a Republican with strong anti-slavery views similar to those of Yates, to oversee the disbursement and management of the federal funds received. In his 1863 annual message, Yates denounced the talk among some secession sympathizers that the Union might be reconstructed to the exclusion of New England. After the Emancipation Proclamation, the Democratic-dominated Illinois legislature proved increasingly uncooperative. Yates, fearing that the Democrats had been infiltrated by the pro-secession Knights of the Golden Circle, dissolved the Illinois legislature on June 10, 1863, declaring that "the past history of the Assembly hold[s] out no reasonable hope of beneficial results to the citizens of the State, or the army in the field, from its further continuance". Senatorial and later career After his service as governor ended, Yates was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1865, to March 3, 1871. While in the Senate, Yates was Chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Thirty-ninth and Forty-first Congresses) and Chairman of the Committee on Territories (Fortieth Congress). He was identified as an associate and "disciple" of Charles Sumner, the Radical Senator from Massachusetts. During the impeachment proceedings against Andrew Johnson, Yates spoke in favor of convicting the President, whom he described as a "most pestilent disturber of public peace ... who, through murder succeeded to the chief command and seeks to betray us to the enemy." Yates did not seek reelection to the Senate. After leaving the Senate, he was appointed by President Grant as a United States commissioner to inspect a land subsidy railroad. He died suddenly in St. Louis, Missouri on November 27, 1873. He is buried in Diamond Grove Cemetery, Jacksonville, Illinois. Legacy In 1923 a statue of Yates by Albin Polasek was erected on the Illinois State Capitol grounds. His son, Richard Yates, Jr., was also active in Illinois politics, and also became governor of Illinois. References Bibliography The standard scholarly history. Portrait and Biographical Album of Champaign County, Illinois, Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1887 – online as part of Illinois History, an ILGenWeb project External links Illinois Blue Book 2005–2006 Digital collections of the Yates Family Papers and Yates (Wabash College) Papers at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum website 1815 births 1873 deaths Republican Party governors of Illinois Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives People of Illinois in the American Civil War People from Morgan County, Illinois