Governor Edward Coles Stops Call to Bring Slavery to Illinois
Madison County ILGenWeb Coordinator - Beverly Bauser
"He Saved Illinois From the Curse of Slavery."
Edward
Coles, the second Governor of Illinois, was one of the most
remarkable men of his time, and one whose memory should be
gratefully perpetuated by this commonwealth. He was the Chief
Executive of this State at the most critical period in its
history, and to him is due the honor of saving Illinois from the
withering curse of slavery. We have read with great pleasure a
sketch of his life by 1Hon. Elihu B. Washburne, a book of 250
pages, and propose to give a brief resume of a career which
crowned this State with the material growth and prosperity which
make it today the Empire State of the West. Elected when only
thirty-five years old, after a three years’ residence in the
State of Illinois, removing to Philadelphia six years after his
term expired, and being before the public but a brief time, his
great services have never been fully appreciated.
Edward
Coles was born in 1786 in Albemarle County, Virginia. His father
was a Colonel in the army of the Revolution, and belonged to one
of the most distinguished families of the old Dominion. His
father was a friend and associate of Patrick Henry, Thomas
Jefferson, James Madison, Monroe, and other leading Virginia
statesmen, and it was in this atmosphere of greatness that young
Coles was brought up. Fitted for college by private tutors, he
completed his education at the college of William and Mary.
After leaving the institution, he spent two years in the study
of history and politics, and from his own reading and
observation, became imbued with views and principles
antagonistic to the prevailing opinions in his native State. He
came to regard human slavery as antagonistic to humanity and to
material prosperity, and as a foul blot on the national fame.
Possessed of a polished education, fascinating manners, and fine
personal appearance, his prospects for preferment were
brilliant. His father, dying in 1808, left him a plantation and
many slaves, but the result of the young heir’s study and
reflection was the profound conviction that he could not
reconcile it with his conscience to hold slaves or live in a
State which upheld slavery. While debating in his own mind what
course to pursue, President Madison offered him the position of
his private Secretary, and thinking that contact with public men
in Washington might help him out of his dilemma, he accepted the
office, filling this responsible position in the courtly
administration of President Madison, with the highest
acceptability. His personal acquaintance with ex-President
Thomas Jefferson was intimate, and his correspondence with that
eminent statesman on the subject of human slavery form the most
interesting chapter in early anti-slavery annals. He entreated
Mr. Jefferson to crown his fame as the author of the Declaration
of Independence, by devising some plan “to eradicate this most
degrading feature of British colonial policy,” some plan “to
liberate one-half of our fellow beings from an ignominious
bondage.” Mr. Jefferson’s reply, expressing the most ardent
sympathy with Mr. Coles’ views, contained this remarkable
prophecy:
“The hour of emancipation is advancing with the
march of time. It will come, and whether brought about by the
generous energy of our own minds, or by the bloody process of
San Domingo, is a leaf of our history not yet turned over. As to
the method by which this difficult work is to be accomplished,
if permitted to be done by ourselves, I have seen no proposition
so expedient on the whole as that of the emancipation of those
born after a given day, and of their education and expatriation
at a proper age.”
Mr. Jefferson claimed that he was too
old to undertake the arduous work of leading an emancipation
party, that the enterprise was for the young, “for those who can
follow it up and bear it through to its consummation.” But he
entreated Mr. Coles not to abandon his State, but “to become the
missionary of this doctrine truly Christian.” (How it will shock
our moss-back Democracy to learn that Jefferson was an
abolitionist!) Mr. Coles’ reply was equally able and remarkable,
combating Mr. Jefferson’s objections to entering on the
undertaking by claiming that to effect so difficult an object
“great and extensive powers, both of mind and influence are
required, which can never be possessed in so great a degree by
the young, as by the old.” It was, Mr. Coles claimed, only such
a man as Jefferson, who had the power and ability “to awaken our
fellow citizens from their infatuation to a proper sense of
justice, and to the true interest of their country.” Mr. Coles
spoke of the pain it gave him to contemplate leaving his native
State, but feeling powerless to combat public sentiment, he was
unalterably determined to remove with his slaves to the “country
northwest of the Ohio River.”
In 1815, Mr. Coles resigned
his position as Secretary to the President, and started on an
exploring tour through the northwest, in search of suitable
lands on which to settle his slaves. He traveled through Ohio,
Indiana, and Illinois in a buggy, and finally, on reaching St.
Louis, sent his horses back home by his servant, and descended
the Mississippi to New Orleans, and thence returned by sea to
Virginia. About the time of his arrival, a serious
misunderstanding arose between the United States and Russia, and
it became necessary to send a special ambassador to St.
Petersburg to smooth over the difficulties, if possible.
President Madison selected Mr. Coles for this important and
delicate duty. Although the latter was engaged in making
arrangements to remove to Illinois, he consented at the
President’s earnest request, to accept the mission. The
man-of-war “Prometheus” was detailed to take Mr. Coles to
Russia, and was the first American naval vessel that ever sailed
up the Baltic. Mr. Coles’ mission was completely successful, and
after its conclusion, he visited the various countries of
Europe, all American Ministers and Consuls being directed by
government to show him special attentions. At Paris, he was the
guest a great part of the time of 2General LaFayette.
After his return to America, he continued his preparations for
removal to Illinois, and in 1818 spent the summer at Kaskaskia,
in attendance
on the convention engaged in forming a
constitution for the new State, using his influence to prevent
any recognition of slavery in that instrument. Returning home,
he started for Illinois with all his slaves in the Spring of
1819, intending to free them before reaching his destination.
The moral heroism displayed in this step has few parallels. Here
was a young man, rich, honored, accomplished, deliberately
sundering all social, domestic, and political ties for the sake
of principle; abandoning home, fortune, luxury, refinement, and
a brilliant career for the benefit of his slaves. In New
England, there were, doubtless, at that time some abolitionists,
but they had become such through education in a different
school, and sacrificed nothing in holding anti-slavery
sentiments. But here was a man, born in the atmosphere of
slavery, inheriting a well-stocked plantation, who had become a
practical, not a theoretical, abolitionist, through the force of
his own convictions, and in opposition to his surroundings and
to the social and political ideas of his kindred and friends.
But over that home of ease and luxury was the “trail of the
serpent,” and he shrank from the pollution. He bore with him to
Illinois a flattering letter of introduction from President
Monroe to Illinois Governor Ninian Edwards.
Mr. Coles’
negroes knew nothing of their master’s intentions. Journeying
through Pennsylvania in wagons, they finally embarked in
flatboats on the Ohio River, and one lovely April day, while
floating down the broad river, he called all the negroes
together, made them an address, told them his intentions, and
then announced that they were free, “free as himself,” and at
liberty to go ashore or proceed with him as they pleased. The
slaves were transfixed with astonishment, unable to realize the
import of his words, but at length they burst into tears and
hysterical laughter, and in tremulous voices gave vent to their
gratitude, and implored the blessing of heaven on their
benefactor. It was a strange scene, worthy the brush of a
painter. All refused to leave him, expressing the desire to
remain as his servants until he was comfortably fixed in his new
home. He then announced his intention of giving to each head of
a family 160 acres of land, and starting them comfortably in the
world. This they refused, but he kept his word, and on arriving
at Edwardsville, gave each one a deed to 160 acres of land in
the vicinity of his own farm. He also executed to each an
instrument of emancipation, which was duly recorded. He prefaced
each instrument by setting forth that his father had bequeathed
to him certain negro slaves, and added: “Not believing that man
can have of right a property in his fellow man, but on the
contrary, that all mankind were endowed by nature with equal
rights, I do therefore by these presents restore to (naming the
party) that inalienable liberty of which he has been deprived.”
It may not be out of place to add here, that all the slaves thus
freed proved themselves industrious and useful members of the
community, led creditable lives, and showed themselves worthy of
the generosity of their noble benefactor.
Soon after his
settlement in this county, President Monroe appointed Mr. Coles
Register of the Land Office at Edwardsville, in which position
he soon formed an extended acquaintance, charming all by his
genial manners and winning address, aided likewise by the
prestige of his previous career at Washington, and reputation as
a successful diplomatist.
In 1822 occurred the election
for a successor to Governor Bond. The most prominent candidate
was Chief Justice Phillips. Mr. Coles was brought out in
opposition, and developed such strength in the southeastern part
of the State, that Judge Browne was put in the field to aid
Phillips by taking votes from Coles. Subsequently, General Moore
was also brought out. Phillips and Browne were intensely
pro-slavery. After an exciting contest, the election resulted in
2,810 votes for Coles; 2,760 for Phillips; 2,543 for Browne, and
522 for Moore; Coles receiving a plurality of 50 votes over
Phillips. The result showed that the candidacy of Browne
defeated Phillips. The aggregate vote was largely in favor of
slavery, Mr. Coles being elected by the division among the
pro-slavery men. The pro-slavery men elected their candidate for
Lieutenant Governor, Hubbard, by a large majority, and had
nearly a two-thirds majority in the legislature.
Governor
Coles’ inaugural message was an admirable and far-seeing
document, filled with wise and statesmanlike recommendations. He
advocated the adoption of a sound financial policy; the
development of the agricultural resources of the State; the
construction of a canal connecting Lake Michigan and the
Mississippi; the advancement of education; and implored the
Legislature to abrogate the remnant of slavery that existed in
the State, and also pass just and humane laws in regard to the
negroes. The anti-slavery recommendations had the effect of the
explosion of a bombshell on the pro-slaveryites. A large
majority of the inhabitants of the State were from the south,
and warm friends of slavery. They were thoroughly alarmed by the
message, and resolved to strike for a new constitution that
should permit slavery in the State. In explanation of the
situation, Mr. Washburne says:
“The first constitution
prohibited slavery, and it may be asked how it was possible that
it could exist in Illinois at that time. Illinois was a slave
territory before it was ceded to the United States by Virginia.
The deed of cession provided that ‘the inhabitants of the
territory should have their possessions and titles confirmed to
them, and be protected in their rights and liberties.’ This deed
of cession was executed March 1, 1784. On July 13, 1787,
Congress passed the ordinance providing that there should be
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the northwestern
territory. But the pro-slaveryites contended that this ordinance
of 1787 was in conflict with the deed of cession, and therefore
of no binding effect.”
The early French inhabitants had
held slaves, and still claimed that right as did certain other
settlers from the southern States, and the census of 1820 showed
that there were then 917 negroes held as slaves in the State.
The Legislature at once appointed a committee on that
portion of the Governor’s message relating to slavery, which
committee reported that “the people of Illinois have now the
same right to alter their constitution as the people of
Virginia, or any of the original States, and may make any
disposition of negro slaves they choose without breach of faith
or violation of ordinances, or act of Congress,” and recommended
the calling of a convention to alter the constitution of the
State.
The history of the struggle which then followed to
fasten slavery on the State is of intense interest, and we
regret having to condense it into
a brief statement, leaving out
details, and presenting only the salient points. Under the
existing constitution, no chance could be made in that
instrument, unless submitted to the people by a two-thirds vote
of the Legislature. The pro-slavery men had two-thirds majority
in the Senate, but lacked one vote of having two-thirds in the
House. And then commenced a campaign of unparalleled rancor and
bitterness. The anti-slavery minority, animated by a love of
freedom and supported vigorously by the Governor, fought against
the convention resolution with heroic boldness and resolution.
They stood a Spartan phalanx, unmoved by threats and
intimidation, resisting bribes and persuasion; rising superior
to public clamor, defying a multitudinous lobby influence
gathered at Vandalia from all parts of the State, and smiling
contemptuously at the curses and denunciations showered upon
them. The pro-slaveryites were at their wits’ ends. Failing to
accomplish their object by fair means, they resorted to foul
ones. At the opening of the session, before the convention
resolution came up, there had been a contested election case
from Pike, John Shaw and Nicholas Hansen both claiming the seat
from that county. The contest was decided in favor of Hansen.
The pro-slavery men, after weeks of wrangling, thought they had
obtained the requisite number of votes, but when the matter came
to a vote, Hansen, whom they had counted on their side, voted
against calling a convention. The pro-slavery men were wild with
chagrin and mortification. In their desperation, they resorted
to an outrageous act of injustice and stultification. They,
without any grounds whatever, reconsidered their vote on the
contested election case, unseated Hansen after he had been nine
weeks a member of that body, and seated Shaw. To accomplish
their ends, they violated every law of justice and rode rough
shod over all the rules of parliamentary procedure. Shaw was
their pliant tool. He voted for a convention, and by his aid,
the requisite two-thirds vote was obtained. But this act of
Legislative injustice returned to plague the inventors, and
doubtless, in the subsequent election, cost them the votes of
hundreds of fair minded, although pro-slavery men, who believed
that the call for the convention was illegally issued.
The convention men from all parts of the State were delirious
with joy over their triumph. They assembled in a grand
procession, paraded the streets of Vandalia, insulting the
Governor and all their principal opponents, and held a mad
carnival of riot and uproar. The object was to crush out at once
all opposition. The outlook was gloomy enough. There seemed no
doubt but what the resolution would be carried by the people,
but the heroic Governor Coles and the gallant anti-convention
members resolved to fight the issue out to the bitter end. As
soon as the Legislature adjourned, the Governor invited the
anti-convention men to a consultation. They determined upon
immediate organization to fight against the conspiracy to make
Illinois a slave State. An address to the people was prepared by
Governor Coles, and signed by those members of the Legislature
who voted against the convention. This address, Mr. Washburne
says, “unmasked the purposes of the conspirators to make a slave
constitution, and exposed the disgraceful means used to
accomplish their purposes. It was an impassioned appeal to the
people to arise in their might and save the State from the
impending shame and disaster.” Speaking of slavery, the address
said:
“What a strange spectacle would be presented to the
civilized world to see the people of Illinois, yet innocent of
this great national sin, and in the full enjoyment of all the
blessings of free government, sitting down in solemn convention
to determine whether they should introduce among them a portion
of their fellow beings to be cut off from these blessings, to be
loaded with the chains of bondage, and rendered unable to leave
any other legacy to their posterity than the inheritance of
their own servitude. The wise and the good of all nations would
blush at our political depravity. Our professions of
Republicanism and equal freedom would incur the derision of
despots and the scorn and reproach of tyrants. We should write
the epitaph of free government upon its tombstone.”
“After dwelling,” Mr. Washburne says, “upon the moral aspects of
slavery, and arguing against its introduction as inexpedient for
material and economic reasons, the appeal closes with the
following stirring words by Governor Coles:”
“In the name
of unborn millions who will rise up after us and call us blessed
or accursed according to our deeds, in the name of the injured
sons of Africa, whose claims to equal rights with their fellow
men will plead their own cause against their oppressors at the
tribunal of eternal justice, we conjure you, fellow citizens, to
ponder upon these things!”
This eloquent and thrilling
appeal was signed by fifteen members of the Legislature,
dauntless, defiant, true-hearted men. They were: 3Risdon Moore,
William Kinkade, George Cadwell, Andrew Bankson, Jacob Ogle,
Curtiss Blakeman (Madison County), Abraham Cairnes, William
Lowery, James Sims, Daniel Parker, 4George Churchill (Madison
County), Gilbert T. Pell, David McGahey, Stephen Stillman,
Thomas Mather. Four other members of the Legislature voted
against the convention resolution, viz: Robert Frazier, Raphael
Widen, J. H. Pugh, and Nicholas Hansen (expelled to make place
for Shaw). Their names were not affixed to the appeal, probably
because they had left Vandalia before it was prepared. To sign
this appeal required an amount of moral courage and stamina,
hard to appreciate at this day. Issuing it in the face of a
large pro-slavery majority in the State, the signers not only
risked their own political future, but exposed themselves to
social and business ostracism. As a sample of the rampant
pro-slavery spirit of the time, two of these signers, Risdon
Moore and 4George Churchill, were burned in effigy at Troy,
Madison County, for their anti-slavery sentiments. The signers
to this appeal, who fought the anti-slavery battle in this
State, and did more for Illinois and humanity than even
themselves realized, are worthy of the eternal gratitude of
lovers of liberty everywhere.
The pro-slavery convention
men also issued an address to the people, prepared by a
committee appointed at a public meeting of which Colonel Thomas
Cox of Sangamon was chairman. The signers were John McLean,
afterwards U. S. Senator; Judge T. W. Smith and Emanuel J. West,
both of Madison County; Thomas Reynolds, William Kinney, Colonel
A. P. Field, and Joseph A. Baird. The address endorsed the
action of the Legislature, and advocated the amendment of the
constitution. This document was a weak and tame manifesto
compared with the bold and eloquent appeal of the anti-slavery
men. The issue was now joined, February 1823, and both parties
prepared for a conflict which for the next 18 months, shook the
State from center to circumference, divided families, made
enemies of friends, filled the air with recrimination, and
nearly resulted in civil war. Under the constitution, the vote
could not be taken on the convention resolution until August
1824, when the next General Assembly was elected, so that there
was ample time for preparation. Both sides were bitter,
determined, and defiant. No quarter was given or asked. Governor
Ford in his history says:
“Newspapers, handbills, and
pamphlets were thrown broad cast. These missive weapons of a
fiery contest were scattered everywhere, and everywhere they
scorched and scathed as they flew. The whole people, for the
space of months, did scarcely anything but read newspapers,
handbills, and pamphlets, quarrel, wrangle and argue with each
other whenever they met to hear the violent harangues of their
orators.”
Governor Coles threw himself into the conflict
with all the ardor and impetuosity of his nature, but also with
the cool calculation and ability of the natural leader, drawing
upon himself the utmost hatred of the pro-slaveryites. His
residence at Vandalia was mobbed, civil and criminal
prosecutions were brought against him under an infamous statute,
passed before he entered the State, but not promulgated, which
required persons freeing slaves to give bond that they should
not become a charge on the State. He was sued for libel, was
harassed, traduced, denounced, threatened with personal
violence, even death, but he defied all his enemies and
unflinchingly prosecuted the campaign. He not only devoted the
whole salary of his office to the cause, but drew largely upon
his private means. He perfected a thorough organization of the
anti-convention men throughout the State; he enlisted the
services of the ablest anti-slavery men in the east, notably
Robert Vaux of Philadelphia, to prepare papers and pamphlets,
setting forth the evils of slavery from moral, political, and
material standpoints, and with these documents he flooded the
State. He enlisted the ministry and churches in the crusade; he
kept his own facile and fiery pen busily employed in the
newspapers and in addresses, and in brief, let no means untried
that would arouse the people and convince them of the enormity
of the evil which the pro-slaveryites proposed to inflict upon
the State. There were then but five newspapers in the State –
only one of which was opposed to the convention [the Alton
Telegraph was not established until 1836]. This was the
Edwardsville Spectator, edited by 5Hooper Warren. Governor Coles
and the anti-slavery leaders, early in the contest, purchased,
in addition, the Illinois Intelligencer, published at Vandalia,
and turned its batteries against the convention. Next to
Governor Coles, the man who probably did the most effective work
against the convention was the 6Rev. John M. Peck, the great
Baptist preacher [who founded the Shurtleff College in Upper
Alton], who labored assiduously in the cause throughout the
campaign. He organized the religious element on the anti-slavery
side, and under his inspiration, the pulpit thundered anathemas
against the convention. He organized societies in fourteen
counties under the control of a parent society at his home in
St. Clair. He traveled constantly, preaching a crusade against
slavery. Next to Mr. Peck, in good work accomplished, was Morris
Birbeck of Edwards County, a talented, highly educated
Englishman, a man of note and standing in his own country. He
had become acquainted with Governor Coles in England, and
immigrating to Illinois, he enlisted heart and soul with the
Governor in the great work. Upon the solicitation of Governor
Coles, he employed his ready pen continuously in the preparation
of anti-slavery documents, and in contributions to the
newspapers. Of many others who took an active part against the
convention, especial mention should be made of Judge Samuel D.
Lockwood, David Blackwell, J. H. Pugh, George Forquer, Daniel P.
Cook, Thomas Mather, Henry Eddy, George Churchill, 7Thomas
Lippincott, Hooper Warren, and 8Curtiss Blakeman, the last four
of Madison County.
We will not dwell longer on the
contest. The day of election came, and the vote resulted:
Against the convention – 6,822
For the convention – 4,
950
Majority against – 1,872
Madison County voted:
Against the convention – 563
For the convention – 351
Majority against – 212
The attempt to amend the
constitution was thus defeated, and Illinois was saved from the
leprosy of slavery. To Governor Coles and his noble co-adjutors
be all honor and praise. They “builded better than they knew,”
and to them is due the fact that Illinois is now the Empire
State of the West, the peer of any State in the Union in wealth,
in prosperity and material development, and the home of an
educated, liberty-loving, happy people. And in the great
national struggle for liberty [Civil War], which opened 36 years
later, under another son of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, there
were no braver soldiers than the sons of the anti-convention
leaders, who rallied under Governor Coles.
To give a
commensurate idea of the important bearing this campaign had on
the future prosperity of the State, it may not be inappropriate
to contrast briefly the comparative progress of Illinois and
Missouri during the period from 1820 to 1860. In 1820, Illinois
had a population of 55,162; and Missouri 66,557. In 1860,
Illinois had a population of 1,711,951; and Missouri 1,182,612,
or 529,339 less than Illinois; and of Missouri’s population,
114,931 were slaves. Had Missouri, a slave State, increased at
the same percent, from 1820 to 1860, as Illinois, she would have
had a population in 1860 of 2,450,000, more than double her
actual population at that time. Taking the converse of the
proposition – had Illinois increased from 1820 to 1860 at the
percent of Missouri, her population would have been only
1,098,090 in 1860, or 613,861 less than she increased under a
free constitution. In othe4r words, slavery cost Missouri in 40
years over a million inhabitants, while freedom gained for
Illinois, 613,861 inhabitants. The contrast is startling, but it
is only by such figures that we can appreciate the great work
accomplished by Governor Coles and his associates.
Throughout the remainder of his term, Governor Coles labored
zealously for the development and prosperity of the State, the
advancement of the cause of education, and the general welfare
of the people. In 1825, General LaFayette visited the United
States, and was received at Kaskaskia by Governor Coles, whose
acquaintance he had formed seven years before in Paris, and
welcomed to Illinois. The personal correspondence of these two
great men, between whom there existed a warm, personal
friendship, is of great interest.
Governor Coles
delivered his valedictory message to the Legislature in December
1826. It was mainly devoted to State affairs, and contained an
earnest appeal for the abolition of the infamous black code,
which still disgraced the State, but under the leadership of
Jackson, the pro-slavery party gained strength throughout the
nation, and in Illinois as well. No purer, better, abler, or
more successful administration ever blessed the State than that
of Governor Coles. He gave himself fully and freely to the
service of the people. Retiring from office, he devoted himself
to agriculture on his farm near Edwardsville. Suffering from ill
health, he spent much time at his old home in Virginia, and in
Washington, New York, and Philadelphia. In 1831, he was
nominated for Congress, but the Jackson party [Democrat] was
then largely in the ascendant, and he was defeated by Joseph
Duncan.
In 1832, Governor Coles removed permanently to
Philadelphia, where he was married in 1833 to Miss Sallie Logan
Roberts. He never again entered political life, but always took
much interest in public affairs. Mr. Washburne says: “Possessed
of an ample fortune, his private life seems to have brought him
every charm and surrounded him with every happiness. In person,
he was about six feet in height, and possessed a countenance of
rare beauty. He lived honored, respected, and beloved, to the
good old age of 82, dying in 1868 after many years of
feebleness. He was buried at Woodland near Philadelphia.”
Governor Coles lived to see the nation redeemed from the
curse from which he saved the Prairie State. His widow, his
oldest son, Edward Coles, and a daughter survive him and reside
in Philadelphia. It is an aphorism that “the world knows little
of its greatest men.” Mr. Washburne’s book, in enlightening the
people of Illinois in regard to the life and character of the
man to whom they owe so much of their present prosperity and
happiness, will add new laurels to the fame of its distinguished
author.
Signed 9Wilbur T. Norton
**********
1Hon. Elihu B. Washburne (1816-1887) became a leader of the
Radical Republicans – those most ardently opposed to slavery,
and was among the original proponents of racial equality. After
the Civil War, Washburne advocated that large plantations be
divided up to provide compensatory property for freed slaves. He
served as a member of the House of Representatives from
Illinois, was the 25th U. S. Secretary of State, and was the U.
S. Minister to France. In 1882, after he retired, he published a
biography [much of which the above information was taken from]
of former Illinois governor Edwards Coles and the anti-slavery
movement. Washburne moved to Chicago, and served as president of
the Chicago Historical Society from 1884 to 1887. In 1887, he
published his memoir of his time as a diplomat. His son,
Hempstead, was elected Mayor of Chicago in 1891. Elihu Washburne
died at his son home in Chicago on October 22, 1887. He was
buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Galena.
2General LaFayette (1757-1834) was a French aristocrat and military
officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, commanding
American troops in several battles, including the Siege of
Yorktown. After returning to France, he was a key figure in the
French Revolution of 1789, and the July Revolution of 1830.
LaFayette was commissioned an office at the age of 13. He became
convinced that the American revolutionary cause was noble, and
traveled to the New World seeking glory in it. He was made a
Major General at age 19. He was wounded during the Battle of
Brandywine, but still managed to organize an orderly retreat,
and served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island. In
the middle of the war, he sailed home to lobby for an increase
in French support. He returned to America in 1780, and was given
senior positions in the Continental Army. In 1781, troops under
his command in Virginia blocked forces led by Cornwallis, until
other American and French forces could position themselves for
the decisive Siege of Yorktown. He returned to France, and was
elected a member of the Estates General of 1789.
3Risdon Moore (1760-1828) served in the Revolutionary War, as did his
brothers, Thomas and William. Risdon was the only one of three
brothers to survive the war. He served in Georgia Legislature in
1010, when he made a remark to an African-American during a
class meeting, “When dead, he would be free!” Because of this
comment, Risdon was indicted in Hancock County. Risdon sent his
eldest son, William, to Illinois to find “A more free and purer
atmosphere.” He and his family moved to Belleville, Illinois in
1812. He brought with him sixteen slaves, in hopes of setting
them free. As soon as the slaves become of age, they were
“allowed to look out for themselves and use their own earnings.”
Risdon served in the Illinois government as the Speaker of the
House of Representatives in 1814, and was a member of the first,
third, and fourth legislatures. He was strongly opposed to
making Illinois a slave State.
4George Churchill (1789-1872) moved from St. Louis to Troy, Illinois, in about
1817. He was a writer of great ability, and amassed a large
library concerning the early history of Madison County. He
became part owner, with Hooper Warren, of the Edwardsville
Spectator. In 1822, he was elected to represent Madison County
in the Illinois General Assembly. When the call came to hold a
convention for a new Illinois constitution, he put pen to paper
and wrote articles that “burned through the cuticle of ignorance
and sophistry.” He also served in the Illinois Senate.
5Hooper Warren (1790-1864) learned the printer’s trade with
Horace Greeley. He entered the field of journalism in Frankfort,
Kentucky, and then in St. Louis, where he worked at the Missouri
Gazette. Under the tutelage of Governor Edwards, he established
the Edwardsville Spectator in 1819. This was the third Illinois
newspaper. George Churchill later joined Warren as co-owner.
Warren was the most unrelenting foe to slavery that ever lived
in Illinois. A distinction was drawn between Lovejoy’s observers
by stating Warren was anti-slavery, while Lovejoy was an
abolitionist. In 1825, Warren severed his connection with the
Spectator, and moved to Springfield. He founded the Sangamon
Spectator in 1827. He was a quiet man, and never gave public
speeches. He was a good listener with sound judgment, kind a
tender-hearted. In 1812 he married Mary Damson. He took ill in
1864 in Chicago, and died a few days later.
6Rev. John M. Peck (1789-1858) was an American Baptist missionary to the
western frontier of America. He, along with Rev. James Ely
Welch, established the First Baptist Church of St. Louis. In
1818, he traveled to Kaskaskia, then the seat of government in
Illinois. In 1819, Peck set out to establish a seminary. At the
end of April 1822, he and his family moved to St. Clair County,
Illinois, and founded Rock Spring Seminary, named after his
farm. In 1832 he moved the seminary to Upper Alton, and renamed
it Shurtleff College after a benefactor, Benjamin Shurtleff.
Rev. Peck was considered an innovator, with great zeal, power,
and success. He was firmly against slavery, and preached against
it in his papers and sermons.
7Rev. Thomas Lippincott (1791-1869) moved to New York to St. Louis, Missouri in 1819. He
first worked as a clerk, and Colonel Rufus Easton, founder of
Alton, asked him to take goods and establish a store in his
newly founded town. Thomas loaded the goods onto a boat, where
he disembarked at Alton. He chose, however, to set up the store
in Milton, near the Wood River, which was more populated at the
time. After loosing two wives at Milton, from the malarial
fever, he moved to Edwardsville to get away from the unhealthy
climate. In 1822, he was elected as secretary of the Illinois
State Senate, and also became editor of the Edwardsville
Spectator. Through the newspaper and his public life, he took
every opportunity to aid in the struggle over slavery.
Lippincott opposed calling for a convention for a new Illinois
constitution, and wrote some of the most influential articles on
the subject, which contributed to the victory won by his party.
8Curtiss Blakeman (1777-1833) was a former sea captain
from Stratford, Connecticut, who settled in Marine, Madison
County in 1819. He was elected to the third General Assembly of
Illinois, which convened at Vandalia on December 2, 1822. In
1824, he was re-elected to the General Assembly. He was
considered full of practical wisdom, gained by life-long
voyaging from land to land. He was firm as a rock in the
maintenance of right, and was firmly against slavery.
9Wilbur T. Norton (1844-1925) was born in Alton and served in
the Civil War. He became editor and proprietor of the Alton
Telegraph, and later postmaster in Alton. As a newspaper man, he
was devoted to chronicling facts of historic nature, including
writing the Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois, and
Its People.” He died in 1925 in Alton, and was buried there.
Source: Alton Telegraph, December 8, 1881