Coles County IL Archives History .....History Of Coles County 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 September 23, 2008, 2:35 am

HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.

COLES County was formerly part of a territory owned by the State of Virginia,
which was ceded by her to the United States in 1784 and was called the
"Northwest Territory." Virginia was the home of Washington, the "Father of our
Country," and prides herself on being the mother of our first President, and
Coles County is, therefore, not of ignoble ancestry. The county was formed in
1830 and named for Edward Coles, second Governor of Illinois. He was a native of
Virginia and a rich and large slave owner. However, he loved liberty and
demanded respect for his rights and he accorded other men the same respect.
These principles led him to free his slaves when he reached Illinois and in
addition to give each head of a family 160 acres of Illinois land.

 John Parker, his sons and their families, and Samuel Kellogg and his wife,
Mary, fourteen souls in all, were the first white settlers, coming to the county
in 1824 from Crawford County on the Wabash river. A little later Seth Bates, his
sons, David and John, and stepsons, Levi and Samuel Doty, came to the county,
settling in the present town of Lafayette. These early settlers found their
neighbors to be the Pottawatomies, Kickapoo and Winnebago Indians.

 The general surface of Coles County is undulating, not so level as to be
regarded flat, nor so broken as to be considered mountainous. It is largely
prairie, rich in soil. Timber, comprising oak, hickory, walnut, elm, maple or
sugar tree and cottonwood, abounds along the streams, the two most important of
which are the Embarrass and Kaskaskia rivers. The Embarrass is a beautiful
stream, was navigable and so declared by an early statute of Illinois, before
the days of railways and lightning news carriers. Many vessels were built and
some went down the Wabash, Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, while others
foundered in "Dark Bend," where the sun never shown except at noon. The vessels
were called flat-boats and were loaded with supplies that would be of small loss
if they never reached market. The Kaskaskia is a dull, sluggish running stream,
and the water is muddy.

 In 1831 the first County Commissioners, George Hansen, Andrew Caldwell and
Isaac Lewis were elected, who formed a County Court for the transaction of
county business, and which remained in force until 1848, when the new state
constitution was adopted. As provided in the act of organization, Charles Morton
and Benjamin Parker each donated 20 acres for the seat of justice, which was
called Charleston, in honor of Mr. Morton. In accordance with the constitution
of 1848, W. W. Bishop was made the first County Judge and John M. Logan and H.
J. Ashmore were made the first Associate Justices. The first representative from
Coles County in the General Assembly of the State was Dr. John Carrieo in the
year 1832.

 The first enterprise for public good was the Blakeman Mill on the Embarrass
river, which was built by the Parkers in 1829. Men came forty to fifty miles on
horseback with one and one-half bushels of corn to grind, which was frequently
frostbitten. As there were times of the year when the Embarrass river could not
furnish power, "dry weather" or horse mills were started, and Charles Morton
built one of the first. It has been said that the Blakeman Mill ran all the year
except when the cows came and drank the river dry. Mr. Morton built the first
store and he was also the first postmaster. To Benjamin Parker, however, belongs
to the distinction of building the first log cabin. The first practicing
physician was Dr. John Apperson, whose office was usually on horseback.

 Tan yards were among the early enterprises, people at that time-making their
own shoes. Carding machines also furnished one of the early industries, almost
every family keeping a few sheep.

 On May 24th, 1841, the Coles County Agricultural Society was formed and it held
three successive fairs. It then became inactive until 1855, when two acts were
passed by the legislature of Illinois. One of these was to encourage the
formation of county agricultural societies and the other to incorporate
agricultural and horticultural societies and associations for improving crops
and breeds of domestic animals. Coles County Agricultural Society at the present
time is an organization of which its members can feel justly proud. The farmers
of the county devote considerable attention to the improvement of stock and many
are well-known breeders of blooded horses, cattle and hogs.

 Thomas Lincoln, father of Abraham Lincoln, was among the early settlers of
Coles County. He came in 1832-33, when Abraham had reached his majority, and did
not come with the family, although when a practicing lawyer he often attended
court in Coles County.

 The first newspaper, called the Charleston Courier, was published in 1840.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

The Farmers' Review Farm Directory of Coles and Douglas Counties, Illinois

A Complete Directory of all Farmers, Pure Bred Livestock Breeders and Business
Houses together with valuable statistics and information of Coles and Douglas
Counties, Illinois. Classified and arranged for handy reference.

ILLUSTRATED

Copyright 1918 
THE FARMERS' REVIEW

Compiled and Published by
The Farmers' Review - Chicago, Illinois


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