Kitchell, Wickliffe

Born: 1789-05-21 New Jersey

Died: 1869-01-02 Pana, Illinois

One of the earliest lawyers in Crawford County, Illinois, Wickliffe Kitchell came to the Illinois Territory around 1814. He took up farming, but cut his foot and became immobilized. He served as sheriff early in his residency and began studying law, earning admittance to the bar in 1817. He opened a law practice in Palestine, Illinois and maintained it until 1838, when he moved to Hillsboro, Illinois. He won election to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1820 and served until 1822. In 1828, voters awarded him a seat in the Illinois Senate, which he occupied until 1832. In 1839, he received appointment as state attorney general and remained in that position until the following year, when he was reelected to the Illinois House as a representative for Montgomery County, Illinois. He later moved to Fort Madison, Iowa, but returned to Hillsboro in 1854.

Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Illinois Historical: Crawford County Biographical (Chicago: Munsell, 1909), 624.