Category Archives: Sangamon County

Sangamon County circuit clerks, 1821-2023 (list)

Posted on December 30, 2014 by editor

The histories of most of the 28 people – 26 men and two women – who have held the office of Sangamon County circuit clerk were researched in 2011 by Savannah Little. The resulting brief biographies can be read on … Continue reading →

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Sangamon County boundary maps

Posted on October 29, 2014 by editor

When formed in 1821, Sangamon County took in all of what now are Sangamon, Menard, Logan, Cass, Mason and Tazewell counties, parts of McLean, Woodford, Marshall, Putnam, Macon and Christian counties, plus a sliver of northern Morgan County. Cass was … Continue reading →

Posted in Local government, Maps, Sangamon County | 2 Comments

William Cullen Bryant’s travels in the Sangamon Country, 1832

Posted on October 28, 2014 by editor

In 1832, poet William Cullen Bryant (“Thanatopsis”), traveled from his home in Massachusetts to visit  his brothers in Jacksonville. He took the occasion also to travel briefly through Sangamon and what now is western Logan County into Tazewell County, where … Continue reading →

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Sangamon County historic landmarks

Posted on November 18, 2013 by editor

As of February 2021, nine sites had been designated historic landmarks by Sangamon County. They were: *The George Power Courthouse (Cantrall) *The Brunk Farmstead (Rochester) *The Lincoln-Van Buren Trail (between Rochester and Springfield) *Sangamon Ordnance Plant water tower (Illiopolis) *Inn … Continue reading →

Posted in Historic Sites, Hotels & taverns, Sangamon County | 2 Comments

Courthouse and Marine Bank, 1860 (drawing)

Posted on October 29, 2013 by editor

The Sangamon County Courthouse (left) and the Marine Fire and Insurance Co., on the east side of what is now the Old Capitol Plaza, in an 1860 lithograph. (Source: Here I Have Lived, Paul Angle; reprinted in Aristocracy Hill survey … Continue reading →

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Andrew Elliott (1828 pioneers)

Posted on October 28, 2013 by editor

Andrew Elliott (1792-1864) kept what John Carroll Power called the first hotel in Springfield. However, his main claim to (probably apocryphal) fame was as the guide who secured the county seat for Springfield. According to Power, Elliott, originally from North … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Early residents, Hotels & taverns, Local government, Prominent figures, Sangamon County, Springfield | 2 Comments

The Kelley (Kelly) family

Posted on October 21, 2013 by editor

The Kelleys – Elisha, John, Henry and their relatives – are usually considered the first Europeans to live in the boundaries of what is now Springfield. (An 1817 settler, Levi Ellis, may actually deserve that designation, but the Kelley family’s cabins … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Early residents, Historic Sites, Oak Ridge signs, Prominent figures, Sangamon County, Springfield | Tagged , | 39 Comments

Sangamo Town

Posted on October 9, 2013 by editor

Sangamo Town was a settlement on the Sangamon River that for a time rivaled Springfield as a commercial center, but after only 20 years or so was abandoned and all but forgotten. The man behind Sangamo Town was Moses Broadwell (1764-1827). Born … Continue reading →

Posted in Communities, Early residents, Lincoln, Abraham, Local government, Maps, Prominent figures, Sangamon County, Sangamon River, Transportation | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Sangamo Township

Posted on October 9, 2013 by editor

Before Sangamon County was created in January 1821, its territory was divided between Madison and Bond counties (mostly in Madison). Between the arrival of the first settler in 1817 and the ultimate formation of the county in 1821, a significant … Continue reading →

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The Sangamon country, 1819 (Ferdinand Ernst)

Posted on October 9, 2013 by editor

Ferdinand Ernst (1784?-1822) was a wealthy German farmer who led more than 100 Germans to the United States and founded a short-lived colony in Vandalia. He ventured to the Sangamon country in 1819. This excerpt comes from the Transactions of … Continue reading →

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