James Washington Singleton was an American politician from Illinois.
Background
He was born on November 23, 1811 at "Paxton" in Frederick County, Virginia, United States, the estate of his father, Gen. James Singleton, who served in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Through his mother, Judith Throckmorton (Ball), he had ancestral connections in common with George Washington.
Education
He attended the academy in Winchester, Virginia.
Career
After academy he practised as youthful physician, then turned to legal studies, and became a circuit-riding lawyer. About 1834 he settled at Mount Sterling.
In the "war" against the Mormons (1844) he served as brigadier-general of militia. He also served his state in constitutional conventions, 1847 and 1862, and in the legislature, 1850-54, 1860-62. Having removed to Quincy about 1854, he lived on a large estate, "Boscobel, " combining the grand life of a gentleman planter with law and politics and being widely known as a gracious Southerner at whose mansion prominent men gathered. In 1862 he served on an international commission to investigate water communication between the United States and Canada.
During the Civil War he labored persistently for peace. Pursuing the political aims of the "Sons of Liberty, " he opposed Lincoln's arbitrary measures. In November 1864 he was in Canada conferring with Clay and Tucker, Confederate "commissioners. " Seeking interviews with Lincoln for his plans to end the war, he reached the President both directly and through intermediaries and claimed to have been told by Lincoln that abolition would not be demanded as a condition of peace, though this was inconsistent with Lincoln's terms as given in the Greeley peace episode.
Late in the war he made several trips to Richmond bent on peace projects and being associated with O. H. Browning and James Hughes in a scheme to buy Southern products with greenbacks, get them through Grant's lines with presidential permission, and sell them in the North at enhanced prices. Lincoln approved this scheme. As to the peace efforts, however, Lincoln withheld official sanction while standing ready to step in if satisfactory Confederate proposals should emerge from Singleton's informal "negotiation. "
After the war Singleton continued his political activities, serving as a Democrat in Congress from 1879 to 1883, but gave increasing attention to railroad promotion. Interested particularly in transportation advantages for his own city, he directed the building of two roads, the Quincy & Toledo, which merged with the Wabash, and the Quincy, Alton & St. Louis, which was absorbed by the Chicago. Political animosities did not mar his friendships, and "Boscobel" remained during this period a scene of generous entertainment.
About 1891 he removed to Baltimore, where he died.
Achievements
Connections
He was married three times: first probably to Catherine McDaniel, second to Ann Craig of Kentucky, and third, in 1844, to Parthenia McDonald, who bore him seven children.