Shadrach Bond
| Shadrach Bond | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 1st Governor of Illinois | |
|
In office October 6, 1818 – December 5, 1822 |
|
| Lieutenant | Pierre Menard |
| Preceded by |
Ninian Edwards as Territorial Governor of Illinois |
| Succeeded by | Edward Coles |
| Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Illinois Territory | |
|
In office December 3, 1812 – August 2, 1813 |
|
| Preceded by | office created |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Stephenson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 24, 1773 Frederick, Maryland |
| Died | April 12, 1832 (aged 58) Kaskaskia, Illinois |
| Political party | Independent |
| Profession | farmer |
| Signature |  |
Shadrach Bond (November 24, 1773 – April 12, 1832) was a representative from the Illinois Territory to the United States Congress. In 1818, he was elected Governor of Illinois, becoming the new state's first chief executive. In an example of American politics during the Era of Good Feelings, Bond was elected to both positions without opposition.
Bond was born in 1773 in Frederick, Maryland. He had twelve Illinois Country connections through his uncle, also, named Shadrach Bond, a scout with George Rogers Clark's Illinois Regiment in the American Revolutionary War. Because they held some of the same offices in Illinois, the two Bonds are sometimes confused; the uncle is usually known as Shadrach Bond, Sr. The young Bond learned from his uncle of the rich farmland of the Illinois Territory, and emigrated to the American Bottom, an especially fertile section of the Mississippi River basin. Bond would be an Illinois farmer for the remainder of his life. Shadrach Bond was made a Freemason in Temple Lodge No. 26, Reisters Town, Baltimore County, Maryland. When he moved to Illinois, he became a member of lodge The Western Star Lodge No. 107, Kaskaskia, Territory of Indiana on December 27, 1806. Bond was elected Illinois first Grand Master when the first Illinois Grand Lodge was constituted on December 11, 1822.
Bond was elected to the Indiana Territoral Council. After Illinois Territory was organized, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. When Illinois was admitted to the Union, Bond was elected the first governor. As Illinois's first governor, Bond led a new state that had sterling prospects but almost no transportation infrastructure or cash in hand. Bond made transportation his top priority as governor. Because the state had almost no money, the General Assembly passed and Bond signed bills to build privately operated toll roads and bridges, headed by a road connecting the state's first capital, Kaskaskia on the Mississippi River, with what was then the state's largest city, Shawneetown, on the Ohio River. The road was built and eventually taken over by the state of Illinois as a state highway. After almost two centuries of improvements, much of it is now part of Illinois Route 13.
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