Benjamin S. Edwards

He then spent a year reading law with Stephen T. Logan, before being admitted to the bar of Illinois in March 1840.

His law practice would bring him into regular contact with Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, Edward Dickinson Baker, Jesse B. Thomas, and other prominent Illinois lawyers.

In 1862, he served as a delegate from Sangamon County to the Illinois constituent assembly that produced the so-called "Copperhead Constitution" that was ultimately defeated by the voters.

Edwards' home in Springfield, where he lived from 1843 until his death, was an Illinois social center, and at various points Edwards entertained Ulysses S. Grant, Stephen A. Douglas, Lyman Trumbull, John Hay, Sidney Breese, and other well-known Illinois political figures.

In the pre-Civil War period, Edwards routinely hosted annual "legislative parties" that were attended by all members of the Illinois General Assembly.