Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne (1853-1937)

Illinois Governor. He graduated from Union College Illinois, in 1877, graduated from the Union College of Law in 1878, practiced law and was judge of Cook County circuit court, (1892-1905). He also was elected the first president of the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago, in 1901 and played a key role in the formation of that organization. He was elected Mayor of Chicago in April 1905, serving until 1907. In 1912, he was elected as a Democrat the 24th Illinois Governor, serving until 1917 and was also to date the last Mayor of Chicago, to be elected Governor of Illinois. As Governor, he signed into law an act giving women in Illinois, the right to vote for the U.S. Presidency, making Illinois, the first state east of the Mississippi, to give women the right to vote for the U.S. President. After leaving office, he practiced law, was counsel to the Cook County Board of Election Commissioners and was on the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Before his death at age 82, he authored a five-volume book set on Illinois History.

Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith