Shackleford, James M.

Born: 1818 Georgia

Alternate name: Shackelford

By 1835, Shackleford lived in Sangamon County and had begun purchasing a large amount of land in central Illinois. He speculated in land and was the proprietor of several towns, some of which only existed on paper. In 1836, he married Priscilla L. Culbertson, and they settled in Springfield, where he soon became a justice of the peace. He was also a member of the Sangamon County Agricultural Society. In 1858, he remarried to Mary F. Ransdell in Logan County. In 1860, he lived with his family in Lincoln, Illinois, where he was a saddler. In 1865, he was elected to serve as an alderman for the city of Lincoln.

Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Menard County, 68:259, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Sangamon County, 18 February 1836; Logan County, 14 January 1858, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Sixth Census of the United States (1840), Sangamon County, IL, 9; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Logan County, IL, 328; History of Logan County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1886), 423; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 25 March 1837, 3:2-4; 17 June 1837, 3:2; 14 June 1839, 1:5; Carpenter v. Watson 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=138549; Trailor v. Radford, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=140576.