Henry N. Couden
Henry Noble Couden | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 21, 1842 |
| Died | August 22, 1922 (aged 79) Fort Myer, Virginia, US |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Education | St. Lawrence University |
| Occupation | Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives |
| Spouse(s) | Lydia Jane Dickinson Harriet Dunbar |
| Children | 2 |
Henry Noble Couden (November 21, 1842 – August 22, 1922) was a Universalist minister who was the 54th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives from December 2, 1895 to February 21, 1921. He was the second blind religious leader to serve in this position, the other is William Henry Milburn.
Birth[]
He was born on November 21, 1842, in Plymouth, Indiana, the nephew of Noah Noble, governor of Indiana.[1]
Civil War[]
Days after the outbreak of the American Civil War, on 16 April 1861,[2] he enlisted in the 6th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving in Company K, with the rank of corporal upon entering and the rank of sergeant upon leaving.[3] He was also a corporal in Company D, 1st Cavalry Battalion, Mississippi Marine Brigade. He was wounded at the Battle of Beaver Dam Lake on May 24, 1863, losing his sight.[2] He described his activity during this battle in a 24 January 1903 letter to Warren D. Crandall,[4] author of History of the Ram Fleet and Mississippi Marine Brigade.[2]
Education and ordination[]
He studied at the State School for the Blind in Columbus, Ohio, and the Divinity School of St. Lawrence University. He graduated from St. Lawrence in 1878[2] and was ordained to the Universalist ministry that same year.[5]
Career[]
Universalist minister[]
After his ordination, he served churches in Madrid, New York; Willoughby, Ohio; Chatham, Massachusetts; and Port Huron, Michigan.[2]
Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives[]
He became chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1895 and served in that post for 25 years, until February 21, 1921.[5]
A collection of his daily opening prayers for the 62nd Congress was issued in 1913. In his foreword, Rep. Champ Clark praised Couden's "prayers of excellent character, in both form and matter ... full of piety, sympathy, and philanthropy ... voiced in choice English".[6]
Other service[]
He was a member of the board of directors of the Aid Association for the Blind of the District of Columbia.[7] He served in post and departmental chaplaincies for the Grand Army of the Republic[2] and as the chaplain for the Society of Marine Brigade Survivors.[8]
Death[]
He died on August 22, 1922, at his residence at Fort Myer, Virginia, of bronchial pneumonia, after a nine-month illness.[5] He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.[9] along with his second wife, Harriet Dunbar Couden, and one of his two sons, Henry N. Couden, Jr.
References[]
- ^ Olstrom, Clifford E (2011). Undaunted by Blindness. eBookIt.com. p. 320.
- ^ a b c d e f Crandall, Warren Daniel; Isaac Denison Newell (1908). History of the Ram Fleet and the Mississippi Marine Brigade. St. Louis, MO: Buschart Brothers. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
- ^ "Soldiers and Sailors Database" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
- ^ "A0339 – Warren D. Crandall ( –1919) Research Collection, 1863–1922" (PDF). Retrieved 4 June 2012.
- ^ a b c "Rev. Dr. H. N. Couden Dead" (PDF). New York Times. 23 August 1922. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
- ^ Couden, Henry N. (1913). Prayers Offered at the Opening of the Daily Sessions of the House of Representatives During the Sixty-second Congress of the United States (62nd Congress: 3d Session, House Documents, Vol. 126 ed.). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. p. 137. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
- ^ Annual Report of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia – Year Ended June 30, 1908, Vol. I. Government Printing Office. 1908.
- ^ Crandall, W. D. (October 1908). "Officers of the Society for 1908–9". The Ram Fleet Recorder and Mississippi Marine Brigade Historian (27). Retrieved 4 June 2012.
- ^ "Burial Detail: Couden, Henry N. (Section 15C, Grave 696)". ANC Explorer. Arlington National Cemetery. (Official website).
External links[]
Media related to Henry N. Couden at Wikimedia Commons- "Henry Noble Couden". at ArlingtonCemetery•net. (Unofficial website).
- 1842 births
- 1922 deaths
- 19th-century Christian universalists
- 20th-century Christian universalists
- Theological School of St. Lawrence University alumni
- Chaplains of the United States House of Representatives
- Clergy of the Universalist Church of America
- People from Plymouth, Indiana
- Blind clergy
- Blind people from the United States
- Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
- Grand Army of the Republic officials