Illinois History & Lincoln Collections

The settlement of Knox County, Illinois, began in the second half of the 1820s. The earliest settler families came in 1828, largely from Kentucky.  In May of 1830, a public meeting was held to discuss the possibility of county organization. A group of prominent citizens came together to address a petition, which was presented to Judge Richard M. Young of the fifth Judicial Circuit. The petition group proved to the Judge that Knox had 350 inhabitants, the number of residents required by law to form a county. On June 10, 1830, Judge Young declared the county organized.  

Soon after, the county began to grow.… Read More

During the Civil War on March 28, 1864, anti-war Democrats clashed with Union soldiers on leave in Charleston, Illinois, on the Coles County courthouse square. This event, which would come to be known as the Charleston Riot, left nine dead and twelve wounded, making it one of the deadliest soldier-civilian encounters in the North during the Civil War.  

In the 1860s Charleston was a small town of approximately 3,000 people in Coles County. The town was made up primarily of farmers and landowners, many of whom had either migrated to Coles County from the South, largely from Kentucky, or were descendants of those migrants.… Read More

Joseph Duncan was a pioneer and Illinois politician who served in many roles throughout his career, including as the sixth Governor of Illinois from 1834 to 1838. Duncan was born in Paris, Kentucky, on February 22, 1794, and went on to serve in the War of 1812. He was later awarded the testimonial sword by a resolution of Congress for his role in the defense of Fort Stephenson near Sandusky, Ohio, in a battle in 1813.

Duncan moved from Kentucky to Illinois in 1818, the year Illinois achieved statehood. He purchased tracts of land in different counties throughout the state. Later in his career in Congress Duncan advocated for settlers, describing them as “brave, hardy, enterprising” men “possessing an ardent love of liberty, freedom and independence,” who “endured privations and hardships” giving up “all the comforts of society,” overcoming “difficulties which most gentlemen in Congress know nothing about.”… Read More

Thomas Munroe was a surgeon with the 119^th Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. Born on January 4, 1807 in Annapolis, Maryland, he went on to graduate from St. John’s College with honors and then attended the University of Maryland in Baltimore, graduating with a degree in medicine in 1829. After graduation, Munroe practiced medicine in Baltimore for a year before deciding to go West. In 1834 he moved to Illinois, first settling in Jacksonville. He was married on October 5, 1841, to Annis Hinman, and in 1843 they moved to Rushville where Munroe continued to practice medicine. When the Civil War began, Munroe enlisted and was commissioned Surgeon of the 119^th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.… Read More