Ninian Edwards

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Ninian Edwards (March 17, 1775-1833) was a founding political figure in Illinois.

He served as Illinois' sole governor from 1809 to 1818, and as the third Governor of Illinois from 1826 to 1830.

Edwards led one of the two key parties in frontier Illinois politics, at a time and place where personal coalitions were more influential than parties. In a time and place where personal alliances were more prominent than parties, Edwards began his political career in Kentucky, where he served as a senator and judge.

In 1808, he assumed the role of Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, the highest court in Kentucky at the time.

In 1809, US President James Madison appointed him to rule the newly established Illinois Territory.

He served for three terms as the territory's first elected "second grade" government and then statehood in 1818.

Edwards was elected president of Illinois by the Illinois General Assembly on his second day in session, though rivals damaged him politically.

Edwards' administration, as well as the search for Indian removal, were marked by a clash with the legislature over state bank legislation.

In the War of 1812 and the Winnebago War, he twice sent Illinois militia against Native Americans, and signed treaties for the cession of Native American land.

Edwards returned to private life after his term ended in 1830 and died of cholera two years later.

Early life

Ninian Edwards was born in 1775 to the influential Edwards family in Montgomery County, Maryland. Margaret Beall Edwards, his mother, was from another prominent local family. Benjamin Edwards served in the Maryland House of Delegates, Maryland's state ratifying convention for the United States Constitution, and the United States House of Representatives, filling a vacant seat for two months. Ninian was educated by private tutors, one of whom was the future US Attorney General William Wirt. Dickinson College was from 1790 to 1792, but he did not graduate from college to study law. Edwards spent some of his time in Dickinson reading medicine, a field in which he devoted a lot of time in his later years.

Edwards moved to Nelson County, Kentucky, in 1794, at the age of 19, to tend some family property. He demonstrated a keen aptitude for business and leadership and was quickly elected to a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives before being eligible to vote. He was given the rank of Major in the militia in 1802, which was awarded to him in 1802. He came from Russellville, Kentucky, and gained a succession of public offices in 1803: first president Thomas Jefferson (voting for Thomas Jefferson), and then chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which at the time was Kentucky's highest court. He appeared in 1806 and then took over the presidency in 1808.

Edwards cultivated the image of the natural king as a well-educated landowning aristocrat. Thomas Ford claims he continued to dress as an 18th-century gentleman long after such styles had fallen out of fashion, and that public speaking was characterized by showy eloquence. Edwards positioned himself in the politically privileged group of men who ruled Kentucky and, later, Illinois politics. Elvira Lane, a distant cousin from Maryland, was born in Russellville, Edwards, in 1803.

Later life

Governors were limited to a single term under the 1818 constitution. Edwards returned to private life after Edwards' demise on December 6, 1830. In 1832, he ran for the United States House of Representatives and lost. Edwards devoted himself to charitable medical care in Belleville, providing free medical services to local residents. During the Black Hawk War, a cholera epidemic swept through the area in 1833, which was carried by Winfield Scott's troops. Edwards died on July 20 after being in the city to care for his patients and contracted the disease. He was born in Belleville but was later moved to the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois.

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Senate career

Illinois sped along the road to statehood. Its constitution was finished in August 1818; first General Assembly elections were held in September; and the first General Assembly of Kaskaskia met in October. Ninian Edwards resigned on October 6, and Shadrach Bond was unveiled as Illinois' first governor on October 6. The new state legislature elected Illinois' two members of the U.S. Senate the following day. Edwards was voted on the first ballot and rival Thomas was only elected after the fourth. Edwards and Thomas later used straws to determine their respective terms: Thomas was placed in Class II of the Senate and could serve until 1823, while Edwards was class III and had to face reelection in February 1819. Edwards and Thomas were both required to wait for Congress to officially recognize Illinois' constitution and admission to the Union, which it did on November 25. Senators were finally elected on December 3, leaving Edwards with just three months in his first term.

Edwards' re-election was more difficult. He had lost the temporary help of Thomas' allies in the General Assembly who had voted for him in 1818. By a vote of 23–19, he barely defeated Thomas partisan Michael Jones by a narrow margin. This may have been due to the clout of Thomas Kane, the country's most powerful Secretary of State.

Senator Edwards sat as a member of the Democratic Party like most members of Congress during the period of Good Feelings. He joined the Adams-Clay faction in the Adams-Clay party, which would develop into the National Republicans after Edwards left office as his second term began. In 1820, Edwards voted for the Missouri Compromise, a bill that Thomas sponsored. He voted against a bill lowering the price of federal property, which prompted both Edwards and Representative Daniel Pope Cook's ire at home. Julia Cook married Edwards' daughter Julia on May 6, 1821.

Ninian Edwards caused himself to fail when he published several articles in the Washington Republican under the pseudonym "A.B." William H. Crawford, the US Treasury Secretary, was among those people attacked. Crawford was aware of the impending bankruptcy of Bank of Edwardsville, Illinois, in 1821, but not withdrew federal funds. Edwards found that none of Crawford's rivals were able to back his allegations, and that no one of Crawford's rivals was able to provide corroborating evidence. On March 4, 1824, he resigned from his Senate seat to take up a new one as the first United States Minister to Mexico. Edwards was called back to Washington to testify before a special House committee on the "A.B." despite his new position. Plot": Plot. Edwards resigned from his diplomatic position, and Joel Roberts Poinsett would take his place. He was unable to comment on his allegations.

Edwards returned to Belleville, Illinois, where he once lived before selling off its lots at a profit.

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