Harris, John (IL State Senator)

Born: 1797 North Carolina

Died: 1852 Macoupin County, Illinois

Flourished: Macoupin County, Illinois

Harris settled in Macoupin County in 1826, and he served as the county's first sheriff from 1829 to 1834. During the Black Hawk War, Harris served as captain of a brigade of mounted volunteer militia commanded by Brigadier General Samuel Whiteside. He served alongside Abraham Lincoln in the Illinois House of Representatives, from 1834 to 1840, where he represented Macoupin County. Harris also served in the Illinois State Senate from 1840-1844. He was reelected to the Senate in 1844, representing Jersey and Macoupin counties until 1848. In 1850, Harris owned and ran a farm in eastern Macoupin County, and he owned over $11,000 worth of real estate.

History of Macoupin County, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brink, McDonough, 1879), 26, 51, 207; Ellen M. Whitney, comp., The Black Hawk War, 1831-1832: Illinois Volunteers, vol. 35 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1970), 1:164-66; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 204, 205, 207, 208, 210, 212, 213; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Macoupin County, IL, 270; Gravestone, Carlinville City Cemetery, Carlinville, IL.