Biography
Representative from Illinois; born near Lexington, Ky., November 10, 1807; was graduated from Centre College, Danville, Ky., in 1826; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1828 and commenced practice in Springfield, Sangamon County, Ill.; subsequently became a law partner of Abraham Lincoln; major in the Black Hawk War in 1832; member of the State house of representatives 1832-1836; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1836 to the Twenty-fifth Congress; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1839-March 3, 1843); was not a candidate for renomination in 1842; member of the State senate 1848-1852; was the unsuccessful Constitutional-Union candidate for Governor of Illinois in 1860; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1863-March 3, 1865); resumed the practice of law; died in Springfield, Sangamon County, Ill., November 28, 1885; interment in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Courtesy of Biographical Directory of the United States Congress