Jesse W. Fell

Jesse W. Fell was an American businessman and landowner. He was instrumental in the founding of Illinois State University as well as Normal, Pontiac, Clinton, Towanda, Dwight, DeWitt County and Livingston County in Central Illinois. He was also the founder of the newspaper The Pantagraph. As a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, it was Fell who urged him to challenge his opponent, Stephen A. Douglas, to their famous series of debates.