He studied law at Transylvania University in Kentucky, practiced law in Jacksonville, and began his public career in 1842 in the state legislature. He attended Miami University in Ohio, Georgetown College in Kentucky and graduated in the first class of Illinois College in Jacksonville. Born in Kentucky and moved to Sangamon County in 1831. Was the Governor of Illinois (R) 1861-1865. His son, also Richard Yates, was also active in Illinois politics, and also became governor of Illinois. In 1923 a statue of Yates by Albin Polasek was erected on the Illinois State Capitol grounds. He is buried in Diamond Grove Cemetery, Jacksonville, Illinois. While in the Senate, Yates was Chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Thirty-ninth and Forty-first Congresses) and Chairman of the Committee on Territories (Fortieth Congress).Īfter leaving the Senate, Yates was appointed by President Grant as a United States commissioner to inspect a land subsidy railroad. During this period Yates enlisted the services of former Chicago Mayor James Hutchinson Woodworth, a Republican with strong anti-slavery views similar to those of Yates, to oversee the disbursement and management of the federal funds received.Īfter his service as governor ended, Yates was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1865, to Mahe was not a candidate for reelection. Lee in Arlington, Virginia was taken over by the government for use as a military cemetery). Douglas (similarly, the estate of Confederate General Robert E. Chicago became the location for the largest prisoner of war encampment, Camp Douglas, which had been erected on the former estate of Lincoln's political opponent, the late Justice Stephen A. In 1862, he attended the Loyal War Governors' Conference in Altoona, Pennsylvania, which ultimately gave Abraham Lincoln support for his Emancipation Proclamation.ĭuring the Civil War Yates benefitted from his relations with Lincoln to bring significant federal financial resources to the State of Illinois and Chicago in particular. Grant received his first distinct recognition as a soldier in the Civil War, being appointed by Yates mustering officer for the state, and afterward colonel of the 21st Illinois regiment. In Governor Yates's office General Ulysses S. He convened the legislature in extra session on April 12, 1861, the day after the attack on Fort Sumter, and took military possession of Cairo, garrisoning it with regular troops. Governor Yates continued to be an outspoken opponent of slavery, and at the opening of the Civil War was very active in raising volunteers. In 1860 he was elected governor as a Republican. His district was pro-slavery and consequently he narrowly lost his bid for a third term. He opposed the repeal, and became identified with the new Republican Party. During Yates' second term in Congress, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise reopened the anti-slavery question. In 1850, he was elected as a Whig to the United States House of Representatives where he was the youngest member of the Thirty-second Congress. Yates served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1842–18–1849. He was admitted to the bar in 1837 and commenced practice in Jacksonville. He then studied law at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. He studied at Miami University and Georgetown College and graduated from Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1835. Yates was born in Warsaw, Kentucky and moved with his family to Illinois in 1831. He also represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives, 1851–1855 and as a U.S. Yates sent more troops to aid the Union than any other state. Richard Yates (Janu– November 27, 1873) was the Governor of Illinois during the American Civil War and has been considered the greatest war governor during that period.
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