Spotlight on Benjamin Edwards

Benjamin Edwards was born June 3, 1818 in Kaskaskia, Illinois, to a distinguished family. His father, Ninian Edwards, was then serving as the territorial governor of Illinois. Benjamin was the youngest of three sons. His oldest brother, Ninian W. Edwards, would go on to a distinguished career in state government. His middle brother, Albert Gallatin Edwards, would serve as assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury under Abraham Lincoln and would later found the brokerage firm A. G. Edwards.

Benjamin was sent to Yale in 1836, where he received a general education and attended law school. In 1839 he became the first person born in Illinois to graduate from Yale Law School. While in New Haven he met and married Helen Kissam Dodge.

The young couple decided to settle in Illinois, where they had both been born. They chose Springfield because Ninian W. was by that time an established attorney and politician and one of the most prominent men in that town. They stayed with Ninian and his wife Elizabeth for a few weeks after arriving in Springfield, and there they met Elizabeth's vivacious younger sister Mary Todd. Eventually they moved to their own home at the corner of Fourth and Monroe Streets.

Benjamin finished his law education in the office of Stephen T. Logan (who would become Abraham Lincoln's second law partner). In 1841 he went into practice with Edward D. Baker, a silver-tongued, rising politician. Two years later Benjamin formed a partnership with John T. Stuart, Mary Todd Lincoln's cousin and Abraham Lincoln's first law partner. This partnership would last more than forty years, until Stuart's death in 1885.

Benjamin was extremely active in the community. He was an advocate of the public school system, served on the board of the Springfield Library Association, and was extremely active in the Temperance Movement. In fact, during the 1850s he joined forces with Springfield's city attorney, Shelby Cullom, to prosecute all the liquor crimes in town.

Although he was not particularly interested in holding political office, Benjamin nevertheless had many political friends. He, like Lincoln, was a Whig until the mid-1850s. But whereas Lincoln joined the Republican party after the Whig party dissolved, Benjamin cast his lots with the Democrats, supporting Stephen A. Douglas over Lincoln for Senate in 1858 and for President in 1860.

Benjamin Edwards was said to be an upright citizen. Although he could occasionally get blustery, and one person remembered him as being "as fastidious as any woman," he was also known as a loving father and a kind friend. Although it has been more than 120 years since death took him from Edwards Place, his grand mansion still carries echoes of the life he lived. Stop by for a tour to learn more about him!