George Forquer
American politician
George Forquer (1794–1837) was an American politician who served variously as an Illinois State Senator, Illinois' 5th Secretary of State (1825–1828) and Illinois 5th Attorney General (1829–1832). He was influential in creating the Illinois State Library, in part from a donation of his own personal collection. He also laid out and founded the town of Waterloo, Illinois.
Forquer was the older half-brother of Thomas Ford, who was the state's governor from 1842 to 1846. The two shared a law office in Edwardsville, and Forquer aided Ford in his early years as a lawyer and judge.
While in the state senate, Forquer proposed a loan of half a million dollars for the Illinois and Michigan Canal.
1836 debate
Forquer is chiefly remembered for an 1836 speech in the Springfield Court House that backfired on him, soon after he had changed his party affiliation from Whig to Democrat. Seven Whig candidates for election to the State Legislature were there, as well as seven Democrats. Among the candidates was a young lawyer seeking re-election, Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln's speech, Forquer, although not a candidate, asked to speak for the Democrats.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5539357. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1794, 1837, 1825 and 1828.
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This entry incorporates text from “George Forquer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.