Local History

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Click these links to jump to a section on this page:
– General & Niche Histories of Perry County ;
– County Yearbooks / Resource Guides ;
– Buildings / Structures / Sites / Prairies / Maps ;
– Biography / Autobiography / Persons ;
– Mardi Gras / Thresherman / Perry County Fair /
Swanwick Picnic
;
– Local Church History ;
– Local Sports History ;
– Films ;
– Photographs ;
– Articles from Combined History of Randolph, Monroe
and Perry Counties, Illinois
;
– History of Perry County 1988 ;
– History of Perry County 1998 ;
– Other Perry County Websites ;
– Histories of Neighboring Counties


The Community of Pinckneyville, Illinois
(Social and Cultural Analysis)
by Wayne Guy

A Quiz on Perry Co., ILL. History
[ includes information on Woodside Ford!!!! ]
by Elizabeth E. Spurgeon

Pinckneyville Democrat’s
Anniversary Edition (1875 – 1904)

A Brief History of Our Development /
Pinckneyville — Past, Present, Future /
Garden Spot of the Mississippi Valley
(April 1914)

Random Recollections (Vol. 1)
by Stanley G. Smith

Random Recollections (Vol. 2)
by Stanley G. Smith

Saturday Night Live:
Mid 40s in Pinckneyville

Perry County: A New Geography
by Lowell A. Dearinger

A History of Southern Illinois: Perry County (1912)
by George Washington Smith, M.A.

‘Our Towns’: History of Perry County Towns
(contains articles on Cutler, Du Quoin,
Pinckneyville, St. Johns, Tamaroa, Willisville)

Fire!: A History of Pinckneyville Area Fire and Rescue
by Captain Frederick Thomas Bardle

Pinckneyville Business/Building Fires
(1884 – 2017)

“FIRE” Perry County Courthouse and Other

Tamaroa Times – Tales and Tattletales
by The Pioneer 4-H Club of the Tamaroa Area

LIFE IN THE PAST LANE:
A Brief History of Willisville

by Jesse Vanover Bird

Early Settlers of the Old DuQuoin Area
by Mamie Reheis

Petition for Locating County Seat

Townseed
by Cliff Stanley

Student’s History of Perry County
by J. Wesley Neville 

The Lynching of Alonzo Bell
by Elizabeth Eiker Spurgeon

Essays and Proceedings of
the Perry County Historical Society
1955-1956 

History of the town of Denmark and
Denmark Baptist Church in Perry County, Illinois
by Rev. Paul Holder
(included is a critique of Rev. Holder’s thesis
by Elizabeth E. Spurgeon)

Revolutionary Soldiers of Perry County
by Elizabeth E. Spurgeon

Perry County Bits and Pieces No. 1
by Inez Eisenhauer 

Perry County Bits and Pieces
(includes Bits & Pieces #1,
Bits & Pieces #2: The Silver Plaque and Sebastian Epplin,
Bits and Pieces #3: Entertainment) by Inez Eisenhauer

Du Quoin Phone Book (Bits and Pieces No. 4)
by Inez Eisenhauer

“Number Please” (Bits and Pieces No. 5)
by Inez Eisenhauer

Historical Firsts of Pinckneyville and Perry County, Illinois
by Robert M. Spurgeon

First White Settlers and First White Child Born in Perry County
(includes information on the Legend of Cox Treasure)

Oldest Marked Graves and Earliest Recorded Deaths
in Perry County, IL

Pioneer Families of Randolph and Perry Counties, Illinois
by Robert Crawford Robertson, M.D.

1995 Perry County Historical Calendar
(Includes important anniversary dates
in Perry County’s History)

1998 Historical Calendar Perry County, Illinois
(includes history of St. Bruno’s Catholic Church
and Other Historical Photographs)

First National Bank in Pinckneyville
100 Year Anniversary Calendar

( 1901 – 2001 )

Early Industries in Perry County
by Paul Rich

Report: Illinois Coal Mines Fifth Inspection District
(1883 – 1884)

Directory of Coal Mines in Illinois: Perry County
(May 2000)

Soil Survey of Perry County, Illinois
(2009)

Death of Joseph Niesing

Cheyenne or Bust
by Enos “Nuck” Hawkins

Chief Du Quoin
by Inez Eisenhauer

An Historical Account of Mitchell Lodge No. 85,
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons (1850 – 1950)
by George E. Ulrich,
P.M., 32nd Degree and Chas. B. R., R. A. M.

Some Masonic Lodges in Southern Illinois 1850 and Earlier
(Ancient Free and Accepted Masons)
[ Includes information on Mitchell Lodge No. 85 ]

relevant chapters from:
American Bastille: A history of illegal arrests and imprisonment of
American citizens during the Late Civil War

[ Perry County and Southern Illinois ] (1869)

Bringing Blacks In To the State
(Accusations made in Perry County, Ill. Court)
by Elizabeth Eiker Spurgeon

Perry County: Knights of the Golden Circle
by Elizabeth Eiker Spurgeon

Knights of the Golden Circle
(Du Quoin)

Norton William Campbell Letter
(picture and transcription)

The Heberer Disappearance
by John H. Croessman

Engel – Yost Murders

1914 Shooting Took 4 Willisville Lives

Mysterious Deaths of Perry County Residents

Du Quoin: Gateway to Egypt
(Du Quoin Community Study and Development)

Du Quoin: A Family History
by Kathryn Pope Olsen

Historic Du Quoin: Images From the Past

Historic Du Quoin: A Window to the Past

Century of Progress:
The First One Hundred Years Du Quoin, Illinois
(1853 – 1953) by I. B. Dunaway, editor

Historical Events of Du Quoin
by Charles H. Hatfield (1934)

Letter from Du Quoin Female Seminary

Letters From The Past:
By or To the Family of Miles Peck
(1837 – 1907)

Letters of the Roe, Jones, and Dobyns Families

Memories: A Family History
by Zelma Dempsay Jones

The Scotch-Irish Come to Egypt
by John I. Wright

A Ticket to America
(Mathias Schneider)

Perry County and City of Pinckneyville
by John D. Roe & Virginia Bartle

History of Mueller Hill Cemetery
(1859 – 1989)

History of the Eight-First Illinois Infantry Volunteers

Perry County Iron Casket Burial (Sgt. Thomas Hinds)
[Includes article on Grave Dowsing (Grave Witching)
by Judith Joy]

Perry County: World War II Veterans

Pinckneyville Community High School:
“The Class of ’42 Reminiscing With You!”
(1942 – 1992)

1880 Pioneer Families WP Justice, Wm North, & Joe Craig
As Told By Bethia Jane Justice Graham

Perry County Illinois Courthouse Entry Book 1834 – 1850

County Commissioners Book A Perry County, Illinois
(April 29, 1855 to January 15, 1862)

Beaucoup / Cemetery of Hutchings Family /
Liberation of Negro Slaves
by Pandy Hutchings

Brief Record of Concord Church /
Cemetery of the Hutchings Family
by Stanley Smith

Du Bois Pioneers Past & Present
by Du Bois Pioneers 4-H Club

Caroline “Mayer” Schumaier Letter

Philip Manda Letter Arrives

Infant Body at Sawmill

Perry County Yearbooks /
Local Resource Guides

Perry County Year Book
1966-1967

Reference & Yearbook
For Perry County, Illinois
1973-1974

Reference & Yearbook
For Perry County, Illinois
1982

Reference & Year Book
For Perry County, Illinois
1988

Reference & Year Book
For Perry County, Illinois
1993

Pinckneyville Fact Book (1993)

Buildings / Structures / Sites / Prairies / Maps

Early Trails through Perry County

Shawneetown-Kaskaskia Trail Map through
Perry County, Illinois

Plat Map of Jamestown, Illinois (1921)

Perry County Tour
of Historic and Interesting Spots
1827 – 1976
by Clarence McCrary  

Jarishury
by Dorothy Moss

Historical Markers in Perry County, IL
[video: 9 min]

Ghost Towns of Southern Illinois: Perry County
by Glenn J. Sneed

Ghost Towns of Perry County
by Glenn J. Sneed

Six Mile Prairie
by William Roseborough Harshaw

1910 Map of Pinckneyville, Illinois

The Swanwick Mansion

Shops and Businesses Down Walnut Street
in Pinckneyville (1880 – 1930)

Perry County Businesses
(1914)

1871 Perry County Jail Specifications

One-Room Schoolhouses
of Perry County (Illinois)

Schools: Perry County, Illinois (1933)
[ Index by Alphabetical Listing & Dist No. /
Articles on Purdy School /
Pictures of Franklin School and Bigham School ]

Creek and One Room School Maps
(Pinckneyville, Todd’s Mill) /
Historic Sites and Prairies of Perry County 1876

Conservation for Perry County Schools
by J. Wesley Neville

Three Mile Prairie
by Inez Hutchings Dempsey

History of Murphy-Wall State Bank and Trust Company
by Martha Emling; Betty L. Knapp

History of the Old Church on the Mound
at Six Mile Prairie (Famous “Flagpole Corner”)
by Dr. J. B. Gordon

An Historical and Archaeological Assessment of
the Proposed Public Housing Project Ill-48-10
Pinckneyville, Illinois
(includes biographies of Dr. Humphrey B. Jones,
William K. Murphy, and others.
Also included are histories of Pinckneyville,
McElvain’s Ice Cream Parlor, and
the Perry County Farmers Union)

Perry County Place Names

Kunz Opera House (Pinckneyville)

Kunz Opera House and Antique Mall,
Pinckneyville IL

(video E. Lambert Productions)

Octagonal Building at Perry County Fairgrounds

Souvenir for Dedication of Perry County Court House
(October 19, 1939)

Abstracts of “A Gazetteer of Illinois”
(Landmarks and Places of Interest in Southern Illinois)
(1836)

Inventory of Historic Structures in Perry County
(October 1972)

Drive through Pinckneyville with George Culley (2012)
[video: 17 min]

Community Spotlight: Pinckneyville, Illinois (2019)

Above the Lanes: Pinckneyville, IL (2022)
[video: 9 min]

Roadrunner drives through Pinckneyville, Illinois! (2023)
[video: 41 min]

Rial’s Gold Mine (at Conant)

Giant Santa (Pinckneyville)

Least Of The Brethren New Building (video)

How the Pinckneyville Fairgrounds Plane Landed

Tamaroa, IL Major Flash Flooding 8 / 13 / 2016 (video)

Pinckneyville 4F Report [11-22-21]( includes history of
Perry County Courthouse, the Odd Fellows building,
Knights of Pythias building, former First National Bank,
former Murphy Wall State-Bank, 202 North Walnut
Street, 314 North Walnut Street)

Biography / Autobiography / Persons

Biographical Record of Perry County, Illinois (1894)
(list of individual biographies in description)

Prominent Citizens of Perry County (1914)
[list of individual biographies in description]

1950 Library of American Lives: Perry County, Illinois
(includes biographies of Val Stotlar, 
George Woodruff Allen, Charles Wesley Hall Jr, 
Harry Odell Pope, Clyde A. Brown, 
Hon. John Charles Niesing)

Pinckneyville’s Most Illustrious Lawman:
William Grayson (Billy) Gordon
by Bud Romeo

Autobiography of Pioneer John Brown (1820 – 1896)

John O. Sattler

Colonel Harry Birkner
(responsible for installation of airplane
at Pinckneyville Fairgrounds)

Treasures from the museum:
Sgt. Bernard Franklin Reynolds

The David Huggins History
by Dorothy Lee Huggins

Chief Du Quoin
by Inez Eisenhauer

Fred H. Beck

Autobiography of a Country Boy
by Lee H. Schick

Biography of William Henry Smith
by W. S. D. Smith

Thomas Cox

Thomas Cox by Harvey Reid
(Iowa Biographical Series)
[Thomas Cox, who died in Iowa,
was a citizen of Perry County at the time
it was still a part of Randolph County (before 1827)]

Roebuck by Pete Perona

Marmaduke at Large:
Running the world from a typewriter
by Virginia Marmaduke

‘The Duchess’ Looks Back
by Patricia Szymczak

Carry A. Nation: “She was here”

John R. Jones, MD / Frederick W Jones MD
[ son and grandson of Humphrey B. Jones, MD ]

Colonel Logan H. Roots ( son of BG Roots )

Enos Daugherty Hoge

Humphrey B. Hamilton

John Fleming

Parley Lycurgus Williams

Samuel Eaton / Lazarus Eaton

Mardi Gras / Thresherman /
Perry County Fair / Swanwick Picnic

Perry County Centennial Fair
(1856 – 1956):
Includes Histories of the Perry County Fair,
Pinckneyville and Perry County, Illinois

The American Thresherman Association
25th Anniversary Show
(Souvenir Booklet)

The 48th Annual American Thresherman Show
(Video: 120 mins)

The American Thresherman Association
50th Anniversary Special
(Video: 75 mins)

“Pinckneyville Inside Out”
(October 1996 / ‘Mardi Gras Edition’)

Pinckneyville Mardi Gras
75th Anniversary Souvenir Booklet

2001 Pinckneyville Mardi Gras
Official Souvenir Program

History of Swanwick Bethel Cemetery
and Picnic

by Nelda E. Robb

Local Church History

Ecclesiastical History
of Perry County, Illinois 

Golden Sacerdotal Jubilee of
Rev. Father Joseph A. Munier
(1901 – 1951)
[also contains history of St. Bruno’s Catholic Church
and of the Catholic faith in Perry County]

Sacred Heart Catholic Church: Du Quoin, Illinois
by Inez Eisenhauer and Hilda Schneider

History of the town of Denmark and
Denmark Baptist Church in Perry County, Illinois
by Rev. Paul Holder
(included is a critique of Rev. Holder’s thesis
by Elizabeth E. Spurgeon)

Denmark Baptist Church History 1848 – 1998
(150th Anniversary Celebration)

First Baptist Church Pinckneyville, Illinois
(1865 -1965)

The History of St. Paul United Church of Christ
(1870 – 2005)
by Eric Lambert

St. Paul United Church of Christ 150th Anniversary Booklet
(note: pages are out of order!)

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Lost Prairie, Illinois
(1867 – 1967)
by Pastor Heidel

Trinity Lutheran Church, Conant, Illinois
(1897 – 1972)
by Pastor Bickel

Zion Lutheran Church, Pinckneyville, Illinois
(1885 – 1985)

Galum Presbyterian Church
(1844 – 1934)

Galum Presbyterian Church:
One Hundred-Tenth Anniversary Booklet
(1844 – 1954)

History of the Presbyterian Church of
Du Quoin Illinois
by Rev. Edward F. Fish

Least of the Brethren Thanksgiving Blessings
(2012)

Least of the Brethren Ministry Volunteers
(10-24-2014)

An argument (in sundry short papers,)
for securing Christian education in southern Illinois,
through the establishment of Du Quoine female seminary
by Daniel Whiting Lathrop

Mt. Zion Baptist Church
(Du Quoin’s First Negro Church)

Brief Record of Concord Church /
Cemetery of the Hutchings Family
by Stanley Smith

Latter Day Saints: Du Quoin / St. John’s Branch (1856 / 1887)

A Church Burned: Opposing “Mormonism” with Arson (1888)

Local Sports History

Go Panthers!
An Historical Tribute to Boys Basketball
at Pinckneyville Community High School
by PCHS Booster Club

The Tamaroa Merchants Baseball History
(video: 5 min)

The Greatest Saluki Ever:
The Remarkable Career of Marion Rushing

“We Poured it On Em”:
Pinckneyville Becomes a Town of Champions
by Jeff Smyth

1948 IHSA Boys Basketball Championship Game:
Pinckneyville Vs Rockford (East)

1988 IHSA Class A Boys Basketball Championship Game:
Pana (H.S) Vs Pinckneyville

1994 IHSA Boys Basketball Class A Quarterfinal Game:
Pinckneyville Vs. Teutopolis

1994 IHSA Boys Basketball Class A Championship Game:
Pinckneyville Vs. Eureka

2001 IHSA Boys Basketball Class A Championship Game:
Pinckneyville Vs. Pana

Dick Corn enjoyed highly successful career
with Pinckneyville Panthers

Films

Pinckneyville 1951
(62 mins)

Life in Du Quoin (1940)
(19 mins)

St. Paul United Church of Christ 150th Celebration
(1870 – 2020)
(35 mins)

Interview with Hallack Reese
(32 mins)

Interview with Mildred Wolfe
(33 mins)

Interview with Hank Rabe
(59 mins)

Interview with William A Timpner
(46 mins)

The Killing of
Notorious Missouri Bushwacker
Sam Hildebrand
(33 mins)

The Lost 40 of Perry County
(3 mins)

The Herberer Disappearance
(5 mins)

Photographs

Historical Advertisements

Local Business Advertisements
(2000)

Local Business Advertisements
(2005)

Little Old Album
(from Perry County Jail Museum)

Photo Album
(from Perry County Jail Museum)

Kunz Opera House

Perry County Historical Photographs

Miscellaneous Historical Photographs (1)

Miscellaneous Historical Photographs (2)

Miscellaneous Historical Photographs (3)

A Couple Swanwick photos

Scrapbooks

PCHS Scrapbook
(’93 – ’94)

From Combined History of Randolph, Monroe
and Perry Counties, Illinois:

Pioneer Settlements
of Perry County, Illinois 

Civil History
of Perry County, Illinois 

Ecclesiastical History
of Perry County, Illinois 

Perry County, Illinois:
Bench and Bar 

Perry County, Illinois:
History of the Press

History of Patriotism in
Randolph, Monroe, and Perry Counties, Illinois

Perry County, Illinois:
History of Schooling

Geology of Perry County, Illinois;
Flora and Fauna

Early History of
Pinckneyville, Illinois 

Early History of
Tamaroa, Illinois

Early History of
Paradise, Illinois

Early History of
Grand Cote and
South Western, Illinois

Early History of
Du Quoin, Illinois

Early History of
Cutler, Illinois

Early History of
Beaucoup, Illinois

From History of Perry County,
Vol. 1; 1827-1988:

Perry County Family Histories
(1988)

General History of Perry County:
1827-1988

Church History

School History

Special Features, Perry County

Business History and Advertising in
Perry County (1988)

Perry County:
Club and Organization History

Perry County:
Memorial and Tribute (1988)

From History of Perry County,
Vol. 2; 1827-1998:

Perry County Family Histories
(1998)

General History of Perry County
1827-1998

Churches and Schools of
Perry County, Illinois

Tributes and Memorials (1998)

Perry County Organizations (1998) 

Perry County Businesses (1998)

Links to Other Perry County IL Archives

www.perrycountyillinois.net
(website capture June 24 2012)

www.sarjas.com
(website capture December 1 2008)

www.rafert.org/willisville/wville.htm
[ information and photographs concerning
Willisville IL’s history ]
(website capture November 17 2024)

Perry County, IL Genealogy and History Index
[ genealogytrail.com ]

Perry County Biographies Archive
[ usgwarchives.net ]

Perry County Court Archive
[ usgwarchives.net ]

Perry County History Archive
[ usgwarchives.net ]

Perry County Newspaper Article Archive 
[ usgwarchives.net ]

Perry County Penny Postcard Archive
[ usgwarchives.net ]

Neighboring Counties

History of Washington County, Illinois

This is Washington County; its first 150 years
(1818 – 1968)

History of Randolph, Monroe Counties

History of St. Clair County, Illinois

History of Jackson County, Illinois

Historical Sketches of Jackson County, Illinois

History of Jefferson County, Illinois
(1810 – 1962)

Perrin’s History of Jefferson County, Illinois
(1883)

Wall’s History of Jefferson County, Illinois
(1909)

History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin, and
Williamson Counties

Franklin County History (1918)

Bloody Vendetta: History of Williamson County, Illinois (1876)

Historical Souvenir of Williamson County, Illinois (1905)