page_title: James Shields (politician, born 1806)
section_title: Subsequent career
hierarchical_section_title: James Shields (politician, born 1806) / Early life and career / Subsequent career
context_page_description: James Shields was an Irish American Democratic politician and United States Army officer, who is the only person in U.S. history to serve as a Senator for three different states. Shields represented Illinois from 1849 to 1855, in the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd Congresses, Minnesota from 1858 to 1859, in the 35th Congress, and Missouri in 1879, in the 45th Congress.
  Born and initially educated in Ireland, Shields emigrated to the Americas in 1826. He was briefly a sailor, and spent time in Quebec, before settling in Kaskaskia, Illinois, where he studied and practiced law. In 1836, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, and later as State Auditor. His work as auditor was criticized by a young Abraham Lincoln, who published a series of inflammatory pseudonymous letters in a local paper. Shields challenged Lincoln to a duel, and the two nearly fought on September 22, 1842, before making peace, and eventually becoming friends.
  In 1845, Shields was appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court, from which he resigned to become Commissioner of the U.S. General Land Office.
context_section_description: Shields was appointed as an Illinois Supreme Court justice on February 18, 1845, to take the seat vacated by Stephen A. Douglas. His term was relatively unremarkable, and he soon resigned to become Commissioner of the U.S. General Land Office. While at the Land Office, Shields spent much effort boring, testing, surveying and examining land in Iowa, as he planned to establish a colony for Irish immigrants there. He resigned from the position to assume command as a brigadier general following the outbreak of the Mexican–American War.
caption: James Shields, photograph by Mathew Brady, c. 1863
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