Richard Yates - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

RICHARD YATES (1818-1873), American political leader, was born at Warsaw, Kentucky, on the 18th of January 1818. He graduated at the Illinois College at Jacksonville in 1838, was admitted to the bar, and entered politics as a Whig. From 1842 to 1845 and again in 1849 he served in the state House of Representatives. He was a representative in Congress in 1851-1855, but having become a Republican, was defeated for a third term. From 1861 to 1865 he was governor of Illinois, and was successful in enlisting troops and in checking the strong proSouthern sentiment in the state. He was a member of the United States Senate in 1865-71, and was prominent in Reconstruction legislation. He died at St Louis, Missouri, on the 27th of November 1873. His son Richard (b. 1860) was governor of Illinois from 1901 to 1905.