War of 1812 Ohio Militia Officer, US Congressman. Born in New York, he studied law, and was admitted to the New York State Bar Association in 1803. He then moved to Ohio, was admitted to the Ohio State Bar Association in 1805, and began successful law practice in Chillicothe, Ohio. He became involved in a number of high profile cases, such as being the lead counsel for Nathaniel Massie in 1807 when Massie contended newly-elected Ohio Governor Return J. Meigs was ineligible for the office due to residency requirements he did not meet. Henry Brush argued successfully on Massie’s behalf before the Ohio State Legislature (Meigs would go on to be appointed a Senator from Ohio, then was successfully elected to the Governorship in 1810). When the War of 1812 began Henry Brush was commissioned as Captain and commander of a company of Ohio Militiamen that was raised in Chillicothe. He then led a column of militia tasked with supplying and relieving the forces under Major General William Hull, then under siege in Detroit, Michigan. The column was blocked along the way by a combined force of British Regular soldiers, Canadian Militiamen and Native Americans on August 8, 1812 south of Detroit. His men put up a stout defense while trapped along the Raisin River as several attempted to help them by other American forces we unsuccessful. Informed by British forces that General Hull had surrendered Fort Detroit, Captain Brush refused to believe it and surrender himself, and was eventually were able to retreat with most of the columns stores and supplies. Later in the war he was promoted to Colonel in the Ohio Militia. In 1818 he was elected as a Republican to represent Ohio’s 3rd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, defeating rival Levi Barber for the seat. Serving from 1819 to 1821, during his term in Congress Henry Brush served as chairman on the House Committee on Expenditures of the Department of War. He ran again for the seat in 1820, but was defeated by Levi Barber in the election. He then returned Chillicothe, where he maintained his private law practice until 1830. In May of that year he was appointed as an Associate Justice to the Ohio State Supreme Court to fill a vacancy, serving in that duty until December 1830. He was very active during the 1840 Presidential Campaign of William Henry Harrison, hosting events on his behalf in Chillicothe and serving as a Presidential Elector. After his retirement from his law practice in 1844 he moved to farm in Madison County, Ohio, where he passed away at the age of 66 in 1855.