Background
Henry Cornelius Burnett was on 25 November 1825 in Essex County, Virginia, United States. He was the son of Dr. Isaac Burnett and his wife, the former Martha F. Garrett. The family moved to Kentucky when Henry was a child.
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Henry Cornelius Burnett was on 25 November 1825 in Essex County, Virginia, United States. He was the son of Dr. Isaac Burnett and his wife, the former Martha F. Garrett. The family moved to Kentucky when Henry was a child.
In Kentucky, Henry Cornelius Burnett attended the common schools and an academy at Hopkinsville.
Henry Cornelius Burnett was admitted to the bar in Cadiz in 1847.
From 1850 to 1852, he was a clerk of the circuit court. He was a Democratic candidate for Congress in 1854 but dropped out of the race after making a deal with his opponent, Linn Boyd, who agreed not to seek another term. Burnett was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1855. Burnett's actions were deemed treasonable by his colleagues in Congress, and he was expelled from the House in 1861. He was one of only five members of the House of Representatives ever to be expelled.
Henry Cornelius Burnett originally opposed, but later supported, Kentucky’s secession in 1861. Burnett volunteered for duty in the Confederate Army, fighting at Fort Donelson as a colonel in the 8th Kentucky Infantry. He was elected to the Confederate state legislature of Kentucky and served in the provisional and first and second Confederate Senates from 1861 to 1865.
He supported the Davis administration throughout the war. A severe critic of Braxton Bragg, Burnett belonged to that western clique of congressmen who urged the administration to invade Kentucky. He served on the Finance, Building, Claims, Commerce, Conference, Judiciary, Naval Affairs, and many special committees while in the Senate.
After the war, Henry Cornelius Burnett returned to his law practice.
Henry Cornelius Burnett was a member of the Cadiz Christian Church.
Henry Burnett was elected as a Democrat to the 34th Congres. He was re-elected to the three succeeding Congresses. During the 35th Congress, he chaired the Committee of Enquiry regarding the sale of Fort Snelling and served on the Committee on the District of Columbia.
Burnett supported fellow Kentuckian John C. Breckinridge for president in the 1860 presidential election, but Breckinridge lost to Abraham Lincoln. Burnett was for the expansion of slavery beyond the states in which it already existed.
Quotes from others about the person
"a big, burly, loud-mouthed fellow who is forever raising points of order and objections, to embarrass the Republicans in the House." - George D. Prentice
On April 13, 1847, Henry Cornelius Burnett married Mary Amanda Terry, the daughter of a prominent Cadiz merchant. Their children were John, Emeline, Henry, and Terry.