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History
This area of Southern Illinois is known locally as "Little Egypt". Saline County was formed in 1847. It is named for the Saline River and the springs which salt was produced from in the early history of Gallatin County.
Saline County was almost named "Moredock County", in honor of John Moredock, who was known as the "Indian slayer". A militia officer and a member of the territorial legislature, Moredock had lost his mother and brother in an Indian attack in 1786, when they were traveling from Pennsylvania to Illinois down the Ohio River. Moredock had been traveling with another group, which arrived on the scene to find Moredock's mother's body horribly mutilated. He managed to track down and kill every member of the band that did it, and he thereafter spent much of his life ambushing and killing Native Americans, hostile or not. Controversial because of this, he was nevertheless a popular figure in early Illinois. Moredock died in 1830.
The creation of Saline County itself was extremely controversial. Illinois originally had a small number of very large counties. As more settlers arrived, new counties were formed from the original counties. Gallatin County was formed in 1812, but it soon was divided into fifteen counties, with what remained of Gallatin county becoming what is now Saline County. This persisted for several decades after the era of rapid formation of counties.
Old Shawneetown was the original county seat of Gallatin County. At that time Old Shawneetown was the largest city and commercial center of Illinois. It was, however, located on the eastern edge of the County. In 1826, the county seat was moved to the new village of Equality, near the center of what was then Gallatin County. Old Shawneetown opposed this move, and sought redress by splitting off Saline County, with the aim of moving the County seat of what remained back to Old Shawneetown. Thus the impetus for the formation of Saline County came not from settlers at the fringe of the county, but from the core of the original county.
Saline County was created by a voice vote in the General Assembly in 1847. Completion of the formation of the county, however, involved three acts of the General Assembly, four decisions of the Illinois Supreme Court and two referendums. The controversy came to involve the leading attorneys of Illinois, including Abraham Lincoln.
Adjacent Counties
- Hamilton County
- Gallatin County
- Hardin County
- Pope County
- Johnson County
- Williamson County
- White County
- Franklin County
Cities & Villages
- Carrier Mills (Morrilsville)
- Eldorado
- Galatia
- Harrisburg (County Seat)
- Muddy
- Raleigh
- Stonefort (part)
Townships & Communities
Brushy | Buena Vista | Cottage | Cottage Grove | Delta | Derby | Eagle | East Eldorado | Harco | Independence | Lakeview (Pond Settlement) | Ledford | Liberty | Long Branch | Mitchellsville | Mountain | New Hope | Pankeyville | Rector | Rudement | Somerset | Tate | Texas City | Wasson | West End
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