Wilkinson, Joab

Born: 1810-10-22 New York

Died: 1887-11-09 Macon County, Illinois

Joab Wilkinson was a politician, army officer, and pioneer settler of Macon County, Illinois. In 1835, he married Lydia Douglass in Skaneateles, New York. He and his wife moved from New York to Illinois, settling in Morgan County. Joab became involved in Whig Party politics. In August 1842, he was an unsuccessful candidate as a Whig to represent Morgan County in the Illinois House of Representatives. At the commencement of the Mexican War, Wilkinson received a commission as a first lieutenant in the U.S. 16th Infantry Regiment. In August 1846, he again failed in a bid to win a seat in the Illinois House. On May 13, 1848, he resigned his commission and returned to civilian life. In the early 1850s, Joab and his family moved to Macon County, settling in Niantic. In 1856, he won election as the first justice of the peace for the village, holding that position for many years thereafter. As the Whig Party began to decline, Joab gravitated to the Republican Party. In 1860, he was farming near Niantic and owned real estate valued at $2,600 and had a personal estate of $1,000. When the Civil War began, Wilkinson returned to the U.S. Army, securing a commission as a captain in the 12th U.S. Infantry. He was dismissed from service in February 1863.

Gravestone, Long Point Cemetery, Niantic, IL; Wm. Hugh Robarts, Mexican War Veterans: A Complete Roster of the Regular and Volunteer Troops in the War Between the United States and Mexico, from 1846 to 1848 (Washington, DC: Brentano's, 1887), 33; Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1903), 1:1037; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 367, 421; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 7 March 1844, 2:3; Portrait and Biographical Record of Macon County, Illinois (Chicago: Lake City, 1893), 344; Early Marriages From Newspapers Published in Central New York (n.p.: Pipe Creek, 1992); William E. Nelson, ed., City of Decatur and Macon County Illinois (Chicago: Pioneer, 1910), 1:396; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Macon County, IL, 246; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 17 June 1858, 2:3; Illinois Daily State Journal (Springfield), 23 April 1860, 2:2.