William Lee D. Ewing

William Lee Davidson Ewing ( born August 31, 1795 in Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky, † March 25, 1846 in Springfield, Illinois ) was an American politician and 1834 the fifth governor of Illinois. He was also a U.S. Senator for Illinois.

Early years and political rise

After studying law and qualifying as a lawyer William Ewing opened a practice in Shawneetown. He participated in the Black Hawk War and was brigadier general of the National Guard. His political career began in 1820 when he got a job with the land allocation authority ( Land Office ) in Vandalia. Between 1826 and 1828 he was an employee of the House of Representatives from Illinois. In 1830 he was elected as a delegate to this body. From 1832 through 1834 he was a member of the State Senate and was even the President. After both Governor John Reynolds and Zadok Casey Lieutenant Governor resigned from their positions to switch to the U.S. Congress, Ewing was in accordance with the constitution, new Governor of Illinois.

Governor and later career

As Governor, Ewing had to officiate only about two weeks. At the time of the resignation of Governor Reynolds on November 17, 1834 his successor, Joseph Duncan was already selected. Under the constitution, but Duncan could not take over the office immediately after Reynolds ' resignation because his term of office began on December 3, 1834. Thus, Ewing had to bridge this time. In 1835, Ewing was the successor to the late Senator Elias Kent Kane ( 1794-1835 ) in the U.S. Senate. In 1837 he was not re-elected and therefore had to resign from the Congress. Then he was again deputy and even President of the State House of Representatives.