Jefferson County Illinois Biographies

  ZADOC CASEY'S father was an Irish emigrant before the Revolutionary war. He came to North Carolina and fought under Marion and Sumter in the conflict in the Southern States. Zadoc was born in 1796, married in 1815, came to Illinois in 1817, and settled at Mount Vernon in Jefferson County in that year. He is credited with the founding of that thriving city. He was the ancestor of a large number of people. He held many public offices and was highly esteemed by the people. He favored slavery. He was elected lieutenant-governor, in 1830, when John Reynolds came into office as governor. He was later elected to Congress and secured the gift of land to construct the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and also helped to secure the grant to build the Illinois Central Railroad. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1847. He was considered a public-spirited citizen and a man of considerable wealth for those days.