Organization of Fulton County

Organization of Fulton County

Excerpt from the History of Fulton County published in 1879 by C. C. Chapman, page 218, submitted by Janine Crandell

Organization of Fulton County.—In the latter part of the year 1822 it was thought by some of the enterprising settlers of this section that a sufficient number of inhabitants were living here to justify the organization of a county. An effort was at once made, and on the 28th day of January, 1823, the organization was granted by the Legislature and an election appointed to be held on the 14th of April, for the election of county officials. The law required that a county should contain 350 legal voters before an organization could be effected, yet there were scarcely that number of individuals within the boundaries of Fulton county, although it embraced the entire northern part of the State. The same territory now contains a greater portion of the wealth of the State and a population of about two million souls. On the organization of Illinois Territory in 1809 it was subdivided into the counties of Randolph and St. Clair. Fulton was included in the county of St. Clair. On the admission of the State into the Union what is now Fulton county was a part of Madison. Afterwards, by an act of the Legislature approved June 30, 1821, it was placed within the boundaries of Pike, which is the oldest county in the Military Tract.

When Fulton county was organized, and for over two years thereafter, it extended east and west from the Illinois to the Mississippi rivers, and from the base line near where Rushville, Schuyler county, now stands, to the northern boundary of the State, including the country where Rock Island, Galena, Peoria and Chicago now are. It was indeed a large county, and embraced what is now the wealthiest and most populous portion of the great West. The great lead mines of Galena had not yet been discovered, and Chicago was only a trading and military post. As will be seen in the following chapter the officials of Fulton county exercised full authority, so far as the duties of their respective offices were concerned, over all this vast region. In 1825 the Legislature created Peoria county and attached to it for all county purposes all the country lying north of it within this State on both sides of the Illinois river as far east as the third principal meridian. The Commissioners' Court of that county convened for the first time March 8, 1825. Thus was Fulton county greatly diminished in size.

Soon the Military Tract began to settle up quite rapidly, and a year had scarcely passed before Knox county was cut off of Fulton. This was done by an act approved Feb. 10, 1826. At that time, however, there was not a settler within the boundaries of that county, and although laid off it was still attached to Fulton county for all judicial purposes. In the early part of 1828 the pioneers appeared in that county and it was rapidly settled. On the 15th of May, 1830, a meeting was held in Henderson township to inaugurate steps for the organization of the county. A committee consisting of Riggs Pennington, Philip Hash, Stephen Osborn and Dr. Chas. Hansford was appointed to present a petition to the Hon. Richard M. Young, Judge of the Fifth Judicial District, praying for the organization of Knox county. These gentlemen shortly afterwards came to Lewistown, where Judge Young was holding Court, and laid their petition before him. The Judge, believing the county contained 350 inhabitants, the number required by law, and that a majority desired the organization, did, on the 10th day of June, 1830, declare by virtue of the power invested in him, the said county of Knox to be organized and entitled to the same rights and privileges as other counties of the State. An election was held July 3, and three Commissioners chosen. These gentlemen convened in official capacity on the 7th and perfected the organization of Knox county, which completely severed all the vast territory outside of the present boundaries of Fulton that at one time belonged to our grand old county. This reduced the county to its present size, which in number of acres ranks fifth in the great Prairie State.

By an act of the Legislature approved Jan. 28, 1823, as above mentioned, Fulton county was given authority to organize. A commission consisting of Hugh R. Colter, John Totten and Stephen Chase was appointed to locate the county-seat. A full account of their labors is given in the following chapter. An election was held on the 14th day of April, 1823, for the selection of three Commissioners, a Sheriff and a Coroner. The only voting place was at Lewistown, and men came from so great a distance that it consumed several days in making the trip. William Eads of Ft. Clark was elected Sheriff over O. M. Ross, and Wm. Clark, Coroner. David W. Barnes, Joseph Moffatt and Thomas R. Covell were chosen County Commissioners. They convened for the first time on the 3d of June, same year.

How Fulton County Came to be

Newspaper article from the Avon Sentinel, Avon, Il., Thurs., Aug. 2, 2001, Vol. 127, No. 48, Pg. 2
Ed. note: The following was submitted by an avid reader of the Avon Sentinel.

After being "Indian Territory," we were a part of the state of Virginia until 1784 when all claims to this territory were surrendered to the general government. We were then included in what was the "Northwest Territory".
In April of 1790, St. Clair County came into being, taking in from what became the Illinois River, south to the Ohio River, with Knox County running from what's now Wisconsin, down to the Ohio, and taking in about one-third of present Illinois. Fulton County remained a part of the Northwest Territory at this time.
1801 saw a big change, with nearly all of Illinois, now including Fulton County, made a part of St. Clair County, and Knox only a thin eastern sliver. Randolph County took about an eighth of the southern portion.
By 1809, Knox County completely disappeared, absorbed into St. Clair. Another big change came by 1812, with St. Clair shrunk to a small southwestern area, and nearly three-quarters of the area of Illinois now called Madison County, of which we were a part.
1815 saw the states area split nearly in half, with Madison to the west and Edwards to the east. By 1816, Edwards was shrunk to a small section, and most of its former area now called Crawford County.
In another strange change, 1817 saw Madison's center line, up through the middle of the state, moved west, to accommodate a narrow Bond County, with Crawford still on the east side of the state. By 1819, Crawford County was made much smaller, and the remaining northern section of it renamed Clark County.
1821 brought even more changes. We were taken from Madison County, and made a part of Pike County, which spread from near where St. Louis is now, across the northern part of Illinois, north of the Illinois River. Sangamon County was created east and south of the Illinois, with a long north-south section east of it renamed now Fayette County, and Clark County made smaller.
Finally, in 1823, Fulton County was mapped out, though it took in parts of what are now Knox, Peoria and Schuyler Counties, and most of the rest of the unnamed area north of Fulton was designated as "attached to Fulton County." It wasn't until 1825 that Fulton assumed the modern day boundaries, though it took until 1845 for the boundary between Peoria and Fulton Counties "to be defined."
While all this was going on in our area, the southern part of the state, and later the eastern, western and finally the northern parts were forming and reforming until 1905.
So Fulton County was first a part of the state of Virginia; then the Northwest Territory; then St. Clair County; Madison County; Pike County, before we gained our own identity.
Our county was named for Robert Fulton, the first successful builder of steamboats on American waters.
Information for this article was taken from Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties, printed in 1982 by the Authority of the State of Illinois. This book is a part of the collection at the Avon Library.

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