Zadok Casey

Zadok Casey
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1843
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	John Alexander McClernand
4th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
In office December 9, 1830 – March 1, 1833
Governor	John Reynolds
Preceded by	William Kinney
Succeeded by	William Lee D. Ewing
14th Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives
In office January 1, 1849 – January 6, 1851
Preceded by	Newton Cloud
Succeeded by	Sidney Breese
Personal details
Born	(1796-03-07)March 7, 1796 Greene County, Georgia
Died	September 4, 1862(1862-09-04) (aged 66) Caseyville, Illinois
Political party	Democratic

Zadok Casey (March 7, 1796 – September 4, 1862) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois and founded the city of Mount Vernon.

Biography

Zadok Casey was born in Greene County, Georgia. Not much is known about his early life. One story is that, as a young man, he witnessed a murder. Because he did not wish to testify, he fled to the frontier.

Casey served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1833 to 1843. He founded the city of Mount Vernon around 1817. He was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1822 and to the Illinois State Senate in 1826, and was elected the fourth Lieutenant Governor in 1830. He served in the Twenty-third United States Congress (1833) through the Twenty-seventh United States Congress (1843). He was a Jacksonian Democrat, and he was elected to his final term as an Independent Democrat. He again served in the Illinois House from 1848 to 1852, serving as speaker in 1852, and in the State Senate from 1860 to 1862.

Casey's popularity among his neighbors was such that he twice received the support of every other voter in Jefferson County — when he ran for the Senate in 1826 and for Lieutenant Governor in 1830, only one opposing vote was cast in either election, and that vote was Casey's own. He died in Caseyville, Illinois at age 66, and was interred at Old Union Cemetery in Mount Vernon.

Caseyville, Illinois

Caseyville, Illinois, was named after Zadok Casey due to his help to finance the Mississippi and Ohio Railroad which runs through the center of town. Casey Creek, a tributary of the Big Muddy River, is also named for him, as are Casey Middle School and Casey Avenue in Mount Vernon.

External links

• United States Congress. "Zadok Casey (id: C000230)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Perrin, History of Jefferson County, Illinois, 1883