Place:Sangamon, Illinois, United States


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Sangamon County is located in the center of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 197,465. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield, the state capital.

Sangamon County is included in the Springfield, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Sangamon County was formed in 1821 out of Madison and Bond counties. The county was named for the Sangamon River, which runs through it. The origin of the name of the river is unknown; among several explanations is the theory that it comes from the Pottawatomie word Sain-guee-mon (pronounced "sang gä mun"), meaning "where there is plenty to eat." Published histories of neighboring Menard County (formed from Sangamon County) suggest that the name was first given to the river by the French explorers of the late 17th century as they passed through the region. The river was named to honor "St. Gamo", or Saint Gamo, an 8th-century French Benedictine monk. The French pronunciation "San-Gamo" is the legacy.

Prior to being elected President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln represented Sangamon County in the Illinois Legislature. Lincoln, along with several other legislators, was instrumental in securing Springfield, the Sangamon County seat, as the state's capital. Sangamon County was also within the congressional district represented by Lincoln when he served in the US House of Representatives. Another legislator who represented Sangamon County was Colonel Edmund Dick Taylor, also known as "Father of the Greenback". The prominent financiers and industrialists Jacob Bunn and John Whitfield Bunn were based in Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, as well as in Chicago, during the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The careers of these men and the people with whom they collaborated helped to shape much of the history and development of Sangamon County, Illinois.

Timeline

Date Event Source
1821 County formed Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1821 Court records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1821 Marriage records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1821 Probate records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1822 Land records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1830 First census Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1850 No significant boundary changes after this year Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1877 Birth records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
Census Year Population
1830 12,960
1840 14,716
1850 19,228
1860 32,274
1870 46,352
1880 52,894
1890 61,195
1900 71,593
1910 91,024
1920 100,262
1930 111,733
1940 117,912
1950 131,484
1960 146,539
1970 161,335
1980 176,089
1990 178,386

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Sangamon County, Illinois, United States

Research Tips

Resources

  • Outstanding guide to Sangamon County family history and genealogy resources (FamilySearch Research Wiki). Birth, marriage, and death records, censuses, wills, deeds, county histories, cemeteries, churches, naturalizations, newspapers, libraries, and genealogical societies.
  • www.co.sangamon.il.us/
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Sangamon County, Illinois. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.