Faxon, Leonard G.

Born: 1827-11-20 New York

Born in Catskill, New York, Leonard G. Faxon was a newspaper editor, postmaster, Democrat, and Odd Fellow. In 1850, he lived with his parents and siblings in Montgomery County, Tennessee. In November 1854, he married Mattie E. Wilkinson, with whom he eventually had at least two children. Beginning in 1854, he edited the Cairo, Illinois Democratic paper the City Times. In 1855 he departed the Times and started a new paper called the Delta, which merged with the City Times in 1855 after just four months of operation. The merged paper became known as the Times and Delta, which Faxon co-edited with E. Willet until 1859. In June 1858, Faxon also received appointment as postmaster for Cairo. He held this position until early 1860. By 1860, he had a personal estate valued at $300.

Franklin William Scott, Newspapers and Periodicals of Illinois, 1814-1879, vol. 6 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1910), 35; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Montgomery County, TN, 140; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department, RG 28, 1855-1865, 20a:4, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; George L. Faxon, The History of the Faxon Family (Springfield, MA: Springfield Printing, 1880), 184; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 10 June 1858, 2:3; Illinois Daily State Journal (Springfield), 25 January 1860, 3:2; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Cairo, Alexander County, IL, 54; U.S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States (1870), Calloway County, KY, 20; William Henry Perrin, ed., History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois (Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1883), 1:157.