Thomas Johnson Pickett was born on March 17 , 1821 , in Louisville , Kentucky . In 1830 , his family moved to St. Louis , Missouri , then again moved in 1836 to Peoria , Illinois . Pickett apprenticed as a type-setter , then founded the '' Peoria News '' in 1840 . He soon sold the paper and founded the '' Peoria Transcript '' . After founding the first paper in Pekin , Illinois , Pickett moved to Rock Island , Illinois , founding the '' Rock Island Register '' . In 1851 , he was elected the first president of the Illinois Editorial Association . In this capacity , he oversaw the Editorial Convention that prompted the Bloomington Convention , the founding of the Illinois Republican Party . Pickett served as a delegate to the convention and served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention later that year
Republican National Convention
1856 Republican National Convention
Thomas J. Pickett