It was on the 9th of February, 1826, that John A. Logan was born, at
Murphysborough, Ill., a little town among the hills that hem in the
Mississippi River. He was the eldest of eleven children.
His father was a physician, and came to America from Ireland three
years before, while his mother, Elizabeth Jenkins, was from a family
that lived in Tennessee.
He grew up, strong and powerful in youth, amid the exciting scenes of
purely western life. It was a life that appealed to courage, placed a
premium upon all of manly energy and exertion, and infused into him,
with every breath, that best of robust health which, like bank-stock
drawing a high rate of interest, has met every demand made upon it for
over half a century.
His advantages of education in early youth were of a slender character,
except as he derived instruction from the teaching of his father and at
his mother’s knee; for no regular schools existed in the settlement,
except at a log school-house, where an itinerant teacher presided,
under whose tuition only the quickest and aptest boy or girl would make
advancement.
One who knows him well says that when eighteen years old he was sent
to the nearest school, called Shiloh Academy, under the jurisdiction
of the Methodist Church, and graduated from it into the Mexican war.
He had breathed an atmosphere of war from childhood. In his youth the
stories of the war of 1812 and of the Revolution were fresh in the
memories and constantly in the mouths of those about him, many of whom
had been actual participants. The Seminole and Black-Hawk wars had
occurred in his youth, and personal acquaintance with many who had
participated in them kindled in him the glow and fervor of adventure.
He enlisted in the First Illinois Regiment, and went to Mexico.
Though among the youngest of the men, he came at once into prominence
by his energy and bearing, and the quick activity of his mind, and the
great fearlessness with which he occupied and held each post of danger
to which he was assigned.
There was about him such an utter abandonment to the work of battle,
that his strong marks of leadership were quickly recognized, and he was
made lieutenant, then adjutant, and finally quartermaster, a position
of grave responsibility in the enemy’s country.
After the war he studies at college, and then reads law with his uncle,
Alexander M. Jenkins, who was a great man in southern Illinois. He had
at one time been lieutenant-governor of the state, and was a Jacksonian
Democrat.
In 1849 Mr. Logan was elected clerk of Jackson County, and continued
his study of law. He took a course of law-lectures at Louisville, and
was admitted to the bar. He commenced practice with his uncle, and soon
gained prominence. But political life, for one so active, filled with
an unbounded energy, had charms for him.
Soon after his return from Louisville, he was elected prosecuting
attorney for Jackson County, in 1852, and the same year to the
legislature, and re-elected in 1853, 1856, and 1857. In 1854 he was
elected prosecuting attorney of the third judiciary district of
Illinois, and in 1856 was a presidential elector on the Buchanan and
Breckenridge ticket.
It was at this time he began his career as a stump-speaker, and his
speeches were regarded as remarkable examples of eloquence, giving
him a reputation that sent him to congress in 1858. He was an earnest
Douglas man, and being re-nominated in 1860, he stumped the state
with great success, and was re-elected by a large majority. This was
a transition period. The great contest was coming on, and “the piping
times of peace” were angry with the most dread forebodings.