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ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS

Information on St. Clair County, IL

   St. Clair was a governor of Illinois in 1787 when St. Clair County was established.  But it was not until 1816 that the present (1907) boundaries were fixed.  The boundaries were: between parallel 38 degrees, 33 minutes and parallel 38 degrees, 10 minutes, 45 seconds, and between north latitude and meridians 12 degrees, 42 minutes, 30 seconds and 13 degrees, 16 minutes west longitude from Washington.  It is bisected by 90 degrees west longitude from Greenwich.  As such, St. Clair County is located just east of St. Louis, Missouri and a little south, bordering on the Mississippi.  Madison County is its northern neighbor.
   From 1874-84 St. Clair County had 16 precincts.  Townships were adopted in 1884.  The capital and largest city of St. Clair County is Belleville.  In 1848 the Constitution set up the County Board with one county judge and 2 associate judges.  These judges also acted as justices of the peace.
   The St. Clair County Genealogical Society put out a 1890 Census Substitute.
 


Town of O'Fallon
 

Civil Seal for Town of O'Fallon and Picture of John O'Fallon

Info and Internet Sites for O'Fallon

   The Christoph Vossler family settled in O'Fallon.  Evidence is found in the 1870 Fed. Census for Illinois and in the marriage record of Johanna Sibilla Vossler and Eugene Charles Thake in 1872.  Although the Vossler family immigrated in 1855, I do not have evidence of their presence before 1870.  They have not been found in Illinois for the 1860 Census although there is a Christoph Vossler in the 1860 Census for Missouri.
   The address of the O'Fallon Historical Society is:  101 West State Street, P.O. Box 344, O'Fallon, IL 62269
   There is a 1855 State Census for Illinois that includes O'Fallon Township 2 North on pp. 117-121, 729-764 and 3325-3576.  See LDS (Mormon) microfilm roll #976673.  There is also a 1865 State Census (LDS microfilm roll #31-37).
   O'Fallon is a village of St. Clair County, on the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railway, 18 miles east of St. Louis.  In the first years of the 20th century the village had an interurban railway, electric lights, water-works, factories, coal mine, a bank and a newspaper.  Population in 1900 was 1,267.
   O'Fallon precinct used to be called Ridge Prairie precinct.  The O'Fallon precinct occupied the western half of Township 2 North, Range 7 West and all but 15 sections of Township 2 North, Range 8 West, including much of Ridge Prairie.  As such the old precinct included portions of the present O'Fallon and Caseyville Townships.
   The land is high, with undulating surface, drained by tributaries of Silver Creek.  The amount of well-watered timber and prairie on it made it attractive to the pioneer in the early days, as well as profitable for the farmer of the present day (1907).  The district contained about 15,000 acres of rich agricultural land traversed by two railroads--the Ohio & Mississippi (now Baltimore & Ohio), and the O'Fallon branch, running from O'Fallon to Belleville.
   The first known settlement by white men was in 1802--the Ogle family.
 

*my direct-line ancestors. (-3G), etc., indicates the number of generations before Erven Thoma

Information on Caseyville, St. Clair County, IL

   The Thake family (Charles, Emilie and Eugene settled in Caseyville, probably as early as late 1851.
   Zadoc Casey was a pioneer and early Congressman.  He came to Illinois and settled in the area where Mt. Vernon is now in Jefferson County.  In 1819 he served as an officer in, and commissioner for Jefferson County.  He was a State Representative in 1822, State Senator in 1826, Lt. Gov. in 1830.  From 1833 he served four terms as a US Representative.  His sons Newton R. and Thomas S. were also prominent.
   Caseyville Township was not really organized until 1906.  Before that the area was divided into precincts.  The Caseyville precinct occupied 15 sections in the northwestern part of present Township 2 North, Range 8 West and 9 sections of present Township 2 North, Range 9 West.  The Caseyville precinct included parts of Caseyville village.  On the east and south was O'Fallon precinct (see above).
   The land of the precinct is drained by Canteen Creek in the north and the Grand Marais in the south.  The precinct was traversed by two railroads--the Vandalia & Terre Haute, and the Ohio & Mississippi (present [1907] called Baltimore & Ohio).  The only village that ever came into being (up to 1907) is Caseyville.  The area consists of bottom lands and bluffs; and the two kinds of lands are visibly divided from each other by a line passing through Caseyville from northeast to southwest.  In the early days the bottom lands were flooded most of the year; but in the latter half of the 19th century they were drained so as to be capable of agriculture.  The bluffs near Caseyville are rugged, of sand and gravel, and heavily covered with timber.  Coal mining early became the leading industry of the Caseyville precinct.  Up to 1880 there were 3 mines on the Vandalia line.
   There is a 1855 State Census for Illinois that includes Caseyville Township 2 North on pp. 42-45, 105, 457-504 and 1251-1585.  See LDS (Mormon) microfilm roll #976673.

*my direct-line ancestors (-3G), etc., indicated the number of generations before Erven Thoma

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Updated on 20 Jun. 2006 by Erven Thoma