Jefferson County, IL - 2003 Community Profile

The first settlers in what is now Jefferson County were the Andrew Moore family, who built a log cabin in the southeast part of the county in 1810. One day Andrew and his son set off to Franklin County to buy some corn, and were never heard from again.

Mrs. Moore moved her children to her childhood home, and the county remained vacant until 1816, when Daniel Crenshaw moved into the Moore cabin. Carter Wilkey, Robert Cook and their families built log cabins nearby and became the first permanent pioneer settlers in Jefferson County. By 1818, settlers from southern states like Kentucky and Tennessee were migrating to Jefferson County to get away from regions where slavery was practiced.

Illinois was established on December 3, 1818, but it was not until June 7, 1819 that Jefferson County was recognized. While organizing the county, the state designated 20 acres of land to serve as the county seat, naming it Mt. Vernon.

From day one, education has been a top priority in the county. James Douglas taught at Old Shiloh, one of the first schools in the county, located west of Mt. Vernon. Douglas boarded with the Zadok Casey family; while there he instructed Zadok, who later continued his education and went on to become a State Representative, U.S. Senator and Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. In fact, education meant so much to Zadok that Zadok Casey Middle School was built on the site of his home many years later.

On February 19, 1888, a tornado roared through Mt. Vernon, killing 37 people and destroying 450 buildings. The destruction was awesome; most of the business district was left in ruins. The devastation was so great that Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, personally came to supervise the recovery efforts. Work began immediately to rebuild Mt. Vernon; people from all over the country sent money and supplies to help. The people of the town came together and rebuilt the city to be better than ever. By the time construction was finished, Mt. Vernon was nicknamed “The King City” by newspaper editor J.V. Baugh, who was impressed with the resilience and determination of the community after the great storm.