Gustav Koerner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gustav Koerner
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| 12th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois | |
| In office 10 January 1853 – 12 January 1857 |
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| Governor | Joel Aldrich Matteson |
| Preceded by | William McMurtry |
| Succeeded by | John Wood |
| United States Minister to Spain | |
| In office 14 June 1862 – 20 July 1864 |
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| President | Abraham Lincoln |
| Preceded by | Carl Schurz |
| Succeeded by | John P. Hale |
| Member of the Illinois House of Representatives | |
| In office 1842 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Gustav Philipp Körner
20 November 1809 Frankfurt am Main |
| Died | 9 April 1896 (aged 86) Belleville, Illinois |
| Resting place | Walnut Hill Cemetery, Belleville, Illinois |
| Citizenship |  United States (1838) |
| Nationality | German, American |
| Political party | Republican (co-founder) |
| Other political affiliations |
Democratic Liberal Republican |
| Spouse |
Sophie Engelmann
(m. 1836; died 1888) |
| Children |
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| Residences | 200 Abend St., Belleville, Illinois 62220 |
| Alma mater | University of Heidelberg, Transylvania University |
| Occupation | Politician, lawyer, judge, journalist |
| Profession | Doctor juris utriusque |
| Signature |  |
| Website | www.gustavekoerner.org |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States of America Union |
| Branch/service | United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1862 |
| Rank |  Colonel, Brig. General |
| Unit | 43rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Gustav Philipp Koerner (born November 20, 1809 – died April 9, 1896) was a German-American who became a lawyer, judge, and politician in Illinois. He was also a Colonel in the U.S. Army and was strongly against slavery.
On June 17, 1836, he married Sophia Dorothea Engelmann (1815–1888) in Belleville, Illinois. They had nine children together. Gustav Koerner was one of the first people to help start the Republican Party. He was also a good friend of Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. Koerner played a very important part in helping Lincoln become president in 1860.
Contents
Gustav Koerner's Life Story
Early Years and School
Gustav Koerner was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. His father, Bernhard Körner, was a publisher and bookseller. Gustav went to the Gymnasium Francofurtanum, a high school in Frankfurt.
After high school, he studied law at universities in Jena, Munich, and Heidelberg. In 1832, he earned a special law degree from the University of Heidelberg. This degree meant he was an expert in both German and Roman law.
Escaping Trouble in Germany
In 1830, while studying in Munich, Koerner was involved in a snowball fight that led to a clash with the police. An officer was hurt, and Koerner was held for four months. He later said he learned more about law during that time than in two years of studying!
Koerner also took part in the Hambach Festival in 1832. This was a big meeting where people wanted to create a free and united Germany. In 1833, he was involved in the Frankfurter Wachensturm, a failed attempt by students to start a revolution. Koerner was hurt and had to escape to France while dressed as a woman to avoid being arrested. The authorities even had a special list of people suspected of being revolutionaries, and Koerner was on it.
A New Start in America
On May 1, 1833, Koerner sailed to North America from France. He traveled with the Engelmann family, whose son Theodor was a college friend. During the trip, Koerner became engaged to Sophie Engelmann, one of the daughters.
They arrived in New York on June 17. They then moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Koerner strongly disliked that Missouri was a slave state. Soon after, he and the Engelmanns settled near Belleville, Illinois. Koerner showed how much he was against slavery by buying a slave at an auction in Belleville and immediately setting him free.
Koerner continued his law studies at Transylvania University in Kentucky from 1834 to 1835. While there, he met Mary Todd, who later married Abraham Lincoln. By 1835, Koerner was working as a lawyer in Belleville. In 1838, he officially became an American citizen.
Becoming a Politician
Gustav Koerner was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1842. He then served as a judge on the Illinois Supreme Court from 1845 to 1848. From 1853 to 1857, he was the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.
He started as a member of the Democratic Party. But when the Republican Party was formed, he joined them. He helped create their platform, which was strongly against slavery. As a friend, Koerner even took over some of Abraham Lincoln's law cases when Lincoln became president.
Koerner was the first person of German background to be elected to the Illinois or Missouri state legislatures.
Serving the Country
In 1861, Koerner helped create the 43rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment for the American Civil War. He was appointed a Colonel and later a Brigadier General in the Union Army. He had to resign in April 1862 because of health problems.
Soon after, President Lincoln appointed him as the United States Ambassador to Spain. Koerner's main job was to make sure Spain did not join the Civil War on the side of the Southern states that supported slavery. He successfully achieved this goal. However, Koerner was not happy in Spain because his salary as ambassador did not cover the high costs of living at the Spanish court. He had to use his own money. In 1864, he left his diplomatic role and returned to the United States.
A Special Honor
After Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Gustav Koerner was given a special honor. He was one of the people who carried President Lincoln's coffin at his state funeral. All the other men who carried the coffin were also Lincoln's friends from his time in Springfield, Illinois.
The other pallbearers were:
- Jesse K. Dubois
- Stephen T. Logan
- James L. Lamb
- Samuel Hubbel Treat Jr.
- John Williams
- Erastus White
- J. M. Brown
- Jacob Bunn
- Charles Matheny
- Elisha Iles
- John T. Stuart
Later Years
In 1867, Koerner became president of the board that set up the Illinois Soldiers' Orphans' Home in Bloomington. In 1870, he became president of Illinois' first railroad commission.
He supported Ulysses S. Grant for president in 1868. But in 1872, he joined the Liberal Republican Party. He helped choose Horace Greeley as their candidate for president, though Greeley did not win. Koerner also ran for Governor of Illinois in 1872 but lost. After that, he supported the Democratic Party.
In 1874, Koerner's wife, Sophia, helped start one of the first kindergartens in Belleville. She became the first president of the Belleville Kindergarten Association. This school followed a system that helped children learn easily.
Remembering Gustav Koerner
In 1836, Koerner helped start the public library in Belleville, which was likely the first in Illinois. He was known as a "Latin farmer," a nickname for German immigrants who had a good education but chose to live on farms.
Koerner was a busy lawyer and also wrote for several German-language newspapers in America. He had a big impact on the growing German community in North America. In 1886, he began writing his life story, or memoirs, for his children and grandchildren. These memoirs were published in 1909, 13 years after he died.
Today, Koerner's old home is a historic place. The City of Belleville bought it in 2001, and a historical society is restoring it to become a museum. This museum will show Koerner's life and his friendship with Abraham Lincoln. In 2009, Belleville celebrated Koerner's 200th birthday. A special silver tablet, given to Koerner by Queen Isabella II of Spain in 1864, was presented for the museum.
Do Right and Fear No One
The historical society in St. Clair County, Illinois, is restoring Gustav Koerner's former home into a museum. Their motto for this project is "Do right and fear no one." This was also the motto for his 200th birthday celebration in 2009. Koerner wrote in his memoirs that this phrase was like a "religion" for many student groups during his time at Jena University. It seems he made it his own guiding principle.
See also
- Gustave Koerner House
- Illinois gubernatorial election, 1852
- List of governors of Illinois
- List of lieutenant governors of Illinois
External
- Belleville Zeitung
Works
- Koerner, Gustave (1909). McCormack, Thomas J.. ed. Memoirs of Gustave Koerner, 1809-1896, Life-Sketches Written at the Suggestion of His Children (book). Digitization Projects Philologic Results. 1 (Permission: Northern Illinois University, Illinois State Library ed.). Cedar Rapids, IA: The Torch Press. http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/file.php?file=koerner1.html.
- Koerner, Gustave (1909). McCormack, Thomas J.. ed. Memoirs of Gustave Koerner, 1809-1896, Life-Sketches Written at the Suggestion of His Children (book, JavaScript). The Institute of Museum and Library Services through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant. 2 (Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection ed.). Cedar Rapids, IA: The Torch Press. https://archive.org/stream/memoirsofgustave02inkr#page/n7/mode/2up.
- Collections of the Important General Laws of Illinois, with Comments (St. Louis, 1838)
- Körner, Gustav (1867) (in de). Aus Spanien. Frankfurt a.M.: J.D. Sauerländer. OCLC 014164399.
- Körner, Gustav Philipp (1880) (in de, en). Das deutsche Element in den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika, 1818-1848. Library of American civilization, LAC 15737. Cincinnati: A.E. Wilde. OCLC 011355941. https://archive.org/details/dasdeutsche00khorrich.
Images for kids
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Storming the Guards of Frankfurt at night on April 3, 1833.
