Henry represented Halifax Co in the House of Delegates 1789-90. From Hening Statutes at Large, p 553, Henry was part of a committee to determine whether Irvins or Boyds Ferry was more acceptable as a tobacco inspection warehouse (13-Oct-1792).

From The Magazine of Albermarle County History - Volume 44 - 1986
"Colonel Henry Embry Coleman (1768-1837) in many respects followed in his father`s footsteps, holding many of the same offices. A handsome, cultured, and distinguished gentleman, he was a wealthy planter with extensive holdings in the county and was prominent in public affairs. He was one of the early students at Hampden-Sydney College which had been founded in 1776. He went on to Princeton, according to family tradition riding horseback accompanied by his Negro body servant. There he was graduated in 1786 from the College of New Jersey, predecessor of Princeton University. He represented Halifax County in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1789 and 1790, when his father was a state senator. He was appointed to two commissions for the improvement of navigation of the Dan and Staunton Rivers, which joined to form the Roanoke. Bateaux regularly plied on these rivers, transporting tobacco and other crops to eastern markets. On 13-June-1795, Henry Embry Coleman married Anne (Nancy) Gordon of Petersburg, daughter of Thomas Gordon and Margaret Murray. For a number of years he served in the county militia, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1806. In the War of 1812 he served as commander of the Sixth
Virginia Militia Regiment stationed in Norfolk. Perhaps the most notable event in his career was his service as juror in the treason trial of Aaron Burr, held in Richmond in August 1807, before Chief Justice John Marshall."