James Shields (politician, born 1806)

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James Shields (May 10, 1806 – June 1, 1879) was an Irish American politician and United States Army officer, who is the only person in U.S. history to serve as a senator for three different states, and one of only two to represent multiple states in the U.S. Senate (the other being Waitman T. Willey). A member of the Democratic Party, Shields represented Illinois from 1849 to 1855, in the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd Congresses, Minnesota from 1858 to 1859, in the 35th Congress, and Missouri in 1879, in the 45th Congress. Born and initially educated in Ireland, Shields emigrated to the Americas in 1826. He was briefly a sailor, and spent time in Quebec, before settling in Kaskaskia, Illinois, where he studied and practiced law. In 1836, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, and later as State Auditor. His work as auditor was criticized by a young Abraham Lincoln, who (with his then fiancée, Mary Todd) published a series of inflammatory pseudonymous letters in a local paper. Shields...

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