Sharon Tyndale

Sharon Tyndale (January 19, 1816 – April 29, 1871) was the Secretary of State of Illinois, United States, from 1865 to 1869. His tenure is notable for his redesign of the Great Seal of the State of Illinois.

Background

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tyndale moved to Belleville, Illinois in 1833 and worked in the mercantile business. He moved back to Philadelphia and worked in the mercantile business with his father. In 1845, he moved to Peoria, Illinois and studied to be a civil engineer. In 1857, Tyndale was elected County Surveyor of St. Clair County, Illinois. President Abraham Lincoln appointed Tyndale postmaster of Belleville, Illinois in 1861. From 1865 to 1869, Tyndale served as Illinois Secretary of State, as a Republican. After Tyndale left office, he stayed in Springfield, Illinois and worked for Gilman, Clinton and Springfield Railroad doing survey. His brother was Hector Tyndale, a United States Army officer.[1]

Seal of the State of Illinois

In 1867, Tyndale himself requested that the Illinois General Assembly authorize a redesign of the seal, with one key suggestion, that the words of the motto (State Sovereignty, National Union) be reversed (to National Union, State Sovereignty). The legislature did authorize the redesign, but specifically required the redesign to maintain the motto's word order. Then they gave Tyndale responsibility for the redesign. Tyndale overhauled the Great Seal, but he did so in a manner that appeared to thwart the legislature's intent. His new seal featured a twisted banner, which caused the word "sovereignty" to be upside down, albeit, in the order required by the legislature. Tyndale's banner has remained in place, with only minor changes, since 1868.[2]

Murder

Two years after leaving office, Tyndale was murdered outside his home, in Springfield, Illinois, on April 29, 1871. His killer was never identified.[3]

gollark: The color corrected one looks pretty weird, I guess because it looks like you're not in water.
gollark: I said "[it] seems neat", not "yes I have definitely decided I want to do lots of this and go through a probably somewhat expensive certification/training thing".
gollark: Scuba diving seems neat. I'm doing a "discover scuba diving" thing next month (not sure exactly when, since I had my parents book it and forgot to ask...).
gollark: It looks low enough that mobile networks should still work, although in my experience you're meant to turn off phones for whatever reason.
gollark: It's some bizarre Discord feature where people with nitro can provide "boosts" to a server, and if you get enough of them you can get extra things, but also the people can just randomly revoke them or boost something else and then you lose those things.

See also
  • List of unsolved murders

Notes
  1. 'Historic Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Tazewell County,' vol. II, edited by; Newton Bateman, Paul Selby, Ben C. Allensworth, Munsell Publishing Company: 1905, Biographical Sketch of Sharon Tyndale, pg. 532
  2. Seal of the State of Illinois
  3. Murder of Sharon Tyndale
Political offices
Preceded by
Alexander Starne		 Secretary of State of Illinois
1856–1864		 Succeeded by
Edward Rummell
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