Bob Sampson on James B. Shoaff: Decatur's Civil War Newspaper Editor

One of the best-known newspaper editors in Illinois during the Civil War era spent most of his career in Decatur. But today few people know of James B. Shoaff.

A colorful character, related by marriage to Abraham Lincoln, a source of amusement for his fellow editors and readers, Shoaff moves in and out of the history of those times.

Who was James B. Shoaff ? Why was he successful? Why did he leave Decatur? And why does he show up repeatedly as one searches through the histories of baseball, politics, and the fights and fusses of local newspaper editors? And why did his life end tragically?

Former Decatur resident Bob Sampson, the author of two books and numerous academic journal articles, will introduce Shoaff to the 21st century at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 17 at the Decatur Public Library.

Brief bio:

Robert D. “Bob” Sampson spent most of his adult life in Decatur, arriving in 1972 to join the reporting staff of the Decatur Herald. Over the next eleven years, he was a columnist for the Decatur Daily Review, covered politics, and the run of everyday news—both tragic and inspiring. He returned to Decatur after serving two and a half years working for an Illinois congressman in Washington. Between 1995 and 2008, he served respectively on the board of the Macon County Conservation District and was elected three times to the Macon County Board, serving as chairman in 2006-2008. His books, “John L. O’Sullivan and His Times” (2003), and “Ballists, Dead Beats, and Muffins: Inside Early Baseball in Illinois” (2023), can be purchased at Novel Ideas.