WHO WAS WILLIAM L.D. EWING?
William Lee Davidson Ewing (pictured at right) was a politician from
Illinois who served partial terms as the fifth governor of the state
and as U.S. Senator.
Ewing was born in Paris, Kentucky on August 31, 1795, and practiced law
in Shawneetown, Illinois. James Monroe appointed him to be a land
office receiver in Vandalia in 1820. He served as a Colonel of the "Spy
Battalion" during the Black Hawk War. In 1830, he was elected to serve
in the state House of Representatives as Speaker. He had previously
been the clerk of the House. From 1832 to 1834, he was a State Senator,
serving as President pro tempore of the State Senate in 1832. In 1833,
he was also named acting Lieutenant Governor of Illinois and served as
Governor of Illinois for fourteen days in 1834, the shortest
gubernatorial term in Illinois history.
Upon the death of Elias Kane in 1835, Ewing was appointed by Joseph
Duncan to serve out the rest of Kane's term in the U.S. Senate. In 1838
he was appointed Commissioner to adjust the claims of mixed-bloods and
traders at Fort Snelling for the Dakota under the 1837 Dakota treaty.
His re-election campaign was unsuccessful and he returned to the
Illinois State House, becoming Speaker of the House again. He died in
Springfield, Illinois, and although some claim he is buried in Oak
Ridge Cemetery, the cemetery itself has no record of this. He died on
March 25, 1846
Source: Wikipedia.com
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