Edward Abend (May 30, 1822 – July 17, 1904) was a

German American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

politician, lawyer, and banker from

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. He came with his family to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

as a child, later moving to

Belleville, Illinois Belleville is a city and the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The p ...

. After studying at

Lebanon College Lebanon College was a two-year private not-for-profit college located in Lebanon, New Hampshire. It was founded in 1956, and closed in 2014, due to financial difficulties. In 2015 Lebanon College facilities and certain programs were purchased by t ...

, Abend became a lawyer, eventually opening a practice in Belleville. Abend was active in the affairs of the city and county and was elected mayor four times. He served one term in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

as a

Free Soil The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...

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Biography

Edward Abend was born in

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Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

, on May 30, 1822. His family emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, settling in

. After a

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

outbreak killed his father, brother, and sister, Abend's family moved to

. Abend attended public schools in St. Louis, but attended a private academy in Belleville. He was admitted to

in 1840. He was admitted to the bar in 1843 and practiced in

Lebanon, Illinois Lebanon is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,418 at the 2010 census and had decreased to an estimated 4,256 as of 2018. Like many other places in " Little Egypt" or Southern Illinois, Lebanon was named afte ...

for two years. In 1844, he purchased a farm and operated it for six years. He then returned to Belleville to again practice law. Abend was elected to the

in 1848, serving one term. He was affiliated with the

Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery int ...

and the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. He maintained his affiliation with the Democrats, but often voted for

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

presidential candidates. He served as mayor of Belleville five times. He also served a term on the St. Clair County Board of Supervisors. In 1860, Abend founded the Belleville Savings Bank and was named its first president. He also became president of the Electric Light Company of Belleville. He was the manager and president of the St. Clair Turnpike Company, which built a road in 1850 that was later sold to an electric railroad company. He was a director of the St. Louis, Alton and Terre Haute Railroad for twenty years. Abend married Caroline Westermann in 1852. They had one daughter, Louisa, who died young. He remarried to Anna Hilgard in 1856. They had six children. He enjoyed traveling in his spare time and twice visited Europe. He died on July 17, 1904.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abend, Edward 1822 births 1904 deaths Illinois Free Soilers Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives People from Belleville, Illinois German emigrants to the United States