the Mississippi Valley. This valley itself with all of Canada was then under the rule of France; and it was while this woman was a babe in arms that Wolfe and Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham, near Quebec, decided the long contest that wrested the control of this vast colonial empire from France, and placed the whole of the eastern Mississippi Basin, including the future State of Illinois, under the domain of Great Britain. It was 26 years after she was born that the great valley, in which she was to pass the closing days of her life, was again transferred by the fortunes of war from the English Crown to the American Colonies by the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Within this period, therefore, since that far distant birthday of Jane Morehead, the territory which is now the State of Illinois and Cook County, has been successively under three flags-the lillies of France, the Union Jack of the British Empire and the Stars and Stripes.

Well might the numerous descendants of this woman, who watched over so many of our parents and grandparents, erect a suitable monument to her memory!

-14 vol. 17

NINIAN EDWARDS.

By W. G. NORTON.

In an address of this kind, no one can pretend to do more than sketch briefly a life that was so full of activity and so varied as that of Ninian Edwards. He was born during that period of foment that immediately preceded the American Revolution. The time of his birth was a little more than a year before the colonies declared themselves for independence and only a month before that first conflict in which, as Emerson has described it, "was fired the shot heard round the world."

His parents and ancestors were politically and socially affluent both in Montgomery County, Maryland, where Ninian was born and in the National Capital.

Benjamin Edwards, his father, was active in local government and represented his district in the legislature, where, though hampered by extreme diffidence, he occasionally displayed flashes of the fine qualities of oratory and statesmanship that were later exhibited by his son.

The domestic training of Ninian Edwards was of such a nature as to give his mind, strength and firmness and training in honorable principles. And in his home a good foundation was made for the elevated character to which he afterwards attained. His education was such as ample means can secure, when aroused by a desire to succeed and excel on the part of the student. He attended a select school that was maintained for a period in Montgomery County. He was a fellow school mate with William Wirt, who was afterwards Attorney General of the United States. William Wirt was two years older than Ninian Edwards. He seemed possessed of an academic frame of mind and was soon advanced to a position as instructor and Ninian Edwards attended his school as a student; but the relation was more than that of teacher and pupil. Their friendship commenced when Wirt was about

15 years of age and developed into a sort of brotherly affection that was unbroken during their lives. Later, young Edwards was instructed by private tutors, and when fully prepared, he was sent to Dickinson College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. When he finished college, he took up the study of law. At that time, a law student was required to spend one-half of his time in study of history but Ninian Edwards had been so well instructed in this branch by his father that no further instruction was required. So the time that he was supposed to devote to the study of history, he applied to acquiring a knowledge of medicine. So proficient did he become that during his early life, he was only slightly less eminent in that branch of science than he was in the field of law.

By the time that young Edwards was approaching his majority, most of the differences existing between England and the colonies had been adjusted so that the real field of activity and development lay in the west. At the age of 19, and before he had completed the study of law, he removed to Nelson County in Kentucky. He was equipped by his father with the means of acquiring lands and developing estates in what was then the extreme western part of the country. During a period of two or three years following his removal to Kentucky, he did a thing which was not entirely unexpected in view of the times and the circumstances that surrounded him. He gave way to excesses and indulged in dissipation. But it may be said that, in spite of the dissipation of the frontier that surrounded him and in which he seemed to be effectively caught, he retained a nice sense of honor and the results of his early training did not lose their hold upon his mind. During this time, he was professedly engaged in legal studies and his habits did not prevent his election to the legislature of Kentucky as a representative of Nelson County before he had quite attained the age of 21. And he discharged his duties in that capacity so well that he was reelected in the subsequent year by an almost unanimous vote. In 1798, he was licensed to practice law in Kentucky and in

the following year, he was admitted to practice in the courts of Tennessee.

At about the age of 22, Ninian Edwards was facing this condition: He had squandered his patrimony, impaired his health and disappointed his friends through his excessive indulgence in gambling and other vices. With finances depleted, he removed from Nelson to Logan County and commenced a reformation that was destined to be highly successful. He never again repeated this unfortunate experience of his early life and always referred to it as one would who had been delivered from imminent peril and perhaps destruction. He devoted himself almost exclusively to the practice of law and in the next four years, he not only attained eminence in the practice of law but also amassed a considerable fortune. It is interesting to note that at this time, in writing to his father he stated the success he had had, and promised that his father should never again have occasion to hear of him as "a young man of fine talents but extremely dissipated." In the same letter, he told his father that it was his intention, because of the condition of his health to take a position in the judiciary as soon as an opportunity presented itself.

The opportunity soon came and he filled in succession the office of presiding judge of the General Court, Circuit Judge, 4th Judge of the Court of Appeals and Chief Justice of Kentucky, all before he was 32 years.

In 1809 the territory of Illinois was formed and Ninian Edwards was appointed by President Madison to govern that vast space of territory." William Wirt wrote to Edwards at the time this appointment was offered. He stated that he had been asked by the President as to the qualifications of Edwards for this post and while his recommendation could only be the best, Wirt stated that he hoped Edwards would not see fit to desert his high position in the judiciary as chief justice of Kentucky. Nevertheless, Edwards accepted and removed his family to Kaskaskia. This position, he filled until 1818 when the state was admitted to the union. He was the first and

Ninian Wirt Edwards. History of Illinois, 1778, and Life and Times of Ninian Edwards, p. 242.

only territorial governor of Illinois. There was also imposed upon him the burden of superintending the Indian affairs. His task was further burdened by the hostility of the Indian tribes during the second war with Great Britain in 1812. He was one of the American commissioners that promulgated the treaty with the Indians in 1815 at a point on the Mississippi in Madison County below Alton. In the same year, the capital of Madison County was laid out and was named after Governor Edwards, the territorial governor.

During the time that he was territorial governor, Ninian Edwards acquired further estates in Illinois. He was also a merchant and built large tanneries. To these businesses, he gave as much of his personal attention as his official duties would permit, doing most of the buying, and stocking the stores that he had established.

In 1818, Illinois was admitted to the union and Governor Edwards (together with Jesse B. Thomas), was elected a United States Senator by the General Assembly. Although there seems to have been some opposition, he was re-elected to the Senate at the expiration of his first term.

In 1824, Governor Edwards was appointed Minister to Mexico by President Monroe. He resigned his seat in the Senate and began preparations for taking up his new duties. While at home there developed a controversy between Governor Edwards and William H. Crawford, then Secretary of the Treasury, in regard to a disposition of public funds in an Edwardsville bank, which had defaulted in a considerable sum to the government. In view of this, Governor Edwards declined to accept the mission to Mexico and devoted his time to clearing his name in the matter, which he eventually did. An investigation developed that the letter which Governor Edwards had sent to the Secretary, informing him of the precarious condition of the bank, had never reached the Secretary so that both were rendered blameless. In order to vindicate himself before the people of his state, Ninian Edwards became a candidate for governor of the State of Illinois in 1826. There were three candidates in the field, namely Thomas C.