SYCAMORE – The southern third of Illinois was in danger of seceding to the Confederacy during the first months of the Civil War.

U.S. Rep. John A. Logan spoke often and passionately to his southern Illinois neighbors about his opposition to the secession.

“He convinced southern Illinois not to secede from the state,” said Terry Dyer, state commander of the Department of Illinois of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Logan went on to serve in the Union army and was brevetted as a major general.