Messinger, John, 1771-1846.

Mathematician and surveyor from Massachusetts who came to Illinois, settling in Clinton Hill and worked as a school teacher, was made deputy to the Surveyor General of Ohio, surveyed much of Randolph and St. Clair Counties in Illinois and the northern part of the state, served in the Indiana territorial legislature, helped form the first Illinois constitution, served in and was elected speaker of the house in the first Illinois legislature. He married Anne Lyon, daughter of Matthew Lyon, congressman from Vermont and Kentucky.

From the description of Papers, 1797-1878. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 56434074