Henry Clay Hansbrough was born in the historic Creole House in the village of Prairie du Rocher, Illinois.

[1] Henry Clay, who attended the wedding for his parents Elisha Hansbrough and Sarah Hagan, suggested to them that they name their first son after him, and they did.

Hansbrough was a strong advocate for dividing Dakota Territory and admitted the two halves as separate states into the Union, which eventually happened on November 2, 1889.

[6] Hansbrough resumed his former business pursuits in Devils Lake following his unsuccessful reelection and moved to Florida, New York, and finally to Washington, D.C., in 1927, where he died in 1933.

Hansbrough requested Nye, upon his death, to scatter his ashes under an elm tree on the United States Capitol Grounds in Washington, D.C.

Although it was not allowed, Nye fulfilled his friend’s request after he died, making Hansbrough the only person to have a final resting place on Capitol Hill.