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Henry County, Illinois

103 topographic sheets cover 39 settlements here, and 16 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

“The Forty-third was organized at Camp Butler, 111., Sept. 1861, by Col. Was at the battles, of Fort Donelsoii, Shiloh (losing 200 killed and wounded ), and Siege of Corinth. In sjiring of 1863, 200 men were mounted.”

Forty-Third Regiment I. Y. I. - Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County, Illinois : Containing Full-page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, Together with Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Illinois, and of the Presidents of the United States; Also Containing a History of the County, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time (1885). Machine-read text.

16 National Register listings published here, 1 of them a National Historic Landmark · the county-history sources tell 6 stories and name 32 people · people the book names include J. D. Bell (Oxford Township, 1877) · Grand View M. E. Church (Edford Township, 1877) (machine-read).

Sources: the county history on the Internet Archive · the National Register database, National Park Service

Illinois within the United States
Henry County within Illinois

What the record shows

  • 476 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 16 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 14 buildings and 2 structures.
  • 5 of the 16 listings were added during the 1970s.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 39 populated places in this county; 39 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.
  • 3 public-domain county histories, 1877 to 1910, supply 178,509 words of narrative reproduced here.

What happened here

6 accounts

Among them: Geo. C. Smithe; Bank Robbery; Shocking Murder. These passages come from the identified county-history source books. Each inset names its own source and opens the exact section it comes from.

From History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877 - Phenix Township

Geo. C. Smithe

LIEBERKNECHT ADAM Jr. Farmer and Teacher, Sec. 27; P.O. Geneseo; born in Pittsburgh, Pa., July 2, 1838; came to this county in 1865; Rep; U. Breth; is Township Clerk; enlisted Aug. 22, 1862, in the 22d Iowa V. L; was in service three years; was in the battles of Pleasant Hill and Black River, and was wounded at the siege of Vicksburg; wife was Eliza E.

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From History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877 - Cambridge Township

Bank Robbery

The good people of the county, more especially oi Kewanee, were, in the latter part of August, 1882, startled by the news that the First National Bank of Kewanee had been robbed in broad daylight. Two armed men had entered the bank, just after the close of business hours, and, by violence overcoming the only two employees in the room at the time, had carried off the money, first throwing these two persons - the assistant cashier, Mr.

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From History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877 - Cambridge Township

Shocking Murder

While all Kewanee and vicinity were in the throesof excitement and the preliminary examination of the bank robbers was going on before Esq. Wood, there came the still more, startling news that Mrs. Maggie A. Copeland, wife of Joseph L^ Copeland, living on a farm four miles south of Kewanee, had been brutally murdered at her home in broad daylight.

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From Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County, Illinois : Containing Full-page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, Together with Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Illinois, and of the Presidents of the United States; Also Containing a History of the County, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, published 1885 - Lynn Township

Forty-Third Regiment I. Y. I.

The Forty-third was organized at Camp Butler, 111., Sept. 1861, by Col. Julius Raitli. Was at the battles, of Fort Donelsoii, Shiloh (losing 200 killed and wounded ), and Siege of Corinth. In sjiring of 1863, 200 men were mounted. The regiment was moved to Memphis, and thence into Arkansas, where it was constantly on the track of guenilla bands.

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From History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877 - Phenix Township

Geo. C. Smithe

LIEBERKIVECHT ADAM Jr. Farmer and Teacher, Sec. 27; P.O. Geneseo; born in Pittsburgh, Pa., July 2, 1838; came to this county in 1865; Rep; U. Breth; is Township Clerk; enlisted Aug. 22, 1862, in the 22d Iowa V. I.; was in service three years; was in the battles of Pleasant Hill and Black River, and was wounded at the siege of Vicksburg; wife was Eliza E.

Read the rest of this passage

From History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877 - Phenix Township

Geo. C. Smithe

LIEBERKISTECHT ADAM Jr. Farmer and Teacher, Sec. 27; P.O. Geneseo; born in Pittsburgh, Pa., July 2, 1838; came to this county in 1S65; Rep; U. Breth; is Township Clerk; enlisted Aug. 22, 1862, in the 22d Iowa V. I.; was in service three years; was in the battles of Pleasant Hill and Black River, and was wounded at the siege of Vicksburg; wife was Eliza E.

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Places on the National Register

16

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Photograph PropertyType ListedReference
Andover Chapter Housebuilding198080001367
Annawan Chapter Housebuilding198080001368
Atkinson Hallbuilding200303001203
Colony Steeple Buildingbuilding197070000244
Frederick Francis Woodland Palacebuilding197575000662
Galva Opera Housebuilding198282002538
Henry County Courthousebuilding200404000869
Olof Johnson Housebuilding198282002539
Kewanee Hotelbuilding200605001605
Kewanee Public Librarybuilding200606000447
Jenny Lind Chapelbuilding197575000661
Music Pavilionstructure200202000544
August and Margaretha Rehnstrom Housebuilding200808001170
Ryan Round Barnbuilding197474000762
South Side Schoolbuilding197575002142
West Water Tower and Ground Storage Tankstructure200302001754

Wildfire, 2008

3 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 3 of them, burning about 2 acres. None started naturally and none was recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Equipment and vehicle use1

The five largest, by the area the report gives. None of them was recorded as arson.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
26 March 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesMILLEI
7 May 2008Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesVINCIENT
5 April 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesSTACH

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1955 to 2026

60 of 679 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 679 reports for this county, causing 2 deaths, 16 injuries and about $94,197,820 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Thunderstorm Wind304
Hail217
Tornado71
Flash Flood36
Flood20
Funnel Cloud15
Heavy Rain11
Lightning5

The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2008Thunderstorm WindGreen River2 killed, 4 hurtWind gusts estimated to be 90 mph toppled over 100 trees at the Indian Trails Resort in Colona, IL around 615 am July 21. One tree fell onto a tent killing a 4 year old boy and a 9 month old girl and injuring four other children. A family pet (dog) was also killed.
April 1996Tornado (F3)Bishop Hill4 hurt, $10,000,000no account filed
April 1996Tornado (F0)Galva4 hurt, $10,000,000no account filed
May 2017Tornado (EF2)Galva1 hurt, $40,000Tornado was rated EF-2 with peak winds of 120 mph, a path length of 1.29 miles and a max width 50 yards. Damage was to two snapped power poles, one home with significant damage to shingles. Another house had had roof completely removed and blew out doors with one minor injury at this location.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindGreen Rock1 hurt, $25,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew a tree down onto a van in Colona, IL around 921 pm July 24. One person was injured which required transport to the hospital.
June 2002LightningGeneseo1 hurtLightning struck a semi truck on Interstate 80. The driver of the truck received minor burns to his right side.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindKewanee1 hurtStraight line winds blew a truck over in Kewanee. The driver escaped with only minor injuries. The sheriff's department received many calls regarding power lines being downed. Winds also ripped the top off a grain elevator and blew part of a roof off a building. A tree was also blown over onto a car at Lexington and Fourth street.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindCountywide$50,000,000Also reported by law enforcement, spotters, and emergency managers in the southern part of the county. Extensive damage in Woodhull, Alpha, Nekoma, and Galva. Law enforcement reported zero visibility at the height of the storm on I-74 with cars blown into the ditches.
April 2003Flash FloodCountywide$10,000,000no account filed
May 2010Flash FloodGreen Rock$5,000,000Heavy rains resulted in widespread flash flooding of roads and highways across all of Henry County, especially the northwest half during the morning of May 13.
April 1973Tornado (F2)not stated$2,500,000no account filed
April 2003HailGalva$500,000no account filed
April 2003Thunderstorm WindAnnawan$400,000Barn destroyed & house damaged
May 2003Thunderstorm WindGalva$400,000no account filed
May 2003Tornado (F0)Galva$400,000no account filed
March 2006Thunderstorm WindAtkinson$300,000A bow echo interacted with a surface boundary over Atkinson and produced a ducted downburst over a narrow path of about 1 mile. About 12 homes sustained varying amounts of damage with many trees either uprooted or damaged. An RV wasflipped onto its side.At the Atkinson Grain & Fertilizer plant a 100 foot leg was torn away and dropped on the railroad tracks where it was hit by a slow moving train several hours later.
June 2009FloodGreen Rock$250,000Heavy rains during the middle of the month resulted in the Rock River at Joslin going above the moderate flood stage level of 14 feet on June 22nd around 12 am. It crested around 14.73 feet around 830 pm on June 23. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 5 pm June 24.
September 2008Flash FloodCambridge$250,000Heavy rains caused flash flooding of parts of Henry County during the afternoon of September 13.||East of Galva, flood waters were flowing over Highway 34.||Near Cambridge, several basements were flooded.
April 2003Flash FloodKewanee$250,0006 inches water over roads
April 2003Flash FloodGalva$250,000IL 17 & US 34 flooded
June 1974Tornado (F0)not stated$250,000no account filed
April 1967Tornado (F2)not stated$250,000no account filed
April 1965Tornado (F1)not stated$250,000no account filed
May 1962Tornado (F2)not stated$250,000no account filed
September 1959Tornado (F2)not stated$250,000no account filed
April 1956Tornado (F2)not stated$250,000no account filed
May 2009FloodSunny Hill$166,670Heavy rains during the last week of April resulted in the Rock River at Joslin and Moline going above their respective moderate flood stage levels during the first few days of May.||The Rock River at Joslin surpassed its moderate flood stage level of 14 feet on May 1 around 6 pm. It crested around 14.5 feet around 12 am May 3. It fell back below its moderate flood stage level around 6 pm on May 4.||The Rock River at Moline surpassed its moderate flood stage level of 13 feet on May 2 around 3 pm. It crested around 13.14 feet around 3 pm May 3. It fell back below its moderate flood stage level around 9 am on May 4.
July 2010FloodGreen Rock$125,000no account filed
July 2024Tornado (EF1)Kewanee Muni Arpt$100,000An NWS Storm Survey found that an EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 100 MPH and was 200 yards wide caused extensive tree damage occurred through the city of Kewanee. Many homesteads had minor roof damage. A couple of the homes had large sections of the roofs removed.
May 2010FloodSunny Hill$100,000Heavy rains during the second week of May resulted in moderate flooding on the Rock River.||At Joslin, the river level surpassed the moderate flood stage level of 14 feet on May 15 around 10 am. It crested around 14.5 feet around 1 pm May 16. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 1 pm May 17.||At Moline, the river level surpassed the moderate flood stage level of 13 feet on May 15 around 7 am. It crested around 13.3 feet around 7 am May 16. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 1 am May 18.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindKewanee Muni Arpt$100,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down some trees about 4 miles west of Kewanee, IL around 115 pm June 18. One large tree fell onto a house.
July 2010FloodSunny Hill$100,000no account filed
July 2003HailGalva$100,000no account filed
July 2024Tornado (EF1)Kewanee$50,000An NWS Storm Survey found a second tornado in Kewanee. The tornado was 50 yards wide with peak winds of 105 MPH, which caused damage on the north side of Kewanee. Damage was noted to several large trees including large ones snapped in a park and golf course. There was also some roof damage to a couple of businesses and a storage building.
June 2013Tornado (EF1)Atkinson$50,000The tornado snapped several tree trunks, destroyed a grain bin, downed large limbs, and damaged the roof of one residence.
September 2010LightningCambridge$50,000Lightning struck a building in Cambridge, IL around 940 pm CDT September 18. Some bricks were knocked out of the building.
August 2010Flash FloodGerman Corner$50,000Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding of some streets in the Kewanee, IL area during the morning of August 10.
November 2010Thunderstorm WindGalva$50,000A supercell tracked across portions of Henry county producing a swath of straight-line downburst winds as the thunderstorm moved rapidly to the northeast at 60 mph.|Tree damage was first noted at the Galva cemetery near the county line, where roughly 10 pine trees were either snapped at the base or uprooted. The largest of which was 2 feet in diameter and tossed 25 yards to the east. About a dozen of the taller headstones were toppled from their bases. Farther to the northeast, sheet metal was torn from the roof of a Tyson building, and scattered into the surrounding fields a quarter mile to the east. Off of Route 78 southeast of Kewanee, a half dozen pine trees were snapped at the trunk with surrounding tall grass matted down to the east. Farther down the road to the east a corn crib was destroyed when it shifted off it's foundation. Continuing to the east, there were roughly 40 trees in a 35 year old wind break that were snapped at the trunks. There was also hail damage noted with chipped paint on west facing walls and scarred tree trunks. Ending 3 miles east southeast of Kewanee a barn roof was mostly ripped off, scattering debris a couple hundred yards to the east. Based on the damage, winds were estimated to be between 80 to 100 mph. At some locations the damage swath was one-half mile wide in southeast Henry county, Illinois.
June 2010Flash FloodSunny Hill$50,000Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding in the Cambridge, Kewanee, and Orion, IL areas during the late afternoon and evening of June 23. Streets just west of Cambridge, IL were flooded. Highway 78 going into Kewanee had 8 to 10 inches of water covering it. The intersection of E 200th Street and N 1200th Avenue about 2 miles south southwest of Orion, IL was covered with flood waters from runoff from nearby farm fields.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindGeneseo$50,000Wind gusts estimated to be 75 mph blew down several large trees and damaged business signs and roofs mainly on the west side of Geneseo, IL around 625 am July 21.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindColona$50,000Trees down in town & on BNSF tracks
October 2000Thunderstorm WindOrion$50,000Strong winds downed numerous trees, several grain bins and a corn crib along a path from Orion to Atkinson.
April 2003HailGalva$50,000no account filed
April 2003HailCambridge$50,000no account filed
April 2003HailKewanee$50,000no account filed
April 2003HailGalva$50,000no account filed
May 2000Thunderstorm WindCambridge$50,000no account filed
May 2006Thunderstorm WindKewanee$35,000Numerous large tree limbs and power lines downed on the east side of the city. One garage was pushed 10 feet off its foundation and collapsed. The car inside was not damaged.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindCambridge$30,000Severe thunderstorm winds damaged tents, concession booths, fences, and large trees at the county fairgrounds, where the annual county fair was underway.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindAtkinson$30,000A grain bin was destroyed when it was tossed over a corn crib on the Steve Carton farm by a downburst or possible microburst. Radar data indicated a bowing segment of thunderstorms and the farm was just to the right of the bow apex.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindGerman Corner$25,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down several 5 inch diameter tree branches, flattened some area corn fields, ripped part of a roof and some siding off a house, and snapped an evergreen tree 12 feet off the ground about 10 miles south of Atkinson, IL around 1258 pm June 18.
April 1987Tornado (F0)not stated$25,000no account filed
August 1981Tornado (F1)not stated$25,000no account filed
March 1979Tornadonot stated$25,000no account filed
June 1979Tornadonot stated$25,000no account filed
April 1967Tornado (F2)not stated$25,000no account filed
April 1965Tornado (F2)not stated$25,000no account filed
May 1995Tornado (F0)Geneseo$20,000A small tornado briefly touched down near the Ebenezer Church north of Geneseo at about 1800 CDT. Gordon Sammons' mobile home was blown over on its side against a utility pole which apparently prevented it from continuing its role. As Mr. Sammons crawled up and out of his home he looked skyward and saw the funnel dipping down from the clouds.
September 1996LightningAndover$20,000no account filed
May 2017Tornado (EF1)Mineral$15,000Tornado was rated a higher end EF-1 with peak winds 105 mph, a path length of 2.38 miles with a max path width of 150 yards. This higher end EF-1 tornado caused damage to numerous farm outbuildings, a few homes and trees across Mercer and Henry counties. One house partially lost a roof while another was impelled by flying debris. Approximately 30 to 40 trees were snapped at the trunks, a couple of dozen were uprooted, with about 50 trees experiencing limb damage. This tornado is a continuation of the tornado that touched down in Mercer county.

Mines and quarries

9 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 9 workings inside this county. 3 still produce and 6 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity Workings
Sand and Gravel, Construction7
Stone1
Stone, Crushed/Broken1

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Cleveland Quarry Plant #31Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Henry City PitStonePast Producer
A. Moens PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
C. Johnson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Decausemaker PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Mc Dowell Sand & ExcavatingSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Oberlander PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Orlo Woodcock PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Thompson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

The townships, in 1910

178,509 words

History of Henry County, Illinois devotes a chapter to each township: its boundaries and streams, who settled it and when, the mills, the schools and the churches. All 21 are reproduced here in full. Each row shows the township's own shape and where it lies in the county, drawn from the Census Bureau's boundary. Which settlements belong to which township is computed from that same boundary, not taken from the book.

The county's history books

984,800 words

2 books written about this county, cut here where the book itself is cut, at its printed chapters: 2 chapters in all. Every chapter is public domain, machine-read from the scan and reproduced complete. A chapter already given under one of the county's towns is not repeated in this list.

Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County, Illinois : Containing Full-page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, Together with Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Illinois, and of the Presidents of the United States; Also Containing a History of the County, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time (1885)

ChapterLength
The whole text481,624 words in 31 parts

History of Henry County, Illinois (1910)

ChapterLength
The whole text503,176 words in 32 parts

The people it describes

32 named

Everyone History of Henry County, Illinois stops to write about, with the section that describes them. Among them are the men who founded the place and governed the Territory. Each name opens the passage itself, in the words of 1910.

Every populated place in the county

39

Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.

The vanished settlements of Henry County: the places named above that are no longer on the map.

Provenance

  • Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
  • Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
  • Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.