Franklin B Hough, American Biographical Notes, p 441
Yates, Richard d at St. Louis, MO., Nov 27, 1873, on his return fromFu lton, ARK as US commissioner for examining the lower end of theCairo a nd Fulton rail road; was b. in Kentucky, Jan 18, 1818; removedto Illin ois, and grad. at the Ill. College; afterward studied law;served in th e legislature of his state several terms, and arepresentative in congr ess from Illinois in 1851 to 1855; was electedgovernor of Ill. in 1861 f or a term of four years, and took an activepart in raising troops for t he Union army during the rebellion; waselected United States senator f rom Ill., for the term beginning in1865 and ending in 1871; served on t he committees on the district ofColumbia, the Pacific rail road, terri tories, pensions, manufactures,and mines and mining; also served as ch airman of the committees onrevolutionary claims and terrotires; was a d elegate to the loyalists'convention, held in Philadelphia in 1866 (NY T ribune).
Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949;Biographies , p 2051
Yates, Richard, a Representative and a Senator from Illinois; born inW arsaw, Gallatin Country, KY, January 18, 1818; attended the commonscho ols; moved with his father to Springfield, Ill, in 1831 andsubsequentl y settled in Berlin (now New Berlin), Sangamon County; wasgraduated fr om Illinois College, Jacksonville, Ill., in 1835; studiedlaw at Transy lvania University, Lexington, KY; was admitted to thebar in 1837 and c ommenced practice in Jacksonville, Ill; member ofthe State House of re presentatives 1842-1845, 1848, and 1849; electedas a Whig to the Thirt y-second and Thirty-third Congresses (Mar 4,1851-Mar 3, 1855); unsucce ssful candidate for relection in 1854 tothe Thirty-fourth Congress; de legate to the Republican Stateconvention in 1854 and to the Republican N ational Conventions atChicago in 1860 which nominated Lincoln and in 1 868 which nominatedGrant; Governor of Illinois 1861-1865; was the cauc us nominee of hisparty, which was in the minority, for Senator in 1863 ; elected as aUnion Republican to the United States Senate, and served f rom Mar 4,1865, to Mar 3, 1871; was not a candidate for reelection; di edsuddenly in St. Louis, Mo., November 27, 1873, while returning from Arkansas, where he had gone as a United States commissioner, appointedb y President Grant, to inspect a land subsidy railroad; interment inDia mond Grove Cemetery, Jacksonville, IL.
See: DAB; Hartman, Linda "The Issue of Freedom in Illinois Under Gov.R ichard Yates, 1861-1865" Journal of the Illinois State HistorySociety 5 7 (Autumn 1964); 293-297; Yates, Richard (1860-1936), andCatherine Pic kering Yates. Richard Yates, Civil War Governor. Editedby John H Krenk el. Danville, IL Interstate Printers & Publishers,1966.
PLAT BOOK OF MORGAN COUNTY ILLINOIS, 1894
HON. RICHARD YATES. - The world's history is the record of individuala cts, and the brilliancy of that record is good deeds - such deeds asri se above self, and elevate and ameliorate the condition of man.Among t he names that will live and shine in the history of our stateand count ry will appear that of Richard Yates, the patriot governorof Illinois, w ho, through the dark years of the rebellion, gave suchliving proof of d evotion to his country. Such was the character ofGovernor Yates for pa triotism and ability, that, during the war, headministered counsel and s trength to the Chief Executive of thenation with the same ease and gra ce that he gave sympathy andconsolation to the humblest patriot, and h as left a record which, fordevotion to the Union cause and earnest eff ort in its behalf, has fewequals, and will long be remembered by his g rateful countrymen.
Richard Yates was born on the 18th of January, 1818, in Warsaw,Gallati n county, Kentucky. He is the second son of Henry Yates, whowas a nati ve of Caroline county, Virginia. His father, on coming toIllinois, set tled first in Springfield, where he remained severalyears in the merca ntile business. He then removed to Berlin, andafter completion of the T oledo, Wabash, & Western railroad, laid outthe town of New Berlin, whe re, as a merchant and dealer in realestate, he resided till his death. H e was one of the pioneer citizensof our state, and was respected by a l arge circle of acquaintances.He raised a family of nine children, five s ons and four daughters.Abner and Richard are at present residing in Ja cksonville - alsoMillisent, wife of Wesley Mathers, and Catherine, res iding with hersister, Mrs. Mathers.
Richard Yates was indebted for his early educational advantages toMorg an county, except one term in Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio.He gra duated at Illinois College in 1837, and commenced his legalstudies in t he law office of John J. Hardin, who was afterwards sohighly distingui shed in the Mexican war as colonel of the firstregiment of Illinois in fantry. He was married July 11th, 1839, toMiss Catherine Geers, daught er of William Geers, of Morgan county,formerly of Lexington, Kentucky. B y this marriage he has had fivechildren, viz: William, deceased; Eliza , who died in infancy; andHenry, Katie, and Dickey, who still reside a t home with theirparents.
Mr. Yates political record covers a period of nearly thirty years. Hew as first elected to the state legislature in 1842, in which capacityhe s erved the people six years. He was eleven years a representativein con gress, four years governor of Illinois, and six years in thesenate of t he United States.
Such is the brief record of one of Illinois' distinguished patriotsand s tatesmen, whose deeds will live in the memory of her gratefulchildren.
