Person:James Semple (8)

James Semple

• James Semple b. January 5, 1798, in Green County, Kentucky; d. December 20, 1866, in Elsah, Illinois. James Semple moved to Edwardsville, Illinois, in 1818 and then to Missouri in 1820. He returned to Kentucky to study law, and after admission to the Kentucky bar, Semple practiced law in Clinton County, Kentucky. In 1827, he moved to Edwardsville, Illinois, and continued the practice of law. Semple was a brigadier general in the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War (1831-1832). He was elected to the state legislature in 1832 and served as attorney general in 1833 and 1834. Semple was speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1834 to 1838. In 1837, President Van Buren appointed Semple to the post of Minister to Colombia, a position he held until 1842. The following year, the Illinois legislature appointed Semple to the Illinois Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Sidney Breese. Semple resigned from the court after only a few months to accept an appointment to the United States Senate upon the death of Illinois Senator Samuel McRoberts. During his brief tenure, Semple heard seven cases in which Abraham Lincoln was an attorney. After the expiration of his term in 1847, Semple retired to Edwardsville, Illinois.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 James Semple, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
2.   Norton, W. T. (ed.). Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People, 1812-1912. (Chicago and New York: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1912)
   1157-60.
3.   Linder, Usher F, and Joseph Gillespie. Reminiscences of the early bench and bar of Illinois. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1970)
   218-19.
4.   Palmer, John McAuley. The bench and bar of Illinois : historical and reminiscent. (Chicago [Illinois]: Lewis Pub., 1899)
   1:41-42.
5.   Stowell, Daniel W. Editor, and Christopher A. Assistant Editor Schnell. The Papers of Abraham Lincoln: Legal Documents and Cases. (University of Virginia Press, 2008).

   James Semple heard seven cases in which Abraham Lincoln was an attorney
   http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/reference/html%20files%20for%20biographies/Bio_1152.html

6.   Walker, Rosa Kershaw; Pittman, Hannah Daviess. Americans of Gentle Birth and Their Ancestors: A Genealogical Encyclopedia ... Embracing Many Authenticated Lineages and Biographical Sketches of the Founders of the Colonies and Their Descendants found in all parts of the United States . (Saint Louis, Missouri: Buxton & Skinner, 1903)
   Vol. 1, Pages 242, 243.

   James Semple, eldest son of John Walker Semple, and wife, Lucy Robertson Semple, born January 5, 1798, was several times speaker of the Illinois legislature; Attorney General and Chief Justice of the State; Colonel in the Black Hawk war, and afterwards General of State troops; Senator of the United States and Minister to the Republic of Colombia, South America; took a prominent part in the settlement of the Oregon territory. He married, first, Ellen Duff Green, July 12, 1821, and had a daughter, Isabel, who married Robert Floyd Jones. Issue, Robert Jones, Jr., who married Marie Flanigan; Semple Jones, married Julia Shorb, and Edgar, all of St. Louis.
   
   Hon. James Semple married, secondly, Mary Stephenson (Cairns), Mizner, widow, mother of Hon. Lansing B. Mizner, Minister to Guatamala. Issue:
   
   1, Ada, died young
   
   2, Lucy Virginia, who married Edgar Ames of St. Louis and has four children, Henry Semple, Edgar, unmarried, and Ada Semple, married Henry S., son of Maj. Henry S. Turner, U.S.A. (see Turner), and has two children, Edgar Ames and Marian Julia.
   Mary Semple Ames, married Wayman Crow Cushman, of St. Louis, and has two sons, Henry Semple and Robert A. Cushman.
   
   3, Eugene Semple, of Vancouver, who was inaugurated Governor of Washington Territory at Olympia April 23, 1887, was born at Bogota, South America, 1840; his father at that time Minister to South America.
   
   4, Julia Ellen, who married Ashley D. Scott of Ohio, and has children, Ashley D. Semple, Mary Semple and Isabel.

7. ↑ ^7.0 7.1 James Semple, in Find A Grave.