opening of Bridgeport, Chicago, the new residential area of Chicago that has been home to several Chicago Mayors. Lincoln funeral Woodworth was a contemporary, and friend, of Abraham Lincoln. Woodworth permitted his Independent Democrat party of Chicago to join with the Whig Party of Illinois to form the Illinois Republicans. This gave the Illinois GOP the depth in voters, financial support, and a strong base in Chicago, needed to support Lincoln's ascendance to the Presidency. Although he was not one of the 12 Chicago pallbearers, Woodworth did serve as a member of Chicago's Committee of One Hundred, which marched in the funeral cortege of Abraham Lincoln during its passage through Chicago, on its way to Springfield, Illinois. Chicago Astronomical Society He also served as a founding trustee of the Chicago Astronomical Society, an appointment made under the Society's act of incorporation passed by the Illinois General Assembly; a full copy of the act of incorporation can be found on the Society's website. James Woodworth Prairie Preserve In more recent years, his grandson, John Woodworth Leslie, was instrumental in saving a virgin prairie preserve near Chicago to serve as an historical reminder of how the region appeared when Woodworth was mayor. That prairie preserve is known as the "James Woodworth Prairie Preserve," or the "Woodworth prairie." It is located off Milwaukee Avenue in Glenview, Illinois. The University of Illinois at Chicago and its Department of Biological Sciences oversee the prairie. The prairie covers "5 acres... of original tallgrass prairie... [and]... the only natural area owned by the University of Illinois at Chicago.... [The Woodworth prairie] serves the community by providing an opportunity to experience prairie plants and animals that are now rare... [and it provides] a challenge to understand how communities can be preserved." References External links James Hutchinson Woodworth Gravesite at Oak Woods Cemetery James Woodworth Prairie Preserve First Inaugural Address Second Inaugural Address 1804 births 1869 deaths Mayors of Chicago Chicago City Council members Old University of Chicago Illinois state senators Members of the Illinois House of Representatives James Illinois Democrats Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois 19th-century American politicians