John R. Eden

Who was John R. Eden?

John Rice Eden was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.

Born in Bath County, Kentucky, Eden moved with his parents to Indiana. He attended the public schools. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1853 at Shelbyville, Ill and commenced practice in Sullivan, Illinois. He served as prosecuting attorney for the seventeenth judicial district of Illinois 1856-1860.

Eden was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-eighth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1864 to the Thirty-ninth Congress. He was an unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of Illinois in 1868.

Eden was elected to the Forty-third, Forty-fourth, and Forty-fifth Congresses. He served as chairman of the Committee on War Claims. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1878. He resumed the practice of law in Sullivan, Illinois.

Eden was elected to the Forty-ninth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1886. He again engaged in the practice of law. He died in Sullivan, Illinois, June 9, 1909. He was interred in Greenhill Cemetery.