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 OLES COUNTY, prior to its organization, which occurred in 1830, had been attached to Clark. It was christened, in honor of Edward Coles, who was elected Governor of Illinois in 1822, and who was one of the most noble and worthy men who ever occupied that high position. Gov. Coles was a Virginian by birth and a large slave-owner, and when he emigrated to Illinois he brought his slaves with him. Upon becoming a citizen of this State he liberated all of them and gave each head of a family among them 160 acres of land. At the time of the organization of Coles it embraced the territory now forming Douglas and Cumberland Counties.Coles County is situated in latitude 40 north, and longitude 11 west from Washington, embracing about 500 square miles, and divided into thirteen townships. Its general surface is undulating, but there are some parts of it which are broken, yet not to that extent as to be regarded hilly. Its elevation is about 800 feet above the level of the Gulf of Mexico. The soil, which is rich, especially the prairies, is well drained by the Embarras, Kaskaskia and Kickapoo Rivers, and numerous other little water courses. The county is liberally timbered and contains many flue groves. Like most of the counties of Illinois, Coles’ first inhabitants were Indians. At one time in the history of the State their wigwams were numerous and their camp-fires left but a few groves unlighted by night. The first white people to settle in the county, who came in 1824, were John Parker and Samuel Kellogg with their families, in all fourteen. John Parker erected the first cabin, which was located in what is now Hutton Township, on the east bank of the Embarras, and opposite to where Blakeman’s Mill was in after years set up. These pioneers were soon followed by many others and it was not long before the county had quite a respectable population. Among the early settlers in Coles County were Thomas Lincoln, father of President Lincoln, and Dennis F. Hanks, who was first cousin to Abraham Lincoln’s mother. They moved here from Macon County in the fall of 1831, and located near Goose Neck Prairie, in what is now Pleasant Grove Township. The early life of Abraham Lincoln is well known by the settlers here. His father erected a cabin on his claim, where he lived until his death, Jan. 15, 1851, and was buried in the little Garden Churchyard near Farmington, where a few years ago a monument was erected to his memory, by his grandson, Robert T. Lincoln. His second wife, who survived him several years, was buried by his side. Dennis Hanks took up a farm near Mr. Lincoln’s, where he lived for about two years when he moved to Charleston. He became quite conspicuous in the country at one time as the companion of young Abraham Lincoln and one who taught him to read, and subsequently (in 1876) as the exhibitor of the celebrated Lincoln log cabin. He is a man of the old type, honest and positive in his nature, and has many interesting remembrances still held by his good memory of the great President. He lives at Charleston, surrounded by his children and grandchildren, in his eighty ninth year, and remarkably preserved in all his faculties. In 1831 the county seat was located and the name was called Charleston. Here a good courthouse was completed in 1835, which has since been remodeled. What is an unusual thing for counties, Coles has had no county seat contests, nor any change in its county seat location. The early settlers of Coles did not lack for religious instruction, and that of a solid, substantial character. Its pioneer was a preacher and of the “hard-shell” Baptist order. This society was followed by many others, and the people now are well supplied with places of worship. Schools were early established in the county, but the buildings were rude structures and the system was imperfect. When the present free school system was adopted, the people of Coles earnestly interested themselves in providing for the education of their children, which resulted in the establishment of good schools throughout the county. The people were alive to the benefits of railroad transportation and early interested themselves in having the county traversed by good lines. The first to complete its track through the county was the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute (now forming part of the Bee Line), which was during the latter part of 1855. About the 1st of January, 1856, the Illinois Central ran its first passenger train through Mattoon, from Chicago to Cairo. It would be a great error to think of those lines as we would of the present almost perfect system of railroads. The tracks were laid with strap iron, the coaches were crude in construction, and the locomotives were weak in power. Often the neighboring farmers were called on to assist with fence rails, a weary train up a grade. Other lines have since been completed the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City, the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville and the Illinois Midland which give to the county splendid transportation facilities. Coles is chiefly an agricultural county, its principal products being corn and broom corn. In the latter product it stands ahead of any county in the United States. Considerable attention is also paid to stock, and some splendid pure blooded stock can be seen in the county. Underlying the surface at different depths are extensive coal beds of a very good quality of bituminous coal, some of which have been opened and are being worked with profit. There are three thriving towns in the county Charleston, Mattoon, and Oakland. There are several other little villages, some of which are growing slowly. The population of the county is now about 30,000, and it is steadily increasing. The northern portion of the county is under splendid cultivation, and a more desirable farming country could hardly be found, while the southern part contains many fine and well cultivated farms. The original settlers were chiefly from Kentucky, Virginia and Indiana. The present population is composed of these and their descendants, those coming in since from the Northern States, and some from foreign lands. They are, in the main, an intelligent, industrious and thrifty people. |
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