James W. Stephenson

James W. Stephenson (1806–August 1838) was an American militia officer and politician from the state of Illinois. He was born in Virginia but spent most of his youth in Edwardsville, Illinois. In 1825 he was indicted for the murder of a family acquaintance, but never went to trial. Upon the outbreak of the Black Hawk War in 1832, Stephenson raised a company and saw combat, suffering severe wounds at the Battle of Waddams Grove. After the war ended Stephenson entered public life, and served as a member of the Illinois State Senate in 1834. In December 1837 Stephenson was nominated as the Democratic candidate for Governor of Illinois. Within six months of his nomination, accusations of embezzlement were leveled against him, and he was forced to withdraw from the election. In August 1838, Stephenson died at home of tuberculosis.

Early life

James W. Stephenson was born in Virginia in 1806, the oldest son of Benjamin Stephenson and his wife, Lucy Swearingen, and was named in honor of his grandfather and uncle.

On January 29, 1825, while at the Wiggins Hotel in lower town, area resident Daniel D. Smith was stabbed to death following an argument with James Stephenson, James Henry and Palemon Winchester. Smith was stabbed in the neck; as those present attended to him, he uttered "Winchester" and died. Reports in Edwardsville's The Spectator indicated that Smith was "killed in an affray" at the Stephenson House. In 1828 Stephenson left Edwardsville, and moved to Galena in Jo Daviess County where he made his home for much of the rest of his life. Finding no allies, he attempted to return to Iowa, but the undisciplined Illinois militia's actions led to the Battle of Stillman's Run. A number of other engagements followed, and the militias of Michigan Territory and Illinois were mobilized to hunt down Black Hawk's Band. The conflict became known as the Black Hawk War.

Black Hawk War As an officer in the Illinois militia James W. Stephenson served in a combat command capacity during the war. He first raised a company of 134 men in the early stages of the war as a captain, later, he was elected major and his company was taken over by Captain Enoch Duncan. Stephenson's company was mustered into service in May and was released on September 14, 1832. Though Waddams Grove did little to put an end to Sauk raids in the region, it did help bolster public confidence in the militia. Less than two weeks later, Stephenson was involved in the aftermath of the raid at Sinsinawa Mound, in present-day Grant County, Wisconsin. When news of the attack at Sinsinawa Mound reached Galena, Captain Stephenson set out with 30 soldiers to pursue the raiders. Once at Sinsinawa, they buried the "most shockingly mutilated" dead at the mound; both of the men killed, John Thompson and John Boxley, had been scalped, and Thompson's heart was missing. Stephenson followed the Sauk trail to the Mississippi River and stopped, the raiders having apparently crossed the river. Stephenson's party returned to Galena without finding the group responsible for the attack.

In the week preceding another of the war's major turning points, the June 16 Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Stephenson helped Colonel Henry Dodge and his men bury the victims of the St. Vrain massacre.

Political career Stephenson was well-connected, and received letters from prominent people, including Jefferson Davis in 1834. That same year, Stephenson was elected to his first public office, the Illinois State Senate, after which he sought an appointment to the United States General Land Office in Galena. 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.

Older accounts of Stephenson's withdrawal from the race give differing reasons for his departure. Former Democratic Illinois Governor Thomas Ford's 1854 A History of Illinois stated that Stephenson's reason for withdrawing from the election was "on account of sickness." James Washington Sheahan wrote in his 1860 biography of Stephen A. Douglas that Stephenson's early exit from the election was due to being "charged with being a defaulter." John Moses' 1,316-page work, Illinois, Historical and Statistical (1889), characterized the accusations against Stephenson as "serious charges."

Death Less than a week after Carlin was elected governor of Illinois, Stephenson died of tuberculosis in August 1838. He died at his home in Galena, at the age of 32. He was buried the day of his death with military honors and left behind his wife, Ellen, and two children Lucy and Kyle.