Wightman, James

Born: 1817-XX-XX Virginia

Died: 1883-12-20 Carlyle, Illinois

Flourished: Carlyle, Illinois

Wightman was a farmer, stock raiser, businessman, and county politician who arrived in Clinton County, Illinois, before 1840. Politically, Wightman embraced the Whig Party, and in June 1840, he represented Clinton County at the Whig State Convention in Springfield. In the mid 1840s, Wightman became county school commissioner--the first elected by the population. In 1850, he owned real estate valued at $500. In the early 1850s, he purchased 480 acres of public land in and around Carlyle. From 1850 to 1857, he was clerk of the Clinton County Court. In 1860, he was working as a merchant and owned real estate valued at $20,000 and had a personal estate of $5,000.

History of Marion and Clinton Counties, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brink, McDonough, 1881), 85, 115; Martha McNiell Davidson, "Southern Illinois and Neighboring States at the Whig Convention of 1840," Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1914 (Springfield: Illinois State Journal, 1915), 157; Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916, Clinton County, 20 December 1883, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Clinton County, 148:34, 68, 114; 351:100, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Clinton County, IL, 379; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Clinton County, IL, 179.