Search entries
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Louis Kink on Frank Zito and the Zito brothers (organized crime)
- Jim Marcacci on Frank Zito and the Zito brothers (organized crime)
- Jim Marcacci on Frank Zito and the Zito brothers (organized crime)
- peter Bubnis on John W. Hobbs Corp.
- Stephanie on Franklin Life Insurance Co.
Archives
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- July 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
Categories
- Abolitionism
- African Americans
- Agriculture
- Air travel
- Airport
- Amusements
- Animals
- Architecture
- Arts and letters
- Auto dealers
- Breweries
- Buildings
- Business
- Celebrations
- Children
- Churches
- Coal mines and mining
- Communications
- Communities
- Crime and vice
- Department stores
- Depression
- Disasters
- Early residents
- Education
- Environment
- Ethnic groups
- Family life
- Farming
- Fever River
- Fires
- First Citizens
- Germans
- Greeks
- Grocery markets
- Higher education
- Historic Sites
- Histories
- Hotels & taverns
- Illinois capital
- Illinois State Fair
- Illustrations
- Industry
- Irish
- Irish
- Italians
- Japanese
- Jewish
- John T. Stuart
- Journalism
- Labor unions
- Law enforcement
- Lincoln Home
- Lincoln Tomb
- Lincoln, Abraham
- Lindsay, Vachel
- Lithuanians
- Lithuanians
- Local government
- Maps
- Markers
- Media
- Medicine
- Military
- Mills
- Museums
- National Register
- Native Americans
- Oak Ridge signs
- Parks
- Photos and photosets
- Politics
- Portuguese
- Prehistory
- Presidential candidates
- Presidents
- Prominent figures
- Public health
- Race riot of 1908
- Railroads
- Resources
- Restaurants
- Route 66
- Sangamon County
- Sangamon River
- Schools and school districts
- Science
- Slovenians
- Social life
- Social services
- Soil
- Spanish
- Spectacles
- Sports and recreation
- Springfield
- Springfield Survey
- State government
- Swabians
- Theaters
- Transportation
- Uncategorized
- Videos
- Weather
- Women
Blogroll
Category Archives: Politics
Sangamon County sheriffs, 1821-2024
This entry has been updated. Here is a list of people who have served as sheriff of Sangamon County since the county was established on Jan. 30, 1821. Dates indicate when the sheriffs were commissioned unless noted. John Taylor: 1821, … Continue reading
Edmund D. Taylor, (not the) ‘father of the greenback’
Edmund “Dick” Taylor was a legislator, businessman and investor. He was one of the winners in the only direct election Abraham Lincoln ever lost. And he probably wasn’t “the father of the greenback.” Taylor (1804-91) lived in Springfield in the … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Lincoln, Abraham, Politics, Prominent figures
Leave a comment
Drowning of Mayor Griffiths, 1907
Springfield Mayor David Griffiths and Fire Chief Peter Jacobs were on their way to a day of fishing June 12, 1907. When they took a wrong turn, their buggy overturned in a Sangamon River backwater slough. Neither man could swim. … Continue reading
Dick Sullivan, political ‘boss’
Dick Sullivan, reputed to be Sangamon County’s behind-the-scenes political master for the first two decades of the 20th century, died in a violent train collision in New York state in 1923. Richard M. Sullivan (1874-1923), his wife Clara (1875-1923), their … Continue reading
Gov. Len Small arrested, 1921
The Aug. 9, 1921, arrest of Gov. Len Small for alleged corruption created a daylong drama in Springfield. It was performed on three stages: the Capitol, the governor’s mansion and the Sangamon County Courthouse. Stars included Small, county Sheriff Henry … Continue reading
First Black U of I trustee
This entry has been updated and corrected. See below. John J. Bird became the first African-American trustee of the University of Illinois at a time when the school was essentially all-white. Bird’s tombstone in Oak Ridge Cemetery doesn’t mention that … Continue reading
Shelby M. Cullom (U.S. Senate)
Shelby M. Cullom won his first election by four votes. It was the start of a 60-year political career that would take him to the edge of the presidency. As a lawmaker, Cullom (1829-1914) “sometimes seemed to plod,” an obituary … Continue reading
Edward L. Baker (editor, diplomat)
As a newsman, Edward L. Baker delivered two of the biggest stories of the 19th century to Springfield. As a diplomat, Baker was too good to remove, no matter which party controlled the federal government. “Ned” Baker (1829-97) was only … Continue reading
Gov. William H. Bissell
When Gov. William Bissell was reburied in 1871, the crowd may have been bigger than at any Springfield funeral since that of Abraham Lincoln. Bissell was the first Republican, first college graduate and first disabled person elected governor. He also … Continue reading
Harry Lane, ‘boss gambler’
Chester M. “Harry” Lane was Springfield’s gambling kingpin at the turn of the 20th century, apparently with the connivance of police, city officials, and the courts. He stepped down in the mid-1900s, after a fatal shooting, the election of a … Continue reading