Rigdon, Stephen

Flourished: Fulton County, Illinois

A veteran of the War of 1812, Stephen Rigdon arrived in Fulton County, Illinois, in September 1832, settling in Canton. He lived in Canton until 1834, when he moved to Lee Township, becoming the first white settlers in that area. In 1835-36, he purchased 400 acres of public land in the region. Rigdon, whose brother was a minister, helped organize the first Christian Church in the locality, in the 1830s. Politically, Rigdon was a Whig; he ran unsuccessfully for the state legislature in 1838.

History of Fulton County, Illinois (Peoria, IL: Chas. C. Chapman, 1879), 760, 765, 977; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Fulton County, 696:37, 89, 91, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Stephen Rigdon to the Editors of The Old Soldier.