Joel Aldrich Matteson (August 8, 1808 – January 31, 1873) was the tenth

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

, serving from 1853 to 1857. In 1855, he became the first governor to reside in the Illinois Executive Mansion. In January 1855, during the joint legislative session of the Illinois House and Senate convened to choose a US senator, he became a surprise candidate. On the 9th ballot, he received 47 votes, 3 short of the 50 needed to win.

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, who was also a contestant, then asked his supporters to vote for

Lyman Trumbull Lyman Trumbull (October 12, 1813 – June 25, 1896) was a lawyer, judge, and United States Senator from Illinois and the co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Born in Colchester, Connecticut, Trumbull esta ...

, who won on the 10th ballot. After his term as governor ended he was for many years the president of the

Chicago and Alton Railroad The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad , was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 an ...

. The last years of his life were marred by charges of corruption in the

Canal Scrip Fraud The Canal Scrip Fraud was a financial scandal that involved illegal redemption of canal scrip that had been issued by the state of Illinois to pay for construction of the Illinois–Michigan Canal. Canal scrip were IOUs the state had begun issui ...

case. The village of

Matteson, Illinois Matteson () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,073 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Chicago. History The area encompassed by modern Matteson was settled in the late 1800s, primarily by people of Germa ...

is named in his honor. Matteson was buried in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

References

External links

Illinois 2005-2006 Blue Book
1808 births 1873 deaths Politicians from Watertown, New York Democratic Party governors of Illinois 19th-century American politicians {{Illinois-politician-stub