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JOHN ALEXANDER MCCLERNAND is the only child of Dr. John and Fatima McClernand, and was born in Breckenridge county, Kentucky, in 1812. Four years later his father died, and young McClernand, being made of that stern stuff that overcomes difficulties and surmounts obstacles, had succeeded in placing himself in a respectable position and practice in the legal profession at the age of twenty. Meantime, in 1830, he had moved with the family to Shawneetown, Illinois. In 1832, before attaining his majority, he volunteered as a private in the Black Hawk war, and served honorably to its close. This service kindled a taste for, and gave him a knowledge of military tactics, and of the character of men, which proved important factors in his later career.

In 1835 Mr. McClernand established the first Democratic journal ever published in Shawneetown; and the same year re-commenced the practice of law, which continued with success until he was elected to U.S. Congress in 1843. In 1836 he was elected to the Illinois Legislature from Gallatin county. During this session he successfully vindicated President Jackson from charges brought against him by Governor Duncan; and also advocated that mode of constructing the Illinois & Michigan Canal known as the "Deep Cut" plan, which was finally adopted. Mr. McClernand was chosen, by the legislature as commissioner and treasurer, which duties he so faithfully discharged that complimentary resolutions respecting his services were passed in a number of public meetings held at different points. In 1838 he was urged to become a nominee for Lieutenant Governor, but declined because under the Constitutional age - thirty years. At the same Democratic convention which offered him the nomination Mr. McClernand prepared and offered the following resolutions:

"Resolved, That the Democratic principle is founded on an imperishable basis of truth and justice, and perpetually striving to sustain society in the exercise of every power which can promote human happiness and elevate our condition; that, instead of warring against order and encroaching on the privileges of others, the spirit of Democracy maintains an active principle of hope and virtue."

"Resolved, That our just claim is to connect our party with the cause of intelligence and morality; to seek the protection of every right consistent with the genius of our Constitution and the spirit of the age. We desire to extend moral culture, and to remove, as far as possible, all inequalities in our human conditions by embracing all improvements which can ameliorate our moral and political state."

In 1840 Mr. Mclernand was again returned to the legislature from Gallatin county; was re-elected in 1842; and as Chairman of the Committee on Finance introduced several measures to alleviate the existing financial troubles of the State, which he attributed to the defective banking system. These measures were all adopted. In 1843, while still a member of the legislature, he was chosen Representative to the Twenty-eighth Congress. The first speech he made in that body was on the bill to refund the fine imposed upon Gen. Jackson by Judge Hall. During the same session he delivered a speech on the Rock Island controversy, which was extensively published. In the second session of the same Congress, as a member of the Committee on Public Lands, he brought forward a comprehensive report, accompanied with a bill for a grant of land to aid in the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.

By an act of th legislature, the time for holding elections had been changed, and Mr. McClernand was re-elected to Congress in 1844. He was one of the members who insisted with vehemence on the maintenance of the claim to fifty-four degrees, forty minutes in the Oregon controversy with Great Britain. He voted to sustain the President in the prosecution of the Mexican war, by granting the requisite men and means; and portrayed the beneficial results of that war in a speech delivered in Congress in June, 1846. In the first session of the Twenty-ninth Congress he prepared with great labor and introduced a bill to reduce and regulate the price of public lands. In the ensuing session, as chairman of the same committee, he introduced a bill, which became a law, to bring into market the mineral lands, lying around Lake Superior. During the same session he was called upon the Jackson Monument committee to present their memorial, which he did, and his eulogium upon Jackson was highly esteemed. In 1848 Mr. McClernand was again elected to Congress, but not without opposition. In 1849, as a member of a select committee on certain charges preferred against President Polk, for having established a tariff of duties in the ports of the Mexican Republic, Mr. McClernand defended the President in an able argument. In 1850, at te instance of other leading men, he prepared and offered the first draft of the famous Compromise measures of that year. But the same subject being taken up in the Senate by the committee of which Mr. Clay was chairman, he prepared the bill which passed both houses, Mr. McClernand being chairman of the committee of the whole during its passage through the House. He delivered an elaborate speech on the subject during that session. He also during that session drafted the bill granting a quantity of land in aid of the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad and its Chicago branch. His colleague, Senator Douglas, being furnished a copy, introduced it in the Senate, and, with amendments, it passed both houses and became a law. During the same session he, as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, introduced a paper for the regulation of the State Department. In 1851, declining re-election, he retired from Congress, after a flattering career of eight years, and moved to Jacksonville, Illinois. The following year he was chosen Presidential Elector for the second time in his life, and supported Pierce and King. In 1856 he made a powerful speech at Alton, deprecating the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and predicting danger to the country as the consequence. In 1856 he removed to Springfield, Illinois, where he soon gained a prominent position as a lawyer in the State and Federal courts. In 1859 he was elected Representative to the Congress, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Major T. L. Harris. In 1860 he introduced a bill repealing the law organizing the Territory of Utah and merging that Territory into others. This being his plan for overcoming the ascendancy of the Mormans, and the evils of polygamy.

On the 14th of January, 1861, Mr. McClernand delivered a speech in the House, on the Union and the phantom, "No Coercion," that for historical research, comprehensiveness and exhaustive argument, has few equals in the annals of parliamentary literature.

In 1843, after his first election to Congress, and before taking his seat, Mr. McClernand married Miss Sarah, daughter of Colonel Dunlap, of Jacksonville, Illinois.

A sketch of the eminent services rendered the Government by General McClernand during the war for the Union will appear in the military chapter.