Thomas Mather (Illinois politician)

Last updated

Thomas Mather (1795-1853) was an American politician in Illinois who served in the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate.

Biography

Thomas Mather, a descendant of Cotton Mather, was born April 24, 1795, in Hartford County, Connecticut. After time in New York, he arrived in southern Illinois around 1820. He was active in business in Kaskaskia, Illinois, and helped lay out the town of Chester, Illinois. He was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives from Randolph County, Illinois. After serving in the Illinois House during the Second and Third General Assemblies, he was elected Speaker of the Fourth General Assembly on November 15, 1824. He was a fierce opponent of slavery, and bitterly fought the call for a pro-slavery constitutional convention in 1824. He resigned shortly after to accept a position to locate a military road from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He served another House term in the Sixth General Assembly. He was then elected to the Illinois Senate for the Eighth and Ninth General Assemblies.

On May 11, 1835, Mather resigned from the Senate to take the role of President at the recently chartered State Bank of Illinois. He remained involved in social causes including the hosting of Dorothea Dix when she came to Illinois to persuade the legislature to build a hospital for the mentally ill. His interest in higher education led him to serve as a trustee of Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois, and to give generous financial support to that and other institutions of learning.

Mather died on a visit to Philadelphia on March 28, 1853. After his death, Mather's widow sold their Springfield house property to the State of Illinois, which converted the land into a portion of the present capitol grounds. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Bradley Varnum</span> American politician (1751–1821)

Joseph Bradley Varnum was an American politician from Massachusetts. He served as a U.S. representative and United States senator, and held leadership positions in both bodies. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Corwin</span> American politician (1794–1865)

Thomas Corwin, also known as Tom Corwin, The Wagon Boy, and Black Tom was a politician from the state of Ohio. He represented Ohio in both houses of Congress and served as the 15th governor of Ohio and the 20th Secretary of the Treasury. After affiliating with the Whig Party, he joined the Republican Party in the 1850s. Corwin is best known for his sponsorship of the proposed Corwin Amendment, which was presented in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the oncoming American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois House of Representatives</span> Lower house of the Illinois General Assembly

The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representatives elected from individual legislative districts for two-year terms with no limits; redistricted every 10 years, based on the 2010 U.S. census each representative represents approximately 108,734 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John McLean (Illinois politician)</span> Illinois politician (1791–1830)

John McLean was a United States representative and a Senator from Illinois. He was the brother of Finis McLean and uncle of James David Walker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Reynolds (Illinois politician)</span> American lawyer and politician (1788-1865)

John M. Reynolds was a United States lawyer and politician from the state of Illinois who served in all three governmental branches. One of the original four justices of the Illinois Supreme Court (1818–1825), he later won election several times to the Illinois House of Representatives and the United States House of Representatives, and as 4th Illinois Governor (1830–1834). He also took the rank of major general of the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War.

The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of New York:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Latimer (politician)</span> American politician

Henry Latimer was an American physician and politician from Newport, Delaware. He was elected to the Continental Congress from Delaware, and was a member of the Federalist Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly, as U.S. Representative from Delaware, and U.S. Senator from Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Clayton</span> American politician

Thomas Clayton was an American lawyer and politician from Dover in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party and later the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. He served in the Delaware General Assembly, as Attorney General of Delaware, as Secretary of State of Delaware, as Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court, as U.S. Representative from Delaware, and as U.S. Senator from Delaware. In 1846 he was one of two members of the United States Senate to vote against declaring war on Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ratliff Boon</span> American politician (1781–1844)

Ratliff Boon was the second Governor of Indiana from September 12 to December 5, 1822, taking office following the resignation of Governor Jonathan Jennings' after his election to Congress. A prominent politician in the state, Boon was instrumental the formation of the state Democratic Party, and he supported President Andrew Jackson's policies during his six terms representing Indiana in the United States House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse B. Thomas</span> American politician (1777–1853)

Jesse Burgess Thomas was an American lawyer, judge and politician who served as a delegate from the Indiana Territory to the tenth Congress and later served as president of the Constitutional Convention which led to Illinois being admitted to the Union. He became one of Illinois' first two Senators, and is best known as the author of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. After his retirement from the U.S. Senate in 1829 he lived the rest of his life in Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archibald Dixon</span> American politician

Archibald Dixon was a U.S. Senator from Kentucky. He represented the Whig Party in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly, and was elected the 13th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky in 1844, serving under Governor William Owsley. In 1851, the Whigs nominated him for governor, but he lost to Lazarus W. Powell, his former law partner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas S. Bocock</span> American politician

Thomas Salem Bocock was a Confederate politician and lawyer from Virginia. After serving as an antebellum United States Congressman, he was the speaker of the Confederate States House of Representatives during most of the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Semple</span> American lawyer and politician (1798–1866)

James Semple was an American attorney and politician. He was Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Attorney General of Illinois, an associate justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, Chargé d'Affaires to New Granada, and United States Senator from Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin F. Harding</span> American politician

Benjamin Franklin Harding was an American attorney and politician born in Pennsylvania. He held political offices in the Oregon Territory and later served as a United States senator from the state of Oregon.

Eugenius Aristides Nisbet was an American politician, jurist, and lawyer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1852–53 United States Senate elections</span>

The 1852–53 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with the 1852 presidential election. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1852 and 1853, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1824–25 United States Senate elections</span>

The 1824–25 United States Senate Elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1824 and 1825, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Illinois General Assembly</span>

The 4th Illinois General Assembly, consisting of the Illinois Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives, met from November 15, 1824, to January 18, 1825, and again from January 2, 1826, to January 18, 1826, at The Vandalia State House. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the provisions of the First Illinois Constitution. Political parties were not established in the State at the time.

William Melville Alexander was an American politician, physician, and land speculator active in Illinois.

David Blackwell was an American politician who served as the 3rd Illinois Secretary of State and the first Democratic speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.

References

  1. Redmond, Mary (1980). Mr. Speaker: Presiding Officers of the Illinois House of Representatives 1818-1980. Office of the Speaker of the House. pp. 7–8. Retrieved September 8, 2022.