John Dement

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John Dement (April 26, 1804 – January 16, 1883) was an American politician and militia leader from Illinois. Born in Gallatin, Tennessee, he moved with his family to Illinois in 1817 and grew up on a farm in Franklin County.

Dement began his political career as sheriff of Franklin County in 1826. He then served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1828 to 1830. In 1831 he was elected state treasurer and was reelected several times, resigning later to serve again in the Illinois General Assembly in 1836 representing Fayette County, as the capital moved from Vandalia to Springfield.

In 1837 he began a federal career as Receiver of Public Moneys for the U.S. General Land Office, a post he held under five presidents (Jackson, Van Buren, Polk, Taylor, Pierce, and Buchanan) until the office was abolished in 1861. Dement also served as an Electoral College elector in 1844 for James K. Polk. He was a delegate to every Illinois Constitutional Convention except the first in 1818, and he served as president pro tempore at the conventions in 1862 and 1870.

Dement’s political career paused for military service during the 1832 Black Hawk War. He rose through several ranks in the Illinois Militia, serving as captain of a Fayette County volunteer company, later commanding a 170-man spy battalion as a major, and eventually serving as a colonel and aide-de-camp to Governor John Reynolds. He fought at the Second Battle of Kellogg’s Grove, where he earned praise from Black Hawk for his courage. The battalion was mustered out on August 7, 1832.

In 1849 Dement settled in Dixon, Illinois, where he helped shape local development, including persuading the Illinois Central Railroad to locate a Dixon depot near the town’s edge, which increased land value and led to the growth of Dement Town. He married Mary Louise Dodge, daughter of Black Hawk War commander Henry Dodge, in 1835 at Fort Leavenworth. They had a son, Henry Dodge Dement, who later served as Illinois Secretary of State, and two daughters.

John Dement died at his home in Dixon on January 16, 1883.