Chickering, John W.

Born: 1810-XX-XX Massachusetts

Chickering moved to Alton, Illinois, in 1835, and started a law practice. He was one of the defenders of Elijah P. Lovejoy's abolitionist Alton Observer in 1837. In May 1839, Chickering married Martha M. Burns in Sangamon County, Illinois. Chickering moved to Chicago in 1843. In 1860, he was living in Chicago with his wife Martha and three children and practicing law. He owned $30,000 in real estate and $5,000 in personal property. Chickering opposed Abraham Lincoln in several legal cases.

W. T. Norton, ed., Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People 1812 to 1912 (Chicago: Lewis, 1912), 1:69, 74, 418; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Sangamon County, 1 May 1839, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 1, Chicago, Cook County, IL, 122; For Chickering's cases opposing Lincoln, search, "Chickering, John W.," under participants, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org.