The state of Illinois is comprised of 102 counties, and each carries a unique name. A look at those names tells the tale not only of state, but American history.
The vast majority of Illinois counties are named in honor of historical figures. Six are named for presidents, including Madison County, for the fourth chief executive. Four Illinois governors are honored with county names, while 16 others are named for prominent early citizens.
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Twenty-two Illinois counties carry the names of military heroes, mainly of the Revolution. They include Putnam County, which is for Israel Putnam, a major general in the Revolutionary War.
“The Revolution was still fresh in people’s minds, and the country was still young,” said Samuel Wheeler, a research historian from Springfield. “We didn’t have hundreds of years of American history to go on. The Revolution had been a common experience that Americans shared.”
Some of those Revolutionary figures were not even native to the colonies. DeKalb County is for Johann DeKalb, a German baron who was mortally wounded at Camden the following year. Pulaski County in extreme southern Illinois honors Casimir Pulaski, the Polish expatriate who also gave his life for the colonial cause.
The reverence for the military also extended to the water, as three counties – Lawrence, McDonough and Perry – are named for naval commanders in the War of 1812.
McHenry County carries the name of William McHenry, who also served in the War of 1812 as well as the Black Hawk War. Along the way, he spent five terms in the Illinois legislature.
“The respect that Americans had for military heroes in that era was an important factor,” said Wheeler. “The military heroes of the era were patriotic and had sacrificed to gain and keep independence. I like to think that it helped establish a national narrative, a shared heritage in the creation of a new nation.”
The names of eminent statesmen grace 21 Illinois counties. That list includes Henry County near the Quad Cities, in honor of Patrick Henry, who uttered the famous words “Give me liberty or give me death.” Hamilton County in southern Illinois honors Alexander Hamilton, while Hancock County in western Illinois is for John Hancock.
Nearby, Grundy County is for Felix Grundy, a U.S. Senator and House member from Tennessee who served as the nation’s attorney general in 1838-39. Lee County is named for Richard Henry Lee, a founding father who signed the Declaration of Independence, among other early state documents.
Communications were part of the legacy of Amos Kendall, the namesake of Kendall County, who was a business partner of Samuel Morse, the inventor of the telegraph. Kendall was also a postmaster general and part of Andrew Jackson’s “kitchen cabinet.”
An early Illinois statesman was Conrad Will, whose name graces Will County. The territorial recorder of Jackson County in southern Illinois, Will was part of the first nine state legislatures in Illinois history.
The names of nine Illinois counties were taken from counties in other states, including six from Kentucky. Champaign County is named for a municipality in Ohio. One, Jersey County in southwestern Illinois, is named for another state – New Jersey.
At least nine counties are named for nearby bodies of water, including Lake County, which is for Lake Michigan.
Other counties named for water have American Indian meanings. The Vermillion River gives its name to counties in both Illinois and Indiana. Sangamon County, home to the state capital of Springfield, is for the river of the same name that flows through the area. Adjacent to the south is Macoupin, named for the creek that bisects the county.
The creek has an unusual basis for its native-themed name. Many local historians attribute “Macoupin” to a wild artichoke that settlers found in abundance. Others interpret the name as “white potato.”
Boone County in northern Illinois honors Daniel Boone, the pioneer of American folklore. In central Illinois, Fulton County is for Robert Fulton, the builder of the steamboats that revolutionized American transportation and commerce, but were once derisively called “Fulton’s Folly.”
Owing to the French influence in territorial Illinois, at least five counties, including Bureau and LaSalle, derive their names from influential Frenchmen in the region. Another county, Fayette, honors the Marquis de Lafayette, a French hero of the American Revolution who was one of Washington’s preferred generals. The county is home to the former state capital, Vandalia, which is the terminus of the famed Cumberland Road. That road lends its name to another Illinois county to the east, Cumberland County.
Some oddities prevailed in the naming of counties. DeWitt Clinton, a New York statesman who pressed for the building of the Erie Canal, is honored with two Illinois counties – one for his first name and the other for his last.
Daniel Pope Cook, the first Illinois attorney general and whose county encompasses Chicago, was the nephew of Nathaniel Pope, whose namesake county is on the extreme opposite end of the state. Both were leading residents of the territorial capital of Kaskaskia.
A few miles away from Kaskaskia, monuments to two county namesakes are just a few yards apart in Evergreen Cemetery in Chester – Shadrach Bond, the first Illinois governor, and Elias Kent Kane, Illinois’ first secretary of state and architect of the first state constitution.
Bond County, in south-central Illinois, was actually named in the year before Bond’s election when Illinois attained statehood in 1818. Kane County is now a vibrant Chicago suburb.
The first Illinois county was St. Clair, established in 1790, followed by Randolph County five years later. Both were part of the old Northwest Territory. By 1801, Illinois was part of the Indiana Territory, and nearly 90% was consumed by St. Clair County. From there, new counties were intermittently carved from existing ones, before and after statehood.
“The early counties were so large that their county seats were usually a long distance away,” Wheeler said. “The settlers complained that it took a long time to get to them. Convenience was a factor, and of course, everyone wanted the county seat to be in their town, since a lot of revenue and jobs came with the county seat.”
The final two Illinois counties, established in February 1859, were Douglas County, named for Stephen A. Douglas, and Ford County, honoring the seventh governor of the state, Thomas Ford.
• Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Illinois. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.