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Official Website
Hancock County was part of the "Military Tract" set aside by Congress to reward veterans of the War of 1812. Actual settlement of the interior of the county was delayed by concerns about hostile American Indians. After their defeat in the Blackhawk War in 1832, settlement proceeded quickly.
Hancock County was formed, on January 13, 1825, out of Pike County. It was named in honor of John Hancock, who signed the Declaration of Independence.
For a brief period in the 1840s Hancock had one of Illinois' most populous cities: Nauvoo, which was then headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The movement's founder Joseph Smith was killed in the county seat of Carthage in 1844. Most Mormons left Hancock County in the 1840s. Today, Latter Day Saints come in increasing numbers to important Latter Day Saint sites in Hancock County, partly for vacation and partly for religious pilgrimage.
The Carthage Jail was built in 1839 and is best known as the location of the 1844 killing of Prophet Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum, by a mob of approximately 150 men.
Adjacent Counties
- Adams County
- Schuyler County
- Lewis County, Missouri
- Clark County, Missouri
- Lee County, Iowa
- Henderson County
- McDonough County
Cities, Towns & Villages
- Augusta
- Basco
- Bentley
- Bowen
- Carthage (County Seat)
- Dallas City (part)
- Elvaston
- Ferris
- Hamilton
- La Harpe
- Nauvoo
- Plymouth
- Pontoosuc
- Warsaw
- West Point
Other Townships & Communities: Adrian, Appanoose, Bear Creek, Breckenridge, Burnside, Chili, Colusa, Denver, Disco, Durham, Elderville, Fountain Green, Hancock, Harmony, Joetta, La Crosse, McCall, Middle Creek, Montebello, Niota, Old Niota, Pilot Grove, Powellton, Prairie, Rock Creek, Rocky Run-Wilcox, St. Albans, Saint Mary, St. Mary's, Sonora, Stillwell, Sutter, Tioga, Walker, Webster and Wythe
Links
Hancock County Historical Society
Nauvoo & Hancock County, Illinois - by Kip Sperry
Landowner Maps (1800-1899)
