Image of Sheldon, Jairus C.

Sheldon, Jairus C.

b. November 2, 1827, in Lancaster, New York. Sheldon studied law in Ohio. He moved to Champaign County, Illinois in 1853, and in 1856, he was admitted to the bar. Abraham Lincoln was one of Sheldon's examiners for his admittance to the bar. He formed a law partnership with Colonel William Coler and then later with Frank G. Jaques. He was associated with Lincoln in various Champaign County cases. Sheldon retired from law in 1866. Affiliated with the Republican party, Sheldon was elected to the state senate in 1872.
Biographical Encyclopaedia of Illinois of the Nineteenth Century (Philadelphia: Galaxy Publishing Company, 1875), 110; The Biographical Record of Champaign County, Illinois (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1900), 332-37. Illustration courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.