Stephen Douglas - Winchester, IL - Illinois Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

County of site: Scott County
Location of site: Hill St., between Douglas St & Cherry St., Winchester
Marker erected by: Literature & Civics Department of the Winchester Woman's Club
Date marker erected: 1943

Marker text: "In a building on this site Stephen A. Douglas taught his first school in 1833.

"Stephen Douglas moved to Winchester when he was 20 years old in 1833 to teach school. He had forty students who paid him $3 each per quarter. Douglas taught himself the law after school and soon left Winchester to work as a lawyer." - Illinois in Focus

"In the Spring of 1833 he emigrated to the West, to carve out for himself a fortune and an honorable name. Sickness and journeying exhausted his finances, so that when he arrived at Winchester, in Illinois, the place of his destination, he found himself in possession of only a small amount of clothing, and 37 1/2 cents in money, all told. Three days of service as clerk to an auctioneer, augmented his fortune to the extent of $6. And a school of forty scholars, at $3 per quarter, which immediately followed, was the beginning of a career which found no pause in its advancement, to the hour of his death. He was licensed to practice as an attorney and counselor, by the Supreme Court of Illinois, in March, 1834. His success at the bar may be inferred from the fact, that within a year from his admission, he was elected by the Legislature to the office of Attorney-General of the State, while yet under the age of 22 years. Subsequently, and before his advent to the Congress of the United States, he was successively a member of the Legislature, Register of the Land Office, Secretary of State, and Judge of the Supreme Court. He was nominated for Congress, in 1837, and defeated by a majority of five votes. In 1843, he was elected to that office by a majority of 400. He was reelected in 1844, by a majority of 1,900, and again in 1846, by a majority of over 3,000. He was first elected to the Senate of the United States, for six years, from the 4th of March, 1847. Since which time to his death, he has occupied that position." - NY Times June 4, 1861

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