Portal:Illinois/Selected biography/18

Ninian Edwards (March 17, 1775 – July 20, 1833) was a founding political figure of the state of Illinois. He served as the only governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to 1818, as one of the first two United States Senators from Illinois from 1818 to 1824, and as the third Governor of Illinois from 1826 to 1830. Born in Maryland, Edwards began his political career in Kentucky. In 1809, U.S. President James Madison appointed him to govern the newly created Illinois Territory. He held that post for three terms, overseeing the territory's transition to statehood in 1818. On its second day in session, the Illinois General Assembly elected Edwards to the U.S. Senate. Edwards won an unlikely 1826 election to become Governor of Illinois. As governor or territorial governor he twice sent Illinois militia against Native Americans, in the War of 1812 and the Winnebago War, and signed treaties for the cession of Native American land. Edwards returned to private life when his term ended in 1830 and died of cholera two years later. (Read more...)