Ferguson, Benjamin

Died: 1842-02-03 Springfield, Illinois

Flourished: Springfield, Illinois

Ferguson married Sarah Irwin and the two moved to Springfield, Illinois, in 1834. Ferguson was a prominent Springfield Whig and a carpenter and builder. His firm received contracts for work on the new state capital begun in 1838. Several times, he sat on the jury in a case Abraham Lincoln litigated in Sangamon County. Lincoln also served as attorney in at least one case to settle Ferguson's estate after his death. To friends, Lincoln referred to him as "Uncle Ben Ferguson."

John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 537; History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1881), 664; Proceedings of the Washington Temperance Society regarding the Death of Benjamin Ferguson; Abraham Lincoln to Joshua F. Speed; Proceedings of Meeting of Citizens of Sangamon County regarding the State House; Promissory Note of John Hay and others to State Bank of Illinois; Proceedings of the Springfield Board of Trustees; Irwin v. Ferguson et al., 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/Details.aspx?case=139320.