Busey, Mathew W. (Wales)

Born: 1798-5-15 Shelby County, Kentucky

Died: 1852-12-13 Champaign County, Illinois

Flourished: Champaign County, Illinois

Mathew W. Busey moved with his family from Kentucky to Washington County, Indiana in 1810. He learned the brick mason trade there, eventually becoming a contractor and builder. In 1821, he married Elizabeth Bush, with whom he eventually had eight children. In 1832, along with several other families from Shelby County, Kentucky, Busey purchased land from the U.S. government in newly-created Champaign County. He did not relocate his family there until 1836. He, along with two others, donated the land for the county seat in 1833, establishing the town of Urbana where he would spend the remainder of his life. Busey and his brother Isaac became Champaign County's largest landholders and stock raisers. They also operated successful contracting and building companies and a large lumber mill that sold its products as far afield as Chicago. An ardent Baptist and colonel in the Indiana and Illinois state militias, Busey also served as county assessor, election judge, and county court judge. He served Champaign County's representative in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1840-1844, and played a large role in locating the University of Illinois's flagship campus in Urbana, as well as the passage of the Illinois Central Railroad route through Urbana. He served as the vice president of the second Illinois Democratic convention held in Ottawa in 1844, and as Champaign County's representative to the third convention in Joliet in 1846.

Allison C. White, "Monuments to Their Skill: Urbana-Champaign Carpenters, Contractors and Builders, 1850-1900," Illinois Historical Journal 85 (Spring 1992): 37-46; J. O. Cunningham, "History of the 'Mattie' Busey Family," in A History of the Early Settlement of Champaign County, Ill., ed. by J. O. Cunningham (Urbana: Champaign County Herald, 1876), 20-24; Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Champaign County, ed. by Joseph O. Cunningham (Chicago: Munsell, 1905), 669, 724, 757, 787-88, 884-85; John Wentworth, Congressional Reminiscences: Adams, Benton, Calhoun, Clay & Webster (Chicago: Fergus, 1882), 61, 63; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 209-10.