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Visitors Guide to
Carthage
Hancock County, Illinois |
Carthage is a rural city in West-Central Illinois and
the county seat of Hancock County. Being in the midst of an extensive
prairie, Carthage was not settled as early as the western and eastern
portions of the county. The first settler is believed to have been Elder
Thomas H. Owen, who came in 1831. A permanent county seat was not set
when Hancock County was established in 1829 and in early 1833 the
Illinois General Assembly commissioned William Gilham, Scott Riggs, and
John Hardin to establish a permanent county seat near the geographic
center of the county. The location they chose became the city of
Carthage which was platted by the beginning of June as court was heard
on June 3rd in a hastily constructed courthouse. Carthage incorporated
as a town in 1837.
The first courthouse was a log building on the south
side of the square. In 1939 a second courthouse was built in the center
of the square by Moses Stephens, at a cost of $3,700. The original
courthouse was used for other purposes until it was demolished in 1845.
Abraham Lincoln spoke here on October 22, 1858, during his campaign for
the US Senate which he lost. A plaque commemorating his visit is on a
large stone on the south side of the courthouse. His opponent, Stephen
A. Douglas, spoke here on October 11, 1858 and a plaque commemorating
his visit is on a pillar at the entrance on the south side of the
courthouse. The second courthouse was razed in 1906 to make way for the
current courthouse which was dedicated in 1908 and is the centerpiece of
the city. The courthouse and the buildings facing the square have been
listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1839 the Mormon Church established its
headquarters in Nauvoo, northwest of Carthage. In 1844 Carthage became
the center of unrest between the Mormons and the general populace who
were antagonistic towards them. When an anti-Mormon newspaper in Nauvoo
was destroyed two leaders of the Mormons, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, were
jailed at Carthage to await trial. Illinois Governor Thomas Ford ordered
the Carthage Grays militia unit to guard the jail from an anti-Mormon
mob. The mob overpowered the guard (some believe the guards joined the
mob,) entered the jail, shot the Smiths, and wounded another Mormon,
John Taylor. Taylor, later the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, recovered from his wounds. Conflict between Mormons
and their neighbors continued until 1846 when the Mormons left for Utah.
Over the years the jail had been modified and utilized for different
purposes. For a period the jail was home to Carthage College. The jail
has been restored to a close approximation of its appearance in 1844 and
is now owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The
site, a full city block, is operated as a historical visitor's center.
Carthage College was founded by Lutheran pioneers in
education in 1847 and was chartered by the Illinois General Assembly as
The Literary and Theological Institute of the Lutheran Church of the Far
West. The name was soon shortened to Hillsboro College. In 1852, the
College moved to Springfield, Illinois, and assumed the new name of
Illinois State University but closed due financial difficulties in 1869.
In 1870 the College was reopened as Carthage College back in its
namesake town. Financial difficulties caused by the Great Depression and
both World Wars and the college relocated to its current location in
Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1962. Realizing that many of the items in the
college museum should remain in Hancock County because of their local
provenance and significance, Dr. Kibbe, curator of the college museum,
purchased them and then deeded her collection and her home (a historic
property itself) to the city of Carthage for a museum. The museum was
originally located in the Kibbe House and was moved in 1989 to a newly
constructed building on Walnut Street across the street from the
historic Carthage Jail site. This museum is filled with a large
assortment of items and artifacts ranging from historical memorabilia to
unusual oddities.
Carthage is a business center and a microcosm of life in west
central Illinois and its charm comes from its turn of the century
architecture, its beautiful old trees, its historical ambiance, its
friendly residents.
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