Oglesby Portrait

Richard J. Oglesby, shown here in a Civil War uniform, was a multi-term governor of Illinois. He called Abraham Lincoln a "giant of the intellectual forest." Like Lincoln, he became a lawyer, Whig, and Republican. In 1860 he helped promote Lincoln as the "Rail-Splitter" candidate for president.

Oglesby resigned a state senate seat to join the Union Army and was wounded in 1862 during the battle of Corinth. He came to Lincoln's deathbed in 1865 and gave the dedicatory speech at Lincoln's tomb in 1874.

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