Wight, Augustus G. S.

Born: 1794-01-24

Died: 1850-07-30 Galena, Illinois

Wight was one of the earliest settlers in Galena, Illinois. He was voted into the Illinois Senate serving one term, 1836 to 1838, representing Jo Daviess, Rock Island, and Mercer Counties. In 1836, the First Baptist Church of Galena was organized at his home. Wight was part of the Galena Temperance Society and in 1838, was one of the vice presidents for the society. He was also a member and one of the vice presidents of the Galena Colonization Society, which formed in 1839. He purchased and ran the ferry boat that crossed the Galena River until 1842. Wight was elected as the Alderman for the 1st Ward in Galena for one term, 1846 to 1847. He passed away at his home in Galena in 1850 due to illness.

Gravestone, Greenwood Cemetery, Jo Daviess County, IL; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 6 August 1850, 3:1; History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois (Chicago: H.F. Kett, 1878), 476-478, 481, 487, 492, 507; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 205.