UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS May 9 m 86 a*ataa«Baa»*aa*taaaa*«aaattatta* •/•»««§*•»* i THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY S Michael D. Siegel i*aB»aaataaaaaaaa*a*t«»*aataaa»*»»Bata»a«Ba»aaaaaaaa»t*«atattataaaaaaataa*aaataaa«t«aatB»a»'taaaaaaat»a«*aaaaat»aBaBtaaaa«t»taa*e«»aat«ataa*taa*taa*aaaa»aiaaaaaaatttaaaatt«a*tt»a»*«** FMTITLFDM i l A • <b aaaa a* »*••«! a aaa«*aa»«The •••#»• Illinois ••a*ia»aaaa*aa»iaa»«»aaav«a*a State at #•••!•#*»«Legislature »«••»* a** taaaiaaa'aaaaaaaaaaa of 1863? at •■•aafttaaaaai a a aaataa } 1HK ILLINOIS STATS LEGISLATORS OF lS63t A FAILURE IN CRISIS A® E**nination of tbo Mon and laauaa of tho 23 rd Ooural Aaaoably of IlUnoia THSSIS for tbo 0SORBS OB BACHKLOR OF ARTS IN HISTORY Collogo of Liborol Arts and Selaoeaa Univaraity of Illiaoia Urbana, illiaoia 1 9 M TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER Page I Setting the Scenes Illinois Before 1863 ••«»••••• 1 II The Hen Who Made the History: A Survey of the Partici­ pants of the 23rd General Assembly • . , ...............24 III The First Sessions A Time of Crisis ....................... 51 IV The Interim Period: A Time of Reaction ••#••••*, 131 V The Second Session: The Prorogation of the Illinois State Legislature of 1863 •••••••• ........ • • • 149 VI APPENDIX: What Happened to the Participants of the 23 rd General Assembly ............................. .. 176 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 194 TVENTY-THIRD GENERA] 1863-64 SENATE Political District Member Affiliation County Counties Included (D or R) in District 1 Williaa H. Green D Massac Alexander, Gallatin, Hardin Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union 2 Hugh Gregg D Hamilton Clay, Edwards, Hamilton, Law­ rence, Richland, Wabash, Wayne, White 3 Israel Blanchard D Jackson Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Monroe, Randolph, Williamson 4 James M. Rodgers D Clinton Bond, Clinton, Fayette, Marion* William A. J. Sparksa D Clinton Perry, Washington 5 William H. Underwood D St. Clair Madison, St. Clair 6 Linus E. Worcester D Greene Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Pike, Scott 7 Horatio M. Vandeveer D Christian Christian, Macoupin, Montgomery, Shelby 8 Samuel Moffat D Effingham Clark, Crawford, Cumberland, Edgar, Effingham, Jasper 9 Joseph Peters R Vermilion Champaign, Coles, Douglas* Ford, Iroquois, Vermilion 10 Isaac Funk R McLean De Witt, McLean, Macon, Moultrie, Piatt 11 Colby Knapp D Logan Logan, Sangamon, Tazewell SBUJX Political District (Cont’d) Mesber Affiliation Counties Included (D or R> in District 12 Henry E. Dummer R Cass Brown. Cass. Menard. Morgan. Schuyler 13 Bryant T. Schofield D Hancock Adams. Hancock 14 William Berry D McDonough Henderson. McDonough. Mercer. Warren 15 Albert C. Mason D Knox Fulton. Knox. Mason 16 John T. Lindsay D Peoria Marshall. Peoria, Putnam, Stark 17 Washington Bushnell R La Salle La Salle, Livingston. Woodford 18 Alonzo W. Mack R Kankakee Grundy, Kankakee. Kendall. Will 19 Edward R. Allen R Kane De Kalb, Du Page, Kane 20 Daniel Richards R Whiteside Lee, Ogle, Whiteside 21 Thomas J. Pickett R Rock Island Bureau, Henry, Rock Island 22 John H. Addams R Stephenson Carroll, JoDaviess. Stephenson 23 Cornelius Lansing R McHenry Boone, Lake, McHenry, Winnebago 24 William B. Ogden R Cook Cook (Townships: North Chi­ cago, South Chicago, Lake, Worth, Thornton, Bloom) 25 Jasper D. Ward R Cook Cook (Townships: Lake View, Evanston, New Trier, North!idd. Wheeling. Barrington. Palatine. Hanover, Schaumburg. Elk Grove, Maine, Niles, Cicero, West Chi­ cago, Jefferson, Leyden, Lyons. Proviso, Lemont. Orland, Palos, Rich, Bremen HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Political District Member Affiliation County Counties Included (D or R) in District 1 James H. Smith D Union Alexander, Pulaski, Union 2 Theodore B. Hicks D Massac Johnson, Massac, Pope 3 Janes B. Turner D Gallatin Gallatin, Hardin, Saline 4 James M. Sharp D Wabash Lawrence, Wabash 5 Henry M. Williams D Jefferson Franklin, Jefferson 6 James M. Washburn D Williamson Jackson, Williamson 7 Jesse R. Ford D Clinton dinton, Washington 8 Stephen W. Miles D Monroe Monroe, Perry, Randolph Edmund Menard D Randolph 9 John W. Merritt D Marion Marion 10 James M. Heard D Wayne Hamilton, Wayne 11 David W. Odell D Crawford Crawford, Jasper 12 John W. Wescott D Clay Clay, Richland 13 Robert H. McCann D Fayette Effingham, Fayette 14 Chauncey S« Conger D White Edwards, White 15 Joseph B. Underwood R St. Clair St. Clair John Thomas R St. Clair 16 Samuel A* Buckmaster D Madison Bond, Madison William Watkins D Bond BOUSE (Cont'd) Political District Member Affiliation county Counties Included (D or R) in District 17 Philander Daugherty D Clark Clark, Cumberland 18 Reuben Roessler D Shelby Shelby 19 Gustavus F. Coffeen D Montgomery Christian, Montgomery 20 Ambrose M. Miller D Logan Logan, Sangamon Charles A. Keyes D Sangamon 21 Charles A* Walker D Macoupin Macoupin 22 John N. English D Jersey Calhoun, Jersey 23 William B. Witt D Greene Greene 24 Scott Wike D Pike Pike, Scott Albert G* Burr D Scott 25 James D, Epler D Cass Brown, Cass 26 Lyman Lacey D Menard Mason, Menard 27 John T. Springer D Morgan Morgan 28 Alexander E. Wheat D Adams Adams William J. Brown D Adams 29 Levis J, Reid D McDonough McDonough 30 Joseph Sharon D Schuyler Schuyler 31 Milton M. Morrill D Hancock Hancock 32 Thomas B. Cabeen D Mercer Henderson, Mercer HOUSE (Cant'd) Political District Member Affiliation County Counties Included <D or R) in District 33 Hairy R. Peffer d Warren Warren 34 Joseph M. Holyoke R Knox Knox 35 John G. Graham Fulton Fulton Simeon P* Shope ©© Fulton 36 James Holgate Stark Peoria, Stark William W. O'Brien O© Peoria 37 Elias Wenger Tazewell Tazewell 38 © Harrison Noble McLean De Witt, McLean Boynton Tenny VO pS De Witt 39 John TenBrook Coles Coles, Douglas, Edgar, Vermilion John Gerrard Edgar John Monroe Vermilion 40 James Elder Macon Champaign, Macon, Moultrie, William N. Coler J8 ©GO Champaign Piatt John S* Busey^ © Champaign 41 Chauncey A. Lake *X3 Kankakee Kankakee 42 Addison Goodell Iroquois Ford, Iroquois 43 John W. Newport Grundy Grundy, Will Charles E. Boyer Will Perry A. Armstrong0 Grundy 44 Theodore C. Gibson La Salle La Salle, Livingston Marcy B. Patty Livingston John 0. Dent OtJO DtJfO © La Salle HOUSE (Coat'd) Political District Member Affiliation County Counties Included (D or R) in District 45 George Dent D Putnam Bureau, Marshall, Putnam, Wood' Jefferson A. Davis D Woodford ford Daniel R. Hove R Bureau 46 Nelson Lay R Henry Henry 47 John Kistler D Rock Island Rock Island 48 Leander Smith R Whiteside Whiteside 49 Demas L. Harris R Lee Lee 50 James V. Gale R Ogle Ogle 51 Westel W. Sedgwick R De Kalb Boone, De Kalb Luther W. Lawrence R Boone 52 Sylvester S. Mann R Kane Kane, Kendall Jacob P. Black R Kendall 53 Elijah M. Haines R Lake LaKe 54 Thaddeus B. Wakem&n R McHenry McHenry 55 Seldon M. Church R Winnebago Winnebago 56 Horatio C. Burehard R Srephenson Stephenson 57 Henry Greer R JoDaviess Carroll, JoDaviess John F. Chapman R Carroll 58 Algernon S. Barnard R Du Page Du Page HOUSE (Cont’d) Political District Member Affiliation County Counties Included (D or R) in District 59 Ansel B. CooK n CooK Cook (Townships: West Chicago, Amos G . Thrcop CooK Leyden, Jefferson, Cicero, William E. Ginther so •» ? CooK Proviso, Lyons, Lemont, Palos, Orland, Bremen, Rich) 60 Melville W. Fuller a CooK Cook (Townships: South Chica­ George W. Gage CooK go, LaKe, Worth, Bloom, Thornton) Michael Brandtd CooK 61 Francis A. Eastman so so jv CooK Cook (Townships: Lakeview, Lorenzo Brentano » CooK Evanston, New Trier, Northfield. Wheeling, Palatine, Barrington, ElK Grove, Hanover, Schaumburg, Maine, Niles) ^ i c e Rodgers, died Feb, 12, 1863. ^Successfully contested election of William N. Cole cVice John W. Newport, died, ^Successfully contested election of George W. Gage. tt-tA CHAPTER 1 Setting the Scene: Illinois Before 1&63 Introduction The period of the Civil War in Illinois, liKe the rest of the nation, was a time of great crisis. There werv. really two parts to the crisis. The first part was the crisis occurring between the North and the South. Of course, failure to peaceably resolve differences between these groups led to the war. Often in historical writing, however, the crisis in the North— the second part of the whole crisis— goes unnoticed. This crisis refers to the attempt of people in the loyal states to reach a consensus on a policy to­ ward the Confederacy. At no time was this policy debate more heated, or the ideas expressed more diverse, than in the first half of 1863, when Union morale was at its lowest point. Illinois, the home state of President Abra­ ham Lincoln, had perhaps the greatest problem in reaching this consensus. The study of the Twenty-third General Assembly is important because it high­ lights the great disparity in ideas which existed at that time. The Demo­ crats won a majority of seats in the legislature, and engaged in a bitter debate with Republican opponents over all the Key policy questions of the day. The legislature itself was made up of average educated Illinois citi­ zenry. The Lincolns, Logans, Oglesbys and Palmers were either off in Wash­ ington or fighting the war. The men who were left to sit in the state legislature and govern the state were far from great leaders. Yet, that is why a study about them is all the more important. The crisis of the period was brought about by the inability of anyone in this country to come up with a solution to one large problem. The problem was how to preserve the Union while coming to a consensus on the question of slavery. The Civil War was the result of a failure in leadership to solve this problem.