St. Clair County
Remnants Of The Past

St. Clair’s First Settlers

The first white settler in the area was Jacob Coonce, a hunter who is known to have been in the area by 1827. In 1831, Coonce built the first cabin in the region near the Sac River, near what is now Roscoe. By 1832, he had settled on Brush Creek in what is now Washington Township.
According to the History of Henry and St. Clair Counties, Coonce was a rugged man who wore moccasins, buckskin breeches, a coonskin cap and a large Indian blanket thrown over his shoulders.
By the spring of 1834 Coonce's neighbors included Elijah Wamsley, Peter Francis, Richard DeShazo and Sanders Nance.
Other early settlers in St. Clair County were Ebenezer Gash, William Gash, Isaac Culbertson, Joseph Culbertson, Ira Culbertson, James Gardner, Robert Gardner, Dr J. Wade Gardner, Burdett Sams, Joseph Gash, Thomas Piper, Daniel Brandt William Allen and Nicholas McMinn.