From Handbook of Texas Online
Henry Thorp, lawyer and state representative, was born in Greensville County, Virginia, in 1830.
Thorp came to Texas with his older brothers about 1848 and settled in Matagorda County.
Here, he studied law and went into practice with an older brother.
By the early 1850s Thorp was among the prominent lawyers of the community, and as a notary public, he supervised numerous legal transactions in the county.
He was also an officer in the Matagorda Masonic Lodge, No. 7, one of the oldest lodges in the state.
Thorp was elected representative for Wharton and Matagorda counties to the Fifth Texas Legislature and served from November 1853 to November 1855.
In July 1854 he was elected as commissioner for the Ingram School Fund, which supported the county public school.
From 1862 to 1866 Thorp served as the county treasurer.
Afterwards he resumed practice as an attorney and notary public.
Thorp died in Matagorda County on May 2, 1873.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Galveston Tri-Weekly News, May 12, 1873. Matagorda County Historical Commission, Historic Matagorda County(3 vols., Houston: Armstrong, 1986). Legislative Reference Library of Texas: Henry Thorp (http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=5274), accessed July 17, 2014.