Shadrach Bond

Shadrach Bond (November 24, 1773 – April 12, 1832) was a representative from the Illinois Territory to the United States Congress.

The young Bond learned from his uncle of the rich farmland of the Illinois Territory, and emigrated to the American Bottom, an especially fertile section of the Mississippi River basin.

As Illinois's first governor, Bond led a new state that had sterling prospects but almost no transportation infrastructure or cash in hand.

The Illinois criminal law made arsonists eligible for the death penalty, along with persons guilty of rape and murder.

The bank was ready to issue banknotes based on the prospect of future economic growth within Illinois.

He was no longer in the center of Illinois politics, as the General Assembly had moved the state capital from Kaskaskia to Vandalia.

President James Monroe appointed Bond chief record keeper of the Kaskaskia land office, an important job in a land-hungry frontier state.

He is interred in Evergreen Cemetery in Chester, and his grave is marked by the Governor Bond State Memorial.