Mount Vernon, Illinois

Mount Vernon was chosen by the coirmiissioners as the name of the new county seat of justice, although Mount Pleasant was first proposed and favorably considered, but the name of Washington was greatly revered by the citizens, and Mount Vernon, his ancestral home, prevailed as the county seat of Jefferson county. Joel Pace was ordered by the court to contract with a surveyor to lay off the twenty acres, donated by William Casey, extending from Harrison street on the north to Jordon street, on the south, and from Casey street (now Eleventh street), on the west to Johnson street or alley, first street east of the public square. The lots numbered forty-eight, lying in eight squares, three squares each way, and one to the county, but nothing was said about blocks in the survey. The surveyor was William Hosick from - perhaps, Shawneetown. In September it was ordered that Joel Pace and William Casey be and are hereby employed to set Mulberry stakes around the public square, one at each corner, to drive all the stakes in the town and also to number the lots for which they are to be paid by the county.

Passage source: Wall's History of Jefferson County, Illinois, published 1909.

Lot No. I , was struck off to Bennett Maxey for forty-one dollars; No. 2 to Barton Atchison; Burchett Maxey bought No. 4, south of Herman's, where he built a log house; Lewis Watkins took the Joel Pace corner at one hundred sixty-two dollars and fifty cents; Nelson Ferguson took what is now the Ham's bank corner, one hundred and sixty-five dollars; Clark Casey, the Bond corner for one hundred and sixty dollars; Thomas Jordon, the lot where the Economy store now is; Doctor McLean, who afterwards located at McLeansboro, bought the Harvey Pace corner, where the third National Bank is, for one hundred and thirty-six dollars, with Isaac Casey as security. He failed to pay for it and Isaac passed it over to Burchett Maxey. J. E. Davis, the preacher who cried the sale of the lots, came in with a colony of Casey's and Maxey's in 1818. His wife was a sister to Burchett and Elihu Maxey's wives, and to James Bowman's and John Afflack's wives, all being daughters of John Taylor, of Wilson county, Tennessee. Of those who bought the original lots, Bennett Maxey was the son of William Maxey and brother to Joshua C. and J. P. Maxey, and was the father of William H. and James J., Charles C, Joshua C, Jr., and Thomas J.; also of Mrs. Emily Ray and Mrs. Eliza White; William and Edward were brothers from Virginia. William married Rhodam Allen's sister, Emily, and was the father of Henry B., Bennett Nelson, Elisha, Charles, Hardy, Joshua Cannon. William McKendrie, Adney and John, also of Mrs. Clarwall's history of JEFFERSON CO., ILL. 39 issa Johnson, Mrs. Harriet and Mrs. Vilinda Casey and Hostillina; Edward married Elizabeth Pitner, came to Kentucky and thence to IHinois, in 1819, was a Methodist and raised no children, but adopted Judge J. R. Satterfield. Barton Atchison was from Georgia, married a Hill, sister to Mrs. Wilkey and Mrs. Dempsey Hood, came to this county in 1816, and was much in public life. His sons were William, Ignitius, Samuel, George and the daughters, Winnie Myers, Martha Chaffin and one, the wife of Theophilus Cook, Jr., Nelson Ferguson, came and stayed one year and went back to Tennessee. His wife was a sister of Jordan Tyler. Clark Casey, John C, was a son of Abraham P., and son-in-law of Isaac Casey; came in 1818, and built a cabin on Mulberry Hill, southwest of town, lost his wife and married a Bingaman, went to Missouri, came back and died in 1862. Lewis Watkins was at the front some years, first in Moore's Prairie, then in Mount Vernon, finally returning to Tennessee, leaving his daughter, Mrs. Green P. Casey here. She was the mother of Lewis F. Casey. Henry Tyler was the son of John Tyler and John was a half-brother of James and Lewis Johnson. Henry married Isaac Casey's daughter, Catherine. He lived on the Centralia road for many years. John C. and Isaac Tyler were sons of Mrs. Ingram. Oliver Morris was son-in-law to Joseph Jordan. He built a brick house in Moore's Prairie as early as 1823. John Wilkerson married Dicy Keelin. in Virginia; she died and he married Mrs. Thomas, sister of Rhodam Allen and to William Maxey's wife. Mrs. Thomas by her first husband had five children; Mrs. Thad Moss's grandfather. Aunt Polly Parker and Edward Wilkinson's wife were three of them. This much for some of the very first settlers and builders of Mount Vernon.

Passage source: Wall's History of Jefferson County, Illinois, published 1909.

As showing the demonstration of these facts, we begin away back at the time Mount Vernon was laid off. At first the pioneers had no post-office and no means of communication with or receiving information from the outside world. Imagine if you can what the town would be today were it in the same condition. Of course, after a few years, the people felt the need of a post-office and mail facilities and a post-office was finally ordained, and a mail route established to run from Shawneetown to Alton, and later, one from Metropolis to Salem, and of course Mount Vernon got the benefit of these routes, but the mail amounted to but little for several years. It was difficult to get anybody to act as postmaster for there was responsibility and no pay. It is said while Uncle Joel Pace held about all the county offices he also had to discharge the duties of postmaster. As in all new villages some one in other business was usually pressed into the service as postmaster. After passing the task around for some time, Downing Baugh (father of J. V. and

Passage source: Wall's History of Jefferson County, Illinois, published 1909.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Mount Vernon Township - it names this place 6 more 6 times.