Blackwell, Robert (Fayette Co., IL)

Born: 1796-02-XX Shelbyville, Kentucky

Died: 1866-04-XX Fayette County, Illinois

Flourished: Fayette County, Illinois

In 1816, Blackwell established himself as a newspaper editor in Kaskaskia, then the capital of Illinois. In 1817, he served as interim auditor of public accounts for the state of Illinois. When the state capitol was moved to Vandalia in 1820, Blackwell followed and became a merchant in that city. In 1832, he enlisted in the Illinois militia to fight in the Black Hawk War. Upon returning to Fayette County, Blackwell served alongside Abraham Lincoln in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1832 to 1836, and in 1838, he was elected to one term in the Illinois Senate. Religiously, Blackwell was a Presbyterian.

History of Fayette County, Illinois (Brink, McDonough, 1878), 24, 30, 39; John Clayton, comp., Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 203, 204, 206; Ellen M. Whitney, comp., The Black Hawk War, 1831-1832: Illinois Volunteers, vol. 35 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1970), 1:208; William Henry Perrin, ed., History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, (Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1882), Part 2:133; Gravestone, South Hill Cemetery, Vandalia, IL.