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When war was declared with Mexico, Richard
J. Oglesby enlisted as a private in Company C of the 4th Illinois
Infantry, in charge of Colonel E. D. Baker. He was elected
second lieutenant, and made a good record in the army. At the
close of the war he attended law school in Louisiana, Ky., for three
months, and received his diploma. Then he came back to Decatur
and became a member of the Macon county bar. Soon came the
exciting days of the gold rush to California. The lure of the
west couldn't be resisted. He joined a party of men and soon
was off to seek adventure and fortune. For ninety-five days
the party traveled over plains and mountains to reach the fields of
gold. Oglesby drove a six mule team all the way from St.
Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento on that trip. Forty-five hundred
dollars was the sum which Oglesby brought back to Decatur with him
on the return in two or three years from the west. Part of
this money he invested in land, adding to the holdings he had
secured from the land warrant he received as a soldier in the war
with Mexico. He purchased land to the northwest of the town,
and laid it out in town lots. In naming the streets of Oglesby
addition he remembered the source from which his money had come.
Hence we have Eldorado street. Cerro Gordo street was named
for the battle of Cerro Gordo in the War with Mexico, a battle in
which he had participated. Oglesby's first venture into politics
was when he became a candidate and was elected as a presidential
elector on the Whig ticket. In 1853 he became a law partner of
Sheridan Watt. Still he was not satisfied. Now that he was
well situated financially, Oglesby decided to travel for a time.
fulfilling a desire to tour Europe. He left in April 1856 for
that continent. Before he returned to Decatur twenty months
later, he had extended his travels through Asia and down into Egypt.
His tour of the Holy Land aroused his interest in the Bible, and on
the peak of Mt. Sinai he committed to memory the Ten Commandments.
On his return to Decatur in December, 1857, his tales of his travels
added to his popularity. He came into great demand as a
speaker. The trip had been of great value to him. He had
much to tell and he knew how to tell it. A tour of foreign
lands in those days was something very much out of the ordinary.
Every one wanted to hear of the countries he had visited and the
experiences he had had. Through the many talks which Oglesby
gave on his travels was developed the eloquence which served he so
well in later years. In 1860 Oglesby was elected to the state
senate, receiving a majority of 240 votes. He served one
session in the senate. Then came the outbreak of the Civil
War, and Oglesby resigned the senatorship to become colonel of the
Eighth Illinois Regiment, the appointment coming from Governor
Yates. Two companies to join this regiment were organized in
Decatur within twenty-four hours. The regiment was stationed in or
near Cairo for most of the term for which it was enlisted, but after
it was mustered out in July, 1861, most of the soldiers reenlisted
at once to serve for "three years or for the war." Colonel
Oglesby was in command until April 1, 1862, when he was promoted to
Brigadier-General. The promotion was in recognition of his
valor at the battle of Fort Donelson. While participating in the
battle of Corinth General Oglesby was shot through the lung, and for
weeks no hopes were given for his recovery. Under the skillful
care of Dr. S. T. Trowbridge, surgeon of the Eighth Regiment, he
pulled through, but his return to health was a long and slow
process. In November, 1862, Oglesby was commissioned Major
General, and in the spring of 1863 he was assigned to the Sixteenth
Army corps. He was still suffering, however, from the bullet
he still carried and he feared he would be unable to perform the
duties of the position. Accordingly he handed in his
resignation. Grant then detailed Oglesby to court martial duty
in Washington, and Oglesby remained in that city until May, 1864,
when he resigned to become candidate for governor of Illinois.
Oglesby was considered the logical man to head Illinois at that
time. It was felt that it was important that the state have a
governor who would support Lincoln. The campaign was a lively
and a bitter one, but Oglesby was elected. It was remembered
that in his campaign speeches, Oglesby upheld Lincoln and predicted
that the time would come when Lincoln would be worshipped by the
entire world. Oglesby was quietly sworn into office on Jan.
17, 1865. A day had previously been set for inaugural
ceremonies, but Oglesby had been crushed by the loss of his little
five year old son, Dickie, who had died from diphtheria the day
before the time set for the inauguration and it had been postponed.
The vital topic of interest at the time Oglesby became governor was
the thirteenth amendment to the constitution, prohibiting slavery in
the United States and its territories. "Let Illinois be the first
to ratify," said Oglesby when Congress passed the amendment.
Illinois heeded the governor's wishes, and was the first state to
approve the action prohibiting slavery. Governor Oglesby, who had
stood by Lincoln during the strenuous days of the Civil war, stood
by his bedside when the great leader gave up his life, the victim of
the assassin's bullet. Oglesby had just arrived in Washington and
had been invited by President and Mrs. Lincoln to attend the theater
with them that evening. Oglesby, tired from his journey, asked
to be excused, but made an appointment to see the president the next
morning. Later in the evening came the startling news. The
President had been shot. Oglesby rushed to the bedside of the
stricken man. There he remained until the end. Words
could not describe his grief. Later Oglesby was made the president
of the National Memorial association to erect a monument to Lincoln,
for which $200,000 was raised. When that monument, now a world
shrine, was dedicated in Springfield, Oct. 15, 1874, Oglesby
delivered the oration. Among those present on that occasion was
President Ulysses S. Grant. During Oglesby's term as governor many
important laws were passed. One was the location of the
Illinois Agricultural and Industrial college at Urbana. It was
during his administration that $450,000 was appropriated to begin
the work of erecting the $3,000,000 state house at Springfield.
After he retired from office Oglesby returned to Decatur, remaining
for the four years until he was again called to service. He
was elected governor for the second time, and was inaugurated Jan.
13, 1873, but a few days afterward was elected as United States
senator, and resigned as governor to accept the senatorship.
During the six years he was in the senate he spent most of his time
in Washington, but he always kept his home in Decatur open. When
his service in the senate ended, he again retired, this time for a
period of fourteen years. Then once more his state called him,
and in 1884 he was again nominated and elected as governor. He
was inaugurated on Jan. 30, 1885. When he left the governor's
mansion in Springfield, Jan. 1, 1889, after the close of his third
term as governor, he took up his residence at Elkhart, in Logan
county. His home was called Oglehurst, and there he lived
until his death on April 24, 1899. His death was caused by
concussion of the brain, brought on by a fall in which his head was
struck. He is buried in Oglehurst. Just two weeks before
he died he visited in Decatur. Governor Oglesby was twice married.
His first wife, to whom he was married in 1859, was Miss Anna E.
White. She died in the governor's mansion at Springfield, June
16, 1868, during the last years of her husband's first term as
governor. She was brought to Decatur for burial. Beside
her in Greenwood cemetery lie two of their children, who died in
childhood. Two others grew to womanhood and manhood. In 1873
Governor Oglesby married Mrs. Emma Gillett Keyes of Logan county.
They became the parents of four children. The Oglesby home in
Decatur was in the 400 block West William street. For some
years they occupied the original house which stood on the place.
This was the home to which General Oglesby was brought after he had
been wounded at the battle of Corinth. Afterwards, Governor
Oglesby erected a beautiful and spacious house, which adjoined it,
was used for kitchen and servants' quarters. Governor Oglesby
sold the property to J. E. Bering. The original Oglesby home
was torn down after Wilson Bering bought the property from his
father in 1905. Today, the house is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank
L. Evans. In Decatur Oglesby's name is perpetuated in the Oglesby
school and Oglesby street. In 1924, the one-hundredth
anniversary year of Oglesby's birth, a tulip tree was planted at the
Oglesby school as a memorial to him.
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