504 



LOGAN, JOHN ALEXANDER. 



been published "Swedish Kings and their 

 Ages," a collection of photographs after con- 

 temporaneous pictures. The " Swedish Ency- 

 clopsedia " is making good progress, having 

 reached the eleventh volume ; it is expected 

 to be completed in 1887. The death of H. 

 Trolle, the popular novelist, may hero be re- 

 corded. He wrote numerous sea-stories, such 

 as " A Voyage on a Merchantman," " The Sea- 

 Officer," u Captain Darell," etc., and also a 

 history of the Swedish navy. On the whole, 

 though depressed, the literature of Sweden 

 manifests a fair share of life and vigor. 



LOGIN, JOHN ALEXANDER, an American sol- 

 dier and statesman, born in Jackson County, 

 111., Feb. 9, 1826; died in Washington, D. C., 

 Dec. 26, 1886. His father, Dr. John Logan, 

 emigrated from Ireland when a young man, 

 and settled in Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, but 

 removed to Kentucky, then to Missouri, and 

 finally established himself in the practice of 

 medicine in Jackson County, 111., a fertile and 

 rapidly growing portion of the State. While 

 living in Missouri, Dr. Logan married Miss 

 Laramie, who died within a few years, leaving 

 one child, a daughter. In Illinois the still 

 young physician purchased a large tract of 

 land, and to the house he erected upon it he 

 brought, as his wife, Miss Elizabeth Jenkins, 

 a native of Tennessee. She was a woman of 

 rare gifts, possessing sound judgment, indus- 

 try, and unbounded energy. A new town, 

 Mnrphysboro', was laid out in part on Dr. Lo- 

 gan's land, and he built upon it a hotel, which 

 his wife to a large extent superintended. Dr. 

 Logan's medical practice gi ew, so that patients 

 whom he could not reach came many miles to 

 consult him ; while in practical matters, con- 

 cerning the improvement of the State, he took 

 a deep interest. He was a representative in 

 the State Legislature, elected by the Demo- 

 crats, and held several county offices. He was 

 personally popular, and his word was as good 

 as his bond. He died in 1855. 

 John Alexander was the oldest son of Dr. 

 John and Elizabeth Jenkins Logan. He was 

 born to the somewhat hard conditions of a 

 primitive Western home, but was sent to the 

 little public school, and in addition his father 

 secured a tutor who gave the boy a good Eng- 

 lish education, and the rudiments of a classical 

 one. In 1840, in Shiloh College, he pursued 

 his studies still further. He had a wonderful 

 memory, and retained much of what he learned. 

 But from childhood beloved hardy sports bet- 

 ter than books or farming. The chief charm 

 to him on his father's stock-farm was the break- 

 ing of a colt or the motion of a well-trained 

 horse. When he was a little boy his father 

 set him to drive off the squirrels that were 

 stealing his growing corn, until he should have 

 time to prevent their depredations in a more 

 effective way. Young Logan's patience gave 

 out, and he procured paper and pencil, wrote 

 a manifesto announcing that all squirrel thieves 

 would be shot without mercy, pinned it upon 



the fence, and departed in search of more ex- 

 citing adventures. The men of the neighbor- 

 hood built a flat-boat, which they intended to 

 float down to the Mississippi on the spring 

 floods ; but the freshet came with such force 

 that they did not like to venture among the 

 drifting timber and strong currents. Young 

 Logan got into the craft, and piloted it safely 

 into the great river. 



On the declaration of war with Mexico, Lo- 

 gan enlisted as a private in Capt. James Hamp- 

 ton's company of the First Illinois Regiment, 

 which had volunteered for the war. He was 

 immediately offered the second lieutenancy, 

 which he accepted. The regiment, under com- 

 mand of Col. Edward B. Newby, was ordered 

 to New Mexico, and Logan was made quarter- 

 master. He found it a serious task to procure 

 the supplies and secure his vouchers and re- 

 ceipts ; but when the war closed his accounts 

 were found to be absolutely accurate, balanc- 

 ing to a cent. 



After the war closed, he entered the law-of- 

 fice of his uncle, Alexander M. Jenkins, for- 

 merly Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois. This 

 was in 1848. The gallant returned soldier be- 

 came the hero of the neighborhood. He was 

 first in adventure, first in patriotic and elo- 

 quent speech-making, and not last in his studies. 

 In illustration of his adventurous spirit, a story 

 is told of some valuable horses that had been 

 stolen by a member of an organized band of 

 thieves, who had their retreat in an almost in- 

 accessible swamp in Missouri. The men were 

 of the worst description, and prepared for 

 every emergency. Logan persuaded two young 

 men to go with him in pursuit, and on the sec- 

 ond day they returned with the horses, though 

 the thieves had made their escape. 



The best law-school of the West in those 

 days was connected with the University of 

 Louisville, Ky., and here Logan attended a 

 course of lectures, receiving his diploma in 

 1851. Two years before that time he had 

 served a year as Clerk of Jackson County. 

 After his admission to the bar, he became his 

 uncle's partner, and such was his ability that 

 in a year he was chosen prosecuting attorney 

 of the Third Judicial Circuit of Illinois. He 

 was especially noted for his clear insight, forci- 

 ble style of oratory, pleasing address, and fine 

 voice. In the autumn of 1851 he was elected 

 to represent Jackson and Franklin Counties in 

 the Illinois Legislature, and in 1852 he removed 

 his residence to Benton. 



On Nov. 2Y, 1855, he married Miss Mary 8. 

 Cunningham, daughter of John M. Cunning- 

 ham, ex-Register of the United States Land- 

 Office. Mrs. Logan is so remarkable, both in 

 her personal qualities and in the way in which 

 she has entered into and promoted her hus- 

 band's career, that a sketch of the husband 

 naturally includes one of the wife. Her pa- 

 ternal great-grandfather was Robert Cunning 

 ham, an Irish emigrant to Virginia, who fougl 

 with the Americans through the Revolutioi 



