EDEN, John R. "Rice" John R. (Rice) Eden, for four terms one of the Illinois representatives in Congress, is a native of Bath county, Kentucky, and was born on the first day of February, 1826. His great grandfather was an Englishman, who emigrated to this country and settled in Maryland. His father, John Eden, was born in the city of Baltimore, and was five or six years of age at the time of the removal of the family to Kentucky. John Eden was raised in Kentucky, and married Catharine Cann, who was a native of the same state, but whose father was a Virginian. Mr. Eden's grandparents, both on his father's and mother's side, were among the early settlers of Kentucky, making their home in the state soon after the opening of the present century. The subject of this sketch was the third of a family of six children. In the year 1831, when he was five years old, the family moved to Rush county, Indiana. Four years later the father died, leaving his family in somewhat limited circumstances. Mr. Eden's boyhood days were spent in Rush county, a rough frontier portion of Indiana, possessing only the commonest educational facilities. As was the custom with the boys of that period, he went to school in the winter, and worked on the farm during the summer. He made the best use he could of his opportunities, and at the age of eighteen, secured a position as teacher of a school in the same neighborhood where his early years were spent. He afterward taught school several winters. Having resolved on the practice of the law in the spring of 1850, he became a student of Bigger & Logan at Rushville, Indiana, and industriously applied himself to his legal studies. After reading law two years at Rushville, he came to Illinois in the spring of 1852, and settled at Shelbyville with a view of establishing himself in practice at that point. He was admitted to the bar in May, 1852. He opened an office and was meeting with success in securing business, when the unfavorable condition of his health occasioned his removal in August, 1853, to Sullivan, of which place his brother has become a resident. At that time Sullivan was a place of small size and importance. There was only one other lawyer beside himself in Moultrie county, and he was fortunate in getting an excellent start. He secured the good will and friendship of some of the older and prominent members of the bar in the neighboring counties, and at their suggestion in 1856, he became a candidate for the position of prosecuting attorney for the seventeenth judicial district, which then comprised the nine counties of Macon, Piatt, Moultrie, Shelby, Effingham, Fayette, Bond, Christian, and Montgomery. Previous to this event his acquaintance had been confined mostly to the counties of Moultrie and Shelby. His four years service as prosecuting attorney brought him in contact with the people of the different counties composing the district, while the position was one which, of necessity, was of great value in developing his talents as a lawyer. In the trial of important criminal cases he was frequently opposed by such able lawyers as Linder, Thornton, Moulton and Ficklin, who tested his abilities to the utmost. In his politics he had always been a Democrat, and in 1860, received the Democratic nomination for representative in the legislature. The district was strongly republican, and he was defeated by a few votes. In 1862, the Democracy of the seventh congressional district, comprising the counties of Iroquois, Ford, Vermillion, Champaign, Piatt, Macon, Moultrie, Douglas, Edgar, Coles and Cumberland made him their candidate for representative in Congress. These counties in 1860, had given a Republican majority of about sixteen hundred, but Mr. Eden was elected with fourteen hundred votes to spare, and in March 1863, took his seat in the thirty- eighth Congress. The war of the rebellion was then in progress. The Democratic members of Congress formed only a small minority. He was placed on the Committees on Accounts and Revolutionary Pensions. He supported the measures necessary for the suppression of the war of the rebellion. In 1864 he was renominated by the Democrats without opposition, but a Republican was returned from the district. He then gave his whole attention to his law practice till 1868, when he was made the Democratic candidate for governor against Palmer. He thoroughly canvassed the state, making speeches in almost every county, but was, of course, defeated with the balance of the ticket. In June, 1872, though he made no effort to obtain the nomination, nor was present at the convention, he received the Democratic nomination for representative in Congress in the present fifteenth district. He was elected, and in 1874, and again in 1876, was re-elected. His services in the House are well known to the people of the district he represented. In the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses, he took a particularly active part in the general business of the house, and the vigor of his opposition to all kinds of subsidies, and the various schemes for the depletion of the treasury attracted general attention. During the last four years of his service, he was Chairman of the Committee on War Claims. This position threw on him a vast amount of labor, the numerous claims which came before the committee required the closest scrutiny. He was a member of the special committee appointed by the house of representatives to investigate the presidential election of 1876, in South Carolina, and with other members of the committee, visited that state. Since the expiration of his term as member of the congress, he has been engaged in the practice of the law in Sullivan and in farming. During the years 1870 and 1871, he was a resident of Decatur. His marriage took place on the seventh of August, 1856, to Roxana Meeker, daughter of Ambrose Meeker. He has five children living. He has always taken an active part in politics, and in every important political campaign since 1856, he has been a ready and earnest advocate of the principles of the Democratic party. In his election to important positions he has been honored, but in every instance has justified the confidence placed in his ability and integrity. He has passed through his years of public service without the smell of corruption on his garments and whether a private citizen or in public life has always been the same honest, plain and unpretending man of the people. Extracted from History of Shelby and Moultrie Counties --------------------------------------------------------------------- UGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Pat Hageman