JOHN W. SHEEHAN - John W. Sheehan, a lawyer of Springfield, was born in Morgan county, Illinois, in 1858. His parents were Daniel and Johanna (Griffin) Sheehan, the former born in Ireland and the latter in Illinois. Coming to the United States the father was here married and then settled in Morgan county, where for a time he was employed by the well-known John Strawn, who was called the cattle king of the west. Mr. Sheehan became much interested in the business with which he was then identified, and to a limited extent he invested in cattle. His death occurred in February, 1900. The mother afterward removed from the farm to Jacksonville, Illinois, where she had a daughter who was a teacher in the public schools of that city.

John W. Sheehan acquired his preliminary education in the Blackburn schoolhouse of his native county and later he pursued a commercial course in Professor Brown's Business College. Entering upon his business career he established a boot and shoe store in Jerseyville, Illinois, conducting the same successfully for a time, after which he disposed of his business at that point and took up his abode in Jacksonville, where he began reading law in the office and under the direction of the firm of Morris & Worthington. Later his reading was directed by Judge H. G. Whitton, of Jacksonville, a prominent jurist of that place, and in 1896 he was admitted to the bar at Springfield, sharing the honors, of a class of twenty-four applicants. Remaining in the capital city, Mr. Sheehan opened an office in the Hay Building and has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. He is well established for a young man and has had in charge litigated interests in the local, county, state and federal courts. His devotion to his clients' interests is marked and his preparation of cases is throrough and exhaustive, so that he enters the courtroom well prepared for any point of attack.

In 1881 occurred the marriage of Mr. Sheehan to Maggie Clark, of Greenfield, Illinois, a daughter of Patrick Clark. She died in 1891, leaving four children: James P., John W., Leo and Frank. The second son is now a student in the Notre Dame, University at South Bend, Indiana. While residing in Jacksonville Mr. Sheehan served for two years as a member of the city council. He now belongs to the Sangamon County Bar Association and in the years of his residence here he has risen to a creditable position as one of the younger representatives of the legal fraternity.

His home is at No. 521 South Fourth street.