History

EARLY SETTLEMENT

Coles County was set off from Clark County in 1830. At the time it also included what is now Cumberland and Douglas Counties. Upon its organization, it was named Coles, in honor of Edward Coles, the second Governor of the State, and elected to that position in 1822. It was believed that it is not safe to name a child or country after any man while he is living. People believed that there is no security for a good reputation but in the tomb. This side of that "bourne" the proudest name, however, Coles County's namesake died with a name untarnished. Edward Coles was a man eminently fit to give a name to any country. Prior to 1824, what is now Coles County was a wilderness waste, uninhabited by civilized man. In 1824, the first settlers came to the county. Originally from Tennessee, they were John Parker and his sons, among whom were Daniel, Benjamin, Silas, George and James Parker and families, and Samuel Kellogg and his wife Mary, in all fourteen souls. These settlers had migrated from Crawford on the Wabash River, where they had lived many years. By 1833, all of the modern townships had begun to be settled.

INDIANS IN COLES COUNTY

When the first white people came to Coles County, there were plenty of Indians in this portion of Illinois. They were the Pottawatomies, Kickapoos and Winnebagoes. Coles County claims its Indian battle grounds. Though she can make no pretensions to any such memorable battles as Tippecanoe or the River Raisin, there is a tradition (but somewhat dim and misty) of two battles with the Indians fought on the "sacred soil" of Coles County, at or very near the same place. These battles took place in 1815 and 1818. Not many years after there were no more Indians within the borders of the state of Illinois.

COUNTY GOVERNMENT

In 1831, the first Courthouse was erected, down on the "town branch," in what is today Charleston. The Courthouse was built of hewed logs, covered with "clapboards," floored with sawdust and provided with wood benches for seats. This served as a temple of justice until 1835, when a brick building was erected. Originally, it was on old-style edifice, of the pattern still to be seen in many of the counties of Illinois, but has been modernized, remodeled and transformed into quite an imposing structure, with an altogether attractive appearance.

When the county was formed, it was divided or laid off into a number of civil townships or election precincts. The names and boundaries of these precincts unknown, as the first record of the County commissioner's Court cannot be found. When the county adopted township organization in the fall of 1859, Coles County was divided into twelve civil townships, as follows: Hutton, Ashmore, East Oakland, Morgan, Seven Hickory, Milton (now Humbolt), North Okaw, Mattoon, Paradise, Pleasant Grove, Charleston, and LaFayette. These boundaries and names remain the same today.

Thomas Lincoln, father of future President Abraham Lincoln, moved to Coles County in 1831. Thomas Lincoln died at his Goosenest Prairie home on January 17, 1851, age 73 years and 11 days. The cause of his death is reported to have been kidney trouble. He had been ailing for some time.

Abraham Lincoln practiced law in Coles County for a number of years, most frequently from 1841 to 1847 and occasionally after that, although the county was not a part of the Eighth Judicial Circuit which included Springfield where Lincoln lived and had his law office.

When the Eighth Judicial Circuit was organized on January 23, 1839, Decatur in Macon County was the nearest courthouse town on the Circuit to Charleston, Coles County seat, which was in the Fourth Judicial Circuit. Shelby County was added to the Eighth Circuit on February 23, 1841, making Shelbyville the nearest county seat on that circuit to Charleston. It was following this change in the circuit that Lincoln began to take cases at Charleston in considerable number. The addition of Moultrie County (Sullivan) when that county was created on February 16, 1843, brought another county seat town which was near Charleston. When Edgar County (Paris) was added to the circuit on February 21, 1845, Shelby County was detached, but was returned to the circuit on February 11, 1847. Thus from 1847 to 1853, Edgar, Shelby, and Moultrie counties were on the circuit. In 1853 the Eighth circuit was reduced in size and all counties south of DeWitt and east of Sangamon were detached.

Thus it was that Charleston, although not on the Eighth circuit, but on the Fourth, was a logical stopping place for those following the courts in Shelby, Edgar and Moultrie counties. The presence of his relatives in Coles County gave Lincoln an additional reason for stopping at Charleston.

Saturday, September 18, 1858, was the biggest day in the history of Charleston, that quiet little county seat amid the cornfields of eastern Illinois. It was the day that Abraham Lincoln met Senator Stephen Arnold Douglas in the fourth of their seven historic debates in the campaign for the United States Senate. Lincoln, "the first and only choice of the Republicans of Illinois for the United States Senate," did not gain a Senate seat, but more importantly, achieved a renown in these encounters with the "Little Giant" that opened the road to the White House.

Coles County is home to several well-known legends and folktales, including the Mad Gasser of Mattoon and the ghost of Mary Hawkins at Pemberton Hall. Michael Kleen has documented many of these tales, including the “witch’s grave” of St. Omer Cemetery and story of “Rag Doll Cemetery,” in his book Tales of Coles County, Illinois. The legend of “Rag Doll Cemetery” formed the basis of the independent film Rag Doll, which was filmed primarily in and around Mattoon, Illinois in 2010. Additionally, the novel A Family Possessed by L. W. Stevenson is based on poltergeist activity experienced by a rural family living in Coles County in the 1980s. Ashmore Estates has long been a part of local folklore. Originally the almshouse at the Coles County Poor Farm, it is now a haunted attraction and a place of interest for paranormal investigators.