Background
Ninian Wirt Edwards was born at Frankfort, Kentucky, the son of Ninian Edwards, later governor of Illinois Territory, and his wife, Elvira Lane.
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book
History of Illinois, from 1778-1833: And Life and Times of Ninian Edwards
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.
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NINIAN WIRT EDWARDS
Edit ProfileEducation
Attended Transylvania University, and garduated from the law department.
Career
He was appointed attorney-general of Illinois by Governor John Reynolds but resigned in 1835 and established himself as a merchant at Springfield.
He served in the state legislature as a representative, 183640, 1848-51, and as a state senator 1844-48.
He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1847.
Edwards has been described as proud of his family and name, aloof, one of the most eminent figures in Springfield society.
In 1852 Edwards deserted the ranks of the Whigs and became a Democrat.
Standing for réélection to the Assembly, he was defeated, and in1854 he was appointed by Governor Matteson, under the authority of a law establishing the office, to be superintendent of public instruction.
His duties included lecturing in every county in the state and endeavoring to secure uniformity of text-books.
He proceeded to perform them earnestly in the face of active hostility to and passive contempt for improvement of the state’s educational system.
His lectures were often treated with contempt, as at Ottawa where nine persons turned out to hear him.
He secured, however, from the Illinois legislature of 1855 the passage of a school law, which, though it fell far short of his wishes, laid the foundation of the state’s school system.
His term ended in1857.
Between 1862 and 1865 he held by Lincoln’s appointment the place of captain commissary of supplies.
Achievements
Works
book
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History of Illinois, from 1778-1833: And Life and Times of Ninian Edwards
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
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History of Illinois, from 1778-1833: And Life and Times of Ninian Edwards
Membership
member of the constitutional convention of 1847
member of the “Long Nine” delegation from Sangamon County
Connections
It was at Edwards’s house, where she had come on a visit in 1839, that Lincoln first met Mary Todd ; it was with Edwards's encouragement that their stormy courtship was begun ; and it was in his home that their marriage took place.
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Born
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Died
September 2, 1889 (aged 0) -
Nationality
American -
Political Party
Democrat