Greenbury Lafayette FORT, Congress, IL (1825-1883)

FORT, Greenbury Lafayette, a Representative from Illinois; born in French Grant, Scioto County, Ohio, October 17, 1825; moved with his parents to Marshall County, Ill., in April 1834; completed preparatory studies and attended Rock River Seminary; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1847 and commenced practice in Lacon, Ill.; elected sheriff in 1850; clerk of Marshall County in 1852; county judge in 1857; was appointed a second lieutenant in the Eleventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, on April 30, 1861; promoted through the ranks to lieutenant colonel and quartermaster; brevetted major and lieutenant colonel of Volunteers March 13, 1865; member of the State senate in 1866; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1873-March 3, 1881); was not a candidate for renomination in 1880; retired from public life; died in Lacon, Ill., January 13, 1883; interment in Lacon Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present