In the 1820s, a number of young men took to the newly opened Santa Fe Trail in search of fame or fortune. Henry Connelly was one of those men, and his contributions to New Mexico were significant.
Henry Connelly was born in 1800 in what is now Spencer County, Kentucky. An Irish Roman Catholic, he received a medical degree from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, then practiced medicine and ran a store in Liberty, Clay County, Missouri beginning in 1820. In 1824, he left both his store and his medical practice behind to join a trading party bound for Santa Fe. From there, he went south and took a job as a clerk in a store in Chihuahua, Mexico. By 1830, he had bought out the owner of the store. He married a local woman and began a family. He frequently traveled on business between Chihuahua, Missouri, and New Orleans.
Henry Connelly was born in 1800 in what is now Spencer County, Kentucky. An Irish Roman Catholic, he received a medical degree from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, then practiced medicine and ran a store in Liberty, Clay County, Missouri beginning in 1820. In 1824, he left both his store and his medical practice behind to join a trading party bound for Santa Fe. From there, he went south and took a job as a clerk in a store in Chihuahua, Mexico. By 1830, he had bought out the owner of the store. He married a local woman and began a family. He frequently traveled on business between Chihuahua, Missouri, and New Orleans.
José Francisco Chaves Sometime in the late 1840s, Connelly’s wife died. He started over by moving north to Peralta, a village about 17 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. There, he operated an extremely successful trading business. He also integrated himself into the ruling class by marrying his second wife. Delores Perea was the widow of Don Mariano Chaves, one of the governors of New Mexico under Mexican rule. Her son, José Francisco Chaves, would grow up to serve as delegate from the New Mexico Territory in the United States House of Representatives during 1865 to 1871.
In August 1846, as part of the Mexican-American War, General Stephen Watts Kearney invaded New Mexico. Connelly served as an intermediary between Kearny’s emissary, James W. Magoffin, and New Mexico’s Mexican-appointed Governor, Manuel Armijo. Magoffin, an American trader who traded along the Santa Fe trail, was brother-in-law to the famous diarist Susan Shelby Magoffin. Together, Magoffin and Connelly helped prepare the way for Kearny’s bloodless capture of Santa Fe, which led to New Mexico acquiring territorial status.
In May of 1850, New Mexico attempted to attain statehood. A constitutional assembly convened and ratified a state constitution by and overwhelming 6,771 votes to 39. The constitution was adopted in June, and Henry Connelly, who was absent from New Mexico at the time, was elected governor. However, the military governor, Colonel John Munroe, forbade the elected officials to assume power. Then, on September 9th, U.S. Senate passed the Compromise of 1850, which included an act to organize New Mexico as a territorial government, making null the vote of the constitutional convention. Not becoming Governor did not stop Connelly, however. In the following year he was elected to the upper house, the Territorial Council, an office he continued to hold through 1859. He was also part of the partnership in the New Mexican Railway Company, which planned to build a transcontinental railroad through the southern portion of New Mexico in 1860. The start of the Civil War put the railroad plans on hold. When the railroad finally entered New Mexico in 1880, it followed a more northerly route.
In May of 1850, New Mexico attempted to attain statehood. A constitutional assembly convened and ratified a state constitution by and overwhelming 6,771 votes to 39. The constitution was adopted in June, and Henry Connelly, who was absent from New Mexico at the time, was elected governor. However, the military governor, Colonel John Munroe, forbade the elected officials to assume power. Then, on September 9th, U.S. Senate passed the Compromise of 1850, which included an act to organize New Mexico as a territorial government, making null the vote of the constitutional convention. Not becoming Governor did not stop Connelly, however. In the following year he was elected to the upper house, the Territorial Council, an office he continued to hold through 1859. He was also part of the partnership in the New Mexican Railway Company, which planned to build a transcontinental railroad through the southern portion of New Mexico in 1860. The start of the Civil War put the railroad plans on hold. When the railroad finally entered New Mexico in 1880, it followed a more northerly route.
William Carr Lane New Mexico was a territory whose loyalties were in question during the Civil War. The Compromise of 1850 had allowed New Mexico Territory to choose its own stance on slavery by popular sovereignty. In 1859, New Mexico passed the Act for the Protection of Slave Property. The Federal and Army officers in the Territory had been appointed by President Buchanan and were often openly sympathetic to the Southern Cause. The Territorial Governor, William Carr Lane, and Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court, Grafton Baker, both owned black slaves. By July 1861, the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles under Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor had already captured the southern New Mexico town of Mesilla and proclaimed the lower half of New Mexico was now the Confederate Territory of Arizona. When Abraham Lincoln became president, he had to move quickly to secure the territory for the North. One of the things he did was to name Henry Connelly as governor of New Mexico on September 4, 1861. Connelly was chosen because of his strong Republican sympathies and because of his long-standing ties with native New Mexicans: being Roman Catholic and married to a Hispanic from a prominent local family gave him enough acceptance that he was reappointed in 1864.
One of Connelly’s first acts was to begin working to repeal the 1859 Act for the Protection of Slave Property. He also began working to help the territory protect itself. Within the first week after his inauguration, Connelly contacted every county in the territory, urging the establishment of a militia, or home guard. Connelly knew that the enemy, Texans serving in the Confederate Army under Brigadier General H.H. Sibley, were intent on continuing up the Rio. Unfortunately, too little time to train and the fact that many New Mexicans did not speak English made integrating them into the army a difficult proposition.
One of Connelly’s first acts was to begin working to repeal the 1859 Act for the Protection of Slave Property. He also began working to help the territory protect itself. Within the first week after his inauguration, Connelly contacted every county in the territory, urging the establishment of a militia, or home guard. Connelly knew that the enemy, Texans serving in the Confederate Army under Brigadier General H.H. Sibley, were intent on continuing up the Rio. Unfortunately, too little time to train and the fact that many New Mexicans did not speak English made integrating them into the army a difficult proposition.
Of the 4,000 men Colonel R.H.S. Canby, the Commander of the Military Department of New Mexico, had at Fort Craig, only 1,200 were regular army troops. The rest were part of the volunteers that Connelly had organized. At the February 1862 Battle of Valverde, Confederate Colonel Tom Green ordered his men to charge the battery of guns commanded by Captain Alexander McRae, the Union regulars broke and ran, which caused the volunteers to flee in panic. They took refuge in the fort, where Governor Connelly witnessed the rout. Concerned that Albuquerque was defenseless and would soon be taken by rebels, he slipped quietly out of Fort Craig and rode north, advising ranchers and small farmers to gather their sheep and cattle and conceal them in the mountains. By March he had abandoned Santa Fe and moved the territorial capital north, to Las Vegas, New Mexico. After their defeat at Glorieta Pass, the Confederates retreated south, pausing at Connelly’s ranch in Peralta to drink up the contents of his wine cellar and eat much of his herd. The artillery battle between the occupying Confederates and Canby’s Army destroyed much of the property.
When the Confederate threat ended in April 1862, Connelly turned his attention to the threat of raiding Native Americans. He supported General Carleton’s round up of Apaches and Navajos, who were given the choice of moving to the Bosque Redondo Reservation or death. Ultimately, this plan failed, but not before many Navajo, Gila Apache, and Mescalero Apache sent to the reservation at Bosque Redondo died during the bad harvest year of 1865.
Henry Connelly was ill during a good part of his governorship. He was absent from the territory from the fall of 1862 until May 1863 as he tried to recuperate. In his absence, Territorial Secretary William F.M. Arny served as Acting Governor. Connelly finally retired as chief executive on July 16, 1866, then died of an opium overdose less than a month later. He is buried in the San Rosario Cemetery in Santa Fe.
Henry Connelly was ill during a good part of his governorship. He was absent from the territory from the fall of 1862 until May 1863 as he tried to recuperate. In his absence, Territorial Secretary William F.M. Arny served as Acting Governor. Connelly finally retired as chief executive on July 16, 1866, then died of an opium overdose less than a month later. He is buried in the San Rosario Cemetery in Santa Fe.
Jennifer Bohnhoff is a former educator who lives and writes in the mountains of central New Mexico. Where Duty Calls, the first in Rebels Along the Rio Grande, a trilogy of middle grade historical fiction novels set in New Mexico during the Civil War, was scheduled for publication on June 14, 2022 from Kinkajou Press.
