Linn, William (of Fayette Co., IL)

Flourished: Fayette County, Illinois

Linn, a merchant, was the receiver of public money for the Vandalia Land Office, but the federal government accused him of failure to perform his duties and filed a lawsuit against him that ended up in the United States Supreme Court. In the final judgment, the court found him and his sureties liable for $100,000 for the debt and $46,955.16 in damages. In 1840, he lived in Fayette County, Illinois, in a household with two adult women, three children, and two "free colored" males. Linn was involved in the establishment of the Manual Labor Seminary in Vandalia, and he was a Democrat.

U.S. Census Office, Sixth Census of the United States (1840), Fayette County, IL, 142; United States v. Linn 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=137752; History of Fayette County, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brink, McDonough, 1878), 18; The Campaign (Frankfort, KY: Brown & Hodges, 1840), 92; Paul E. Stroble, "The Vandalia Statehouse and the Relocation to Springfield, Illinois Heritage 2 (Spring-Summer 2000), 12.