri; born in Frederick, Frederick County, Md., December 9, 1790; was instructed privately; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1811 and practiced law in Frederick; during the War of 1812 served as a first lieutenant in the Thirty-sixth Regiment, Maryland Infantry 1813-1815; settled in St. Louis, Mo., in 1815 and resumed the practice of law; member, Territorial assembly 1818; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1820; member, State house of representatives 1820-1824 and again in 1834-1835, serving as speaker on two occasions; elected as a Whig to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1851, to March 3, 1857; was not a candidate for reelection; resumed the practice of law in St. Louis; attorney for the defendant slave-owner in the Dred Scott case; died in St. Louis, Mo., March 5, 1859; interment in Bellefontaine Cemetery.