Thomas Ford

Thomas Ford, Governor from 1842 to 1846, and author of a very interesting history of Illinois, was born at Uniontown, Pa., in the year 1800. His mother, after the death of her first husband (Mr. Forquer), married Robert Ford, who was killed in 1802, by the Indians in...

Thomas Carlin

Thomas Carlin, the sixth Governor of the State of Illinois, serving from 1838 to 1842, was also a Kentuckian, being born near Frankford, that State, July 18, 1789, of Irish paternity. The opportunities for an education being very meager in his native place, he, on...

Joseph Duncan

Joseph Duncan, Governor 1834-8, was born at Paris, Ky., Feb. 23, 1794. At the tender age of 19 years he enlisted in the war against Great Britain, and as a soldier he acquitted himself with credit. He was an Ensign under the dauntless Croghan at Lower Sandusky, or...

William Lee D. Ewing

William Lee D. Ewing, Governor of Illinois Nov. 3 to 17, 1834, was a native of Kentucky, and probably of Scotch ancestry. He had a fine education, was a gentleman of polished manners and refined sentiment. In 1830 John Reynolds was elected Governor of the State, and...

John Reynolds

John Reynolds, Governor 1831-1834, was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Feb. 26, 1788. His father, Robert Reynolds and his mother, nee Margaret Moore, were both natives of Ireland, from which country they emigrated to the United States in 1785, landing at...

Ninian Edwards

Ninian Edwards, Governor from 1827 to 1830, was a son of Benjamin Edwards, and was born in Montgomery County, Maryland, in March, 1775. His domestic training was well fitted to give his mind strength, firmness and honorable principles, and a good foundation was laid...

Edward Coles

Edward Coles, second Governor of Illinois, 1823-6, was born Dec. 15, 1786, in Albemarle Co., Va., on the old family estate called “Enniscorthy,” on the Green Mountain. His father, John Coles, was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War. Having been fitted for...

Shadrach Bond

Shadrach Bond, the first Governor of Illinois after its organization as a State, serving from 1818 to 1822, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, in the year 1773, and was raised a farmer on his father’s plantation, receiving only a plain English education. He...