Richard Montgomery YOUNG, Congress, IL (1798-1861)

YOUNG, Richard Montgomery, a Senator from Illinois; born in Fayette County, Ky., February 20, 1798; attended the country schools and Forest Hill Academy, Jessamine County, Ky.; studied law and was admitted to the bar in Kentucky in 1816; member of the Kentucky Militia; moved to Illinois in 1817 and commenced the practice of law in Jonesboro; appointed captain in the Illinois Militia; member, State house of representatives 1820-1822; circuit judge of the fifth circuit 1825-1837, when he resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1843; chairman, Committee on Roads and Canals (Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses); member of the mission to England to negotiate a loan for the State of Illinois in 1839; associate justice of the State supreme court 1843-1847, when he resigned; appointed by President James Polk as Commissioner of the General Land Office 1847-1849; Clerk of the United States House of Representatives 1850-1851; resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C., where he died November 28, 1861; interment in the Congressional Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present