List of people from Galena, Illinois

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Galena, Illinois.

The Grant family and other notable Civil War era citizens

• Edward Dickinson Baker, U.S. Senator and Representative, served the Galena area; Baker was the only congressman to die in the Civil War.
• Frederick Dent Grant,(1850-1912), son of Ulysses S. Grant,went to public schools in Galena, and served as New York City police commissioner.
• Jesse Root Grant, (1858-1932), son of Ulysses S. Grant, politician and author.
• Julia Grant, (1826-1902), wife of Ulysses S. Grant, First Lady of the United States (1869-77). She became the first First Lady to write a memoir, though it wasn't published until 1875.
• Nellie Grant, (1855-1922), only daughter of Ulysses S. Grant.
• Ulysses S. Grant, (1823-1885) lived in Galena in 1860–1861, in a rented house while he worked at his father and brother's leather shop.^[1] After the Civil War, Grant returned to Galena to a hero's welcome on 18 August 1865, and was presented with a furnished home, in which he lived until becoming president in 1869, and which he visited regularly until 1880.^[2]
• Ulysses S. Grant, Jr.,(1852-1929) son of Ulysses S. Grant, owned U.S. Grant Hotel in San Diego, CA.
• Elihu B. Washburne, Grant's Secretary of State and notable abolitionist, resident of Galena. The Elihu Benjamin Washburne House is a registered historic site.

Galena's other notable generals

Galena had the most citizens generals per capita than any other city in the nation (9 in a city of approximately 12,000). Listed below are the most notable generals that lived in Galena:

• Augustus Louis Chetlain, considered the first man from Illinois to volunteer for the Union army, U.S. Consul to Belgium
• Jasper Adalmorn Maltby, (1826–1867) general in the Union army during the American Civil War, military mayor of Vicksburg, and head of registration bureau, enrolling black voters
• Ely Samuel Parker, (1828–1895), Civil War era general, transcribed Appomattox surrender terms, Grant's Aide de Camp until 1869, U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1869–71).
• John Aaron Rawlins, (1831–1869), Civil War general, served as Galena's City Attorney (1857) and Grant's Secretary of War.
• John Eugene Smith, general in the Union army during the American Civil War.

19th Century residents

• James Beckwourth, (1798-1866), explorer, Beckwourth came to Galena as a miner in the 1820s. Some reports say that he was an indentured sevant, including early town leader Moses Meeker in his journal, which has since burned.
• Richard H. Cain,(1825-87) Congressman, Bishop, Vice President of the "Colored Convention" (1853), first president of Paul Quinn College.
• Donald A. Callahan, (1876-?) politician, born and raised in Galena. Callahan was the Republican Party nominee for the United States Senate seat in Idaho in 1938, he was defeated. He also served in both chambers of the Idaho state legislature.
• Thomas Campbell, (1811-1868), politician, miner in Galena. Campbell served as Illinois Secretary of State from 1843-46. He was also United States Representative for Illinois' 6th Congressional District (1851-53).
• Samuel Crawford, (1820-1860), Wisconsin Supreme Court
• John Dement, (1804–1883), Receiver of Public Moneys (two tenures), U.S. representative, delegate to every Illinois Constitutional Convention during his lifetime, and served as president pro tempore of the 1862 and 1870 conventions.
• Nelson Dewey, (1813-89), worked as a clerk for Daniels, Dennison, and Co. in Galena for a month in 1836. Dewey was the 1st Governor of Wisconsin (1848-52).
• Augustus C. Dodge, (1812-83), politician, worked in his father's lead mines from 1827 until 1837. Dodge was apart of the first set of senators from Iowa (1848-1855). Dodge also served as Minister to Spain (1855-59).
• Thomas Drummond, (1809-90), lawyer. Drummond had a practice in Galena, IL from 1835-50. In addition to practicing law, he served as a member of the Illinois General Assembly from 1840-1841 as a Whig; during this time he became acquainted with fellow Whig Assemblyman Abraham Lincoln. Drummond served as a judge for the Circuit Court of Illinois from about 1841 to about 1850. On January 31, 1850, President Zachary Taylor, a Whig like Drummond, nominated Drummond to the United States District Court for the District of Illinois (which at that time had only one seat); he replaced Nathaniel Pope, who had died recently. Drummond was confirmed by the United States Senate, and received his commission, on February 19, 1850.
• John H. Gear, (1825–1900) 11th Governor of Iowa, Congressman, and Senator.
• Henry Gratiot, (1789-1836), trader and businessman who moved to Galena due to the want of raising his family in a free state. Gratiot helped conduct a treaty that ended the Black Hawk War for the Galena area. Gratiot's daughter married Elihu Washburne.
• Moses Hallett, (1834-1913), born in Galena, lawyer. Moved to Colorado as a gold miner in 1860. On January 9, 1877, following the admission of Colorado as a state, Hallett was nominated by President Ulysses Grant to a seat on the newly established United States District Court for the District of Colorado. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 12, 1877, receiving his commission the same day. Hallett served until April 7, 1906, when he retired.
• William S. Hamilton, (1797-1850), son of Alexander Hamilton. In late 1827, Hamilton served during the Winnebago War in the volunteer Illinois Militia as a captain. Hamilton commanded a company raised in Galena, Illinois known as the Galena Mounted Volunteers. Hamilton's company was under the command of Henry Dodge and was mustered into service on August 26, 1827 and released on September 10, 1827.
• Granville Hedrick, (1814-81), leader in the Latter Day Saints movement after the 1844 succession crisis. Hedrick worked in the lead mines in Galena from 1843-44.
• Joseph P. Hoge, (1810–1891) Illinois congressman, president of the California state constitutional convention (1878), superior court judge.
• William Henry Hooper, (1813-1882), engaged in trade on the Mississippi River in the mid-1830s in Galena, later became a member of the Mormon church and was a Utah delegate to the United States Congress (1859-61, 1865-73).
• Joseph Jefferson, (1829-1905) actor, who performed in 1838 in Galena with his father, and went to school in Galena. The plays took place at the current site of Fried Green Tomatoes.
• George W. Jones, (1804-1892), one of the first two senators from Iowa mined in Galena and owned a store in Galena during the 1830s.
• Joseph Russell Jones, (1823-1909), politician, lawyer, merchant who became so successful that he built the Belvedire Mansion, the largest house in Galena, in 1857. In 1861, Abraham Lincoln became president and appointed Jones as U.S. Marshall for the Northern District. In 1869, Grant was sworn in as president and nominated Jones as Minister Resident to Belgium. In 1875, Jones asked to leave his post in Belgium. He returned to Illinois where Grant made him Collector of the Port of Chicago.
• Heinrich Lienhard, (1822-1903), lived in Galena for a couple of months before emigrating to California. His writings are an important historical source for the California Trail and Sutter's Fort in California from 1846 to 1850.
• James D. Lynch, (1839–1872) minister, first black Mississippi Secretary of State.
• George Frederick Magoun, (1821-96), educator, taught schools in Galena from 1844-46. Magoun became first president of Iowa College (1865-85) after becoming a founding trustee. Magoun was a liberal president, permitting the teaching of evolution despite his personal disagreement with Darwin's work. After his retirement as college president, Magoun took a professorship in Mental and Moral Science at Iowa College, teaching from 1884 to 1890.
• Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, (1806-64), an Italian Catholic missionary who built, founded, and was pastor (1835–1843) of St. Michael's Church and built St. Mary's Church in Galena, among many others built in the tri-state area. Mazzuchelli was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II in 1993, the first step to becoming a saint.
• William Douglas McHugh, (1859-1923), born in Galena and practiced law there from 1883-1888, lawyer. On November 20, 1896, McHugh received a recess appointment from President Grover Cleveland to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska vacated by Elmer S. Dundy. Formally nominated on December 8, 1896; McHugh was not confirmed by the United States Senate, and his judicial service was terminated on February 1, 1897. He was also general counsel to International Harvester Corporation in Chicago from 1920 until his death in 1923.
• Richard L. Murphy, (1875-1936), Senator from Iowa (1933-36), began his journalism career as a reporter for the Galena Gazette newspaper from 1890-92 at the age of 15.
• Charles Sreeve Peterson,(1818-89) early Mormon leader.
• Orville C. Pratt, (1819-91), lawyer, judge, lived in Galena, had a law practice in Galena (1843-49). 2nd Associate Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court (1848-52).
• William A. Richards, (1849–1912) fourth Governor of Wyoming
• Frederick Schwatka, (1849-92) noted explorer and Army lieutenant.
• James W. Stephenson, (1806-38), militia officer and politician, lived in Galena most of his latter life (1828 until his death0.
• James M. Strode, (1800?-1848), lived in Galena most of his life, during the Black Hawk War he was given command of the 27th Regiment of the Illinois militia and oversaw the construction of a fort in that city. In December 1837, at the first "regularly constituted" Illinois state Democratic convention in Vandalia, James W. Stephenson was nominated as the party's candidate for governor of Illinois. Within six months of his nomination, Stephenson was caught in a funds embezzling scandal, surrounding his time as Register of Lands, and forced to withdraw from the election.
• George Bell Swift, (1845-1912), mayor of Chicago (1893; 1895-97), grew up in Galena.
• Jesse B. Thomas, Jr., (1806-50), lawyer, judge, moved to Galena after he retired from the Illinois Supreme Court (1843-48). Thomas was also Illinois Attorney General (1835-36).
• William B. Waddell, (1807-72), one of the founders of the Pony Express. Waddell mined in Galena from 1824-29.

Notable 20th Century Residents

• Leo E. Allen, (1898–1973) U.S. Representative for 14 terms (1933–61) representing the 13th and 16th districts. Allen was also a Jo Daviess County Clerk and also taught at Galena and practiced law.
• Richard D. Auman, Mayor of Galena, (1997-2003)
• Edgar Cunningham, (1910-80), first African American Eagle Scout, married his wife in Galena and lived there for a short period of time.
• John W. Cox, Jr., Congressman from Illinois' 16th (1991–1993), the first Democrat to serve the area since 1850.^[3]
• Donald William Kerst, (1911-1993), physicist, born in Galena, earned a ph.D. from University of Wisconsin in 1937. Kerst was a professor at University of Illinois from 1938 until 1957. During World War II, he worked at Los Alamos, New Mexico. From 1957–62 he was employed at the General Atomic Laboratory, La Jolla, working on the Manhattan Project. In 1940, Dr. Kerst developed the betatron and became the first person to accelerate electrons using magnetic
• Francis Marshall, brigadier general during World War I. He was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his achievements in his command during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
• Don McNeill,(1907-96) radio personality, noted as the creator and host of Don McNeill's Breakfast Club
• Jim Post, an American folk singer-songwriter, composer, playwright and actor. Former member of band Friend and Lover who wrote the top 10 Billboard hit "Reach Out of the Darkness" in 1968.
• Adlai Stevenson II, (1900-65), politician. Stevenson owned a farm outside of Galena in the 1940s. Stevenson was Governor of Illinois (1949-53), and United States Ambassador to the United Nations.
• LaMetta Wynn, first black woman to head an Iowa municipality: mayor of Clinton, Iowa (1995–2007), graduated from Galena High School.
• James Wright, president of Dartmouth College (1998–2009), and a was a history department faculty member from 1969-2009. Wright graduated from Galena High School (Class of 1957) and wrote a book on Galena's Lead District in 1966

References