Radford, Reuben

Born: 1803-XX-XX Virginia

In 1831, Radford became a Springfield, Illinois, merchant. Later that year he bought a store in New Salem. Abraham Lincoln and William F. Berry bought Radford’s New Salem stock and store from William G. Greene in January 1833. In 1837, Radford successfully bid for the contract to demolish the old Sangamon County courthouse. Also in 1837, Radford received a contract to construct the railroad from Springfield, Illinois, to the Sangamon River. In 1850, Radford made his living as a carpenter but owned no real estate. On January 1, 1851, he dissolved his partnership with William Mauzy.

Promissory Note of William F. Berry, Abraham Lincoln and William Green to Reuben Radford; Sangamon Journal (Springfield, IL), 29 December 1831, 3:4; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 1 July 1837, 2:5, 11 November 1837, 2:1; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 10 February 1851, 3:3; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Sangamon County, IL, 73; Benjamin P. Thomas, Lincoln’s New Salem (Springfield, IL: The Abraham Lincoln Association, 1934), 7, 61.