William Lee Davidson Ewing (August 31, 1795 – March 25, 1846) was a politician from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

who served partial terms as the fifth governor of the state and as U.S. Senator. Ewing was born in

Paris, Kentucky Paris is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky. It lies northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. Paris is the seat of its county and forms part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. As ...

and practiced law in

Shawneetown Shawneetown is a city in Gallatin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,239 at the 2010 census, down from 1,410 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Gallatin County. Geography Shawneetown is located southeast of the cent ...

, Illinois.

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

appointed him to be a land office receiver in Vandalia in 1820. He served as a Colonel of the "Spy Battalion" during the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the " British Band", cros ...

. In 1830, he was elected to serve in the state House of Representatives as Speaker. He had previously been the clerk of the House. From 1832 to 1834, he was a State Senator, serving as President '' pro tempore'' of the State Senate in 1832. In 1833, he was also named acting Lieutenant Governor of Illinois and served as Governor of Illinois for fourteen days in 1834, the shortest gubernatorial term in Illinois history. Upon the death of

Elias Kane Elias Kent Kane (June 7, 1794December 12, 1835) was the first Illinois Secretary of State and a U.S. Senator from Illinois. Early life He was born in New York City, to merchant Capt. Elias Kent Kane and Deborah VanSchelluyne of Dutchess County, ...

in 1835, Ewing was appointed by Joseph Duncan to serve out the rest of Kane's term in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. In 1838 he was appointed Commissioner to adjust the claims of mixed-bloods and traders at Fort Snelling for the Dakota under the 1837 Dakota treaty. His re-election campaign was unsuccessful and he returned to the Illinois State House, becoming Speaker of the House again. He died in Springfield, Illinois.

References

External links

Illinois 2005-2006 Blue Book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewing, William 1795 births 1846 deaths People from Paris, Kentucky American people of Scottish descent Jacksonian United States senators from Illinois Democratic Party United States senators from Illinois Democratic Party governors of Illinois Jacksonian state governors of the United States Lieutenant Governors of Illinois Speakers of the Illinois House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Democratic Party Illinois state senators Auditors of Public Accounts of Illinois People from Shawneetown, Illinois Burials at Oak Ridge Cemetery