Wiley, Edmund R.

Born: 1808-02-18 New York, New York

Died: 1864-07-19 Springfield, Illinois

Flourished: 1855-06-XX

Wiley married Catherine Beach in New York City in 1830, with whom he had nine children. They moved to Springfield, Illinois, in 1835, where he became involved in selling clothing. He was one of the founding members of the Springfield Mechanics Union. Abraham Lincoln worked on several legal cases involving Wiley, both representing and opposing him. In 1850, Wiley owned $1,000 in real estate. Politically, Wiley was a Democrat.

John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 768-69; Petition of Simeon Francis and others to the Illinois General Assembly; For Lincoln's cases involving Wiley, search "Wiley, Edmund R.," Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis, et al., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Sangamon County, IL, 92; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:149.