John Dougherty (Illinois politician)

After a stint mining and teaching, Dougherty became an understudy of Alexander Pope Field and was admitted to the bar.

John Dougherty was born in Duck Creek, Ohio, near Marietta in what is today Fearing Township, on May 6, 1806.

He was the 4th child of Irish immigrant Charles Daugherty/Dougherty and Elizabeth Wolfe of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

His mother was soon widowed, and she took the family to Union County, Illinois Territory, after the New Madrid earthquakes.

[2] After struggling to find a job, Alexander Pope Field offered Dougherty the opportunity to study law in his office.

Eldest son William La Fayette served as a United States Marshal.