The leading purpose of Thomas Jefferson in selecting James Lemen, of Virginia, afterwards James Lemen, Senior, to go to Illinois as his agent, was no doubt prompted by his great affection for Mr. Lemen and his impression that a young man of such aptitude as a natural leader would soon impress himself on the community, and as the advantages in the territory were soon to be great, Jefferson was desirous to send him out, and with the help of a few friends he provided a small fund to give him, and also his friend who was going to Indiana on a like mission, to be used by their families if need be, and if not to go to good causes. There was also another motive with Jefferson; he looked forward to a great pro-slavery contest to finally try to make Illinois and Indiana slave states, and as Mr. Lemen was a natural born anti-slavery leader and had proved himself such in Virginia by inducing scores of masters to free their slaves through his prevailing kindness of manner and Christian arguments, he was just Jefferson's ideal of a man who could safely be trusted with his anti-slavery mission in Illinois, and this was an important factor in his appointment. The last meeting between Mr. Lemen and Jefferson was at Annapolis, Maryland, on May 2, 1784, a short time before he {p.33} sailed as envoy to France, and all the terms between them were fully agreed upon, and on Dec. 28, 1785, Jefferson's confidential agent gave Mr. Lemen one hundred dollars of his funds, and in the summer of 1786 with his wife and children he removed and settled in Illinois, at New Design, in what is now Monroe County. A few years after his settlement in Illinois Mr. Lemen was baptized into the Baptist church, and he finally became a minister of the people of that faith. He eventually became a great organizer of churches and by that fact, reinforced by his other wonderful traits as a natural leader, he fully realized Jefferson's fondest dreams and became a noted leader.