William L. MAY, Congress, IL (17931849)

MAY William L. , a Representative from Illinois; born in Kentucky about 1793; attended the common schools; moved to Edwardsville, Madison County, Ill., and afterward to Jacksonville, Ill.; appointed justice of the peace in Madison County on December 10, 1817; captain of militia in 1822; elected justice of the peace in Morgan County August 6, 1827, and resigned August 29, 1829; member of the State house of representatives in 1828; moved to Springfield, having been appointed by President Jackson as receiver of public moneys for the United States Land Office in that city; studied law; was admitted to the bar and practiced; also operated a ferry across the Illinois River at Peoria and organized the Peoria Bridge Co.; elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Joseph Duncan; reelected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress and elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth Congress and served from December 1, 1834, to March 3, 1839; chairman, Committee on Private Land Claims (Twenty-fifth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1838 to the Twenty-sixth Congress; moved to Peoria, Ill., and continued the practice of law; mayor of Springfield, Ill., in May 1841; went to California during the gold rush; died in Sacramento, Calif., September 29, 1849.

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