Mordecai Mobley was an early merchant who had a store on Jefferson Street west of First Street, according to John Todd Stuart’s recollection of 1828 Springfield. (The store is listed as No. 11 on the reconstructed map of 1828 Springfield.)
Mobley was a member of the first town board of trustees following the incorporation of Springfield in 1832. In 1835, newly elected Circuit Judge John T. Logan attempted to appoint Mobley as Sangamon County circuit clerk. But Mobley’s appointment was challenged by the incumbent clerk, Charles Matheny, and the state Supreme Court agreed with Matheny.
Mobley eventually moved to Dubuque, Iowa, where he became receiver for the U.S. Land Office.
He corresponded with Abraham Lincoln as late as spring 1860. “Your kind letter of May 30th. is received,” Lincoln wrote Mobley in June 1860. “I can not answer all I am receiving; but I can do no less than acknowledge the receipt of one from an old friend like yourself.”
Original content copyright Sangamon County Historical Society. You are free to republish this content as long as credit is given to the Society.