Lennington Small (1862-1936), Republican Governor of Illinois (1921-1929), was born June 16, 1862 on a farm near Kankakee, Ill. He attended Northern Indiana Normal School and a business college before teaching school and investing in real estate until he not only owned a farm but a bank and Kankakee's daily newspaper. When he was twenty one, Small became Secretary and eventually President of the State Board of Agriculture. After his marriage to Ida Moore in 1883, he was a county supervisor, secretary of the Kankakee Interstate Fair, Clerk of the Circuit Court and a member of the Republican State Committee. Small was elected State Senator (1900) and served twice as State Treasurer (1904-1907, and 1916-1919). President Taft appointed him Asst. U. S. Treasurer at Chicago and Small finished second in the Republican race for Governor (1912). Although Small was elected Governor in 1920, his two terms (1921-1929) were marred by a series of scandals. Despite these scandals, Small made his mark as a road builder with over 7000 miles of hard roads built during his term. Small, who ran for Governor six times, died on May 17, 1936, one month after his final unsuccessful bid as the Union Progressive candidate for Governor.
From the description of Lennington Small correspondence, 1921-1929. (Illinois State Archive). WorldCat record id: 35773872
