Henry N. Couden
Henry Noble Couden (November 21, 1842 – August 22, 1922) was a Universalist minister who was the 54th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives from December 2, 1895, to February 21, 1921. He was the second blind religious leader to serve in this position, the other is William Henry Milburn. Birth He was born on November 21, 1842, in Plymouth, Indiana, the nephew of Noah Noble, governor of Indiana. Civil War Days after the outbreak of the American Civil War, on 16 April 1861, he enlisted in the 6th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving in Company K, with the rank of corporal upon entering and the rank of sergeant upon leaving. He was also a corporal in Company D, 1st Cavalry Battalion, Mississippi Marine Brigade. He was wounded at the Battle of Beaver Dam Lake on May 24, 1863, losing his sight. He described his activity during this battle in a 24 January 1903 letter to Warren D. Crandall, author of History of the Ram Fleet and Mississippi Marine Brigade. Education and ordination He studied at the State School for the Blind in Columbus, Ohio, and the Divinity School of St. Lawrence University. He graduated from St. Lawrence