Canedy, Peleg C.

Born: 1803-08-25 Massachusetts

Died: 1881-09-08 Poughkeepsie, New York

Though born in Massachusetts, Peleg C. Canedy spent part of his childhood in Middlebury, Vermont. In the early years of his adulthood he resided in Washington, DC, where he studied the pharmaceutical business. In 1826, he moved to Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he operated a drug store until 1827. After a short stint in St. Louis, Missouri, Canedy moved to Springfield, Illinois, in December 1830. He opened the first drugstore in town, later adding books to his collection of wares for sale. He also purchased tracts of public land in Sangamon, Logan, and Bureau counties in Illinois, and also in Washington Territory and Georgia. From 1835 to 1840, he was a member of the board of trustees for Springfield, serving alongside Abraham Lincoln in 1839 and 1840, and in 1840, he served as president of the last board of trustees for the town of Springfield--it being chartered as a city in April 1840. He was among the prominent Springfield citizens who signed a note for $16,666.67 to pay for the final installment of $50,000 to ensure that the state capital would move to Springfield. In August 1838, Canedy married Sarah Camp, with whom he had three children. Sarah Canedy died in January 1855. Through his pharmacy business and real estate purchases, Canedy became a wealthy man. In 1860, he owned real estate valued at $100,000 and a personal estate of $13,000. Canedy was a deacon and trustee of the Second Presbyterian Church of Springfield, and first a Whig and later a Republican. In 1865, he served on the committee that received President Lincoln's remains after the journey from Washington to Springfield.

John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin H. Wilson, 1876), 177; History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1881), 287,565; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Bureau County, 817:146; Logan County, 817:110; Sangamon County, 817:103, 104, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Morgan County, 28 August 1838, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Springfield, Sangamon County, IL, 239; Gravestone, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL.