McCormick, Andrew (McCormack)

Born: 1801-04-27 Nashville, Tennessee

Died: 1857-01-24 Springfield, Illinois

Flourished: Sangamon County, Illinois

Alternate name: McCormack

When he was a boy, McCormick's family moved from Tennessee to Kentucky. After the death of his father, McCormick moved his family to Sangamon County, Illinois, in 1829. Shortly after moving to Sangamon County, McCormick went to work in the Galena lead mines. During the Black Hawk War, McCormick served as a private in James Thompson's company of the 3rd Regiment of Mounted Volunteers. Upon returning to from the war, McCormick moved to Springfield, Illinois. In 1834, McCormick married Ann S. Short, with whom he had ten children. He was a brick mason and stonecutter. In August 1834, McCormick was a candidate for the Illinois House of Representatives, but did not secure a seat. In August 1836, Sangamon County voters elected McCormick as a Whig to the House. McCormick served in House until 1840, and was part, along with Abraham Lincoln, of the "Long Nine" that lobbied to get the state capitol moved from Vandalia to Springfield. In 1843, Andrew Hill, mayor of Springfield, resigned, and McCormick was chosen to fill his term. In 1844, McCormick won election to the office in his own right. In 1850, McCormick was living with his family in Sangamon County and working as a stonemason.

John C. Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 486-87; History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State Publishing, 1881), 509, 566; Isaac H. Elliott, Record of the Services of Illinois Soldiers in the Black Hawk War, 1831-32, and in the Mexican War, 1846-8 (Springfield, IL: H. W. Rokker, 1882), 70; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 275, 299, 321; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 206-207; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Sangamon, IL, 186.