In 1836, General James Semple moved from Edwardsville to Alton to take advantage of better opportunities for real estate development in what then was a very rapidly growing city on the Mississippi River. For the next fourteen years, Semple and his family lived in a large country home in Semple Town [North Alton], a residential subdivision that he platted in a picturesque setting on elevated acreage just north of Alton.

When he moved to Alton, Semple was serving as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives in the Illinois General Assembly. He had been elected to three consecutive terms as representative from Madison County. In two of these terms, Semple served concurrently with an awkward-looking, ambitious politician from Sangamon County named Abraham Lincoln.

While living in Alton, Semple would continue his political career: first serving as President Martin Van Buren’s appointee as Charge de Affaires to Bogota, New Granada [Columbia] in South America, then as justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, and finally as U.S. Senator from Illinois. During these years, Semple also devoted considerable time and personal wealth toward demonstrating the technical and economic feasibility of a giant steam-powered locomotive that utilized large, drum-like wheels to run on a trackless roadbed—Semple’s patented invention that became known as the prairie car.

George Provenzano is a historian and retired economist. He has published several articles on General James Semple, Abraham Lincoln, and Illinois before the Civil War.

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