HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY
originally found at http://www.prairienet.org/fordiroq/iroqhist.txt

       Iroquois County is the only county in the United States having 
the name "Iroquois," a name originally applied to a confederation of 
tribes of North American Indians.  According to tradition, a band of 
Iroquois Indians was once surprised and defeated upon the banks of the 
river now known as the Iroquois, by a war party of Illinois Indians, 
hence the name of the county and the river.
       Iroquois County is bounded on the north by the county of Kanka-
kee, on the east by the State of Indiana, on the south by Vermilion and 
Ford Counties, and on the west by Ford County. Iroquois County in area 
ranks third in the state, being 35 miles long and 32 miles wide, and con-
taining 1,120 square miles, only 130 square miles less than the state of 
Rhode Island.  This county is exceeded in size only by McLean and LaSalle 
Counties in Illinois.  Watseka, the county seat, is located a few miles 
east of the center of the county. 
        The territory included within the present boundaries of Iroquois 
County was subjected to various stages of political evolution before the 
present county organization was perfected. Under the charter of 1609 and 
supported by General George Rogers Clark's request, Virginia laid claim 
to all the country north and west of the Ohio River and organized it as 
the county of Illinois.  In the year 1784, Virginia surrendered her 
claims to the territory to the government of the United States.  This 
vast domain afterward became known as the Northwest Territory. While 
the Illinois country was still a part of the Northwest Territory, in the 
year 1790, we find Iroquois County a part of the county of Knox and so 
continued until February 3, 1801, when it became a part of the county of 
St. Clair, belonging to the Indiana Territory.  The Illinois Territory 
was established by act of Congress on February 3, 1809. 
        This county continued to be a part of St. Clair County until the 
14th of September, 1812, when upon reorganization it became a part of 
Edwards County.  In the year 1816 the Iroquois country became a part of 
Crawford County and there remained until Illinois was admitted into the 
Union in 1818. 
        When Illinois was admitted as a state, she had but fifteen 
organized counties.  One, Crawford County, embraced all the part of the 
state lying north of a line running east and west near the present site 
of Louisville, Illinois, the county seat of Clay County.  It also included 
the area east of the third principal meridian, which runs due north from 
the mouth of the Ohio River.
       March 22, 1819, the territory included within the present limits
of Iroquois County became a part of Clark County.  In 1823 Edgar County 
was organized and what is now Iroquois County was attached to Edgar.  It 
remained thus until the county of Vermilion was organized in 1826, after 
which it continued until the formal organization took place February 26, 
1833.
       The law made it the duty of the judge of the Circuit Court of 
Vermilion County, whenever he should be satisfied the new county had 350 
inhabitants, to grant an order for an election of three county 
commissioners, one sheriff, and one coroner to hold office until the next 
general election.  The special election for first officers was on Monday, 
February 24, 1834.
       Gurdon S. Hubbard, while a representative from Vermilion County 
in the 8th General Assembly of Illinois 1832-1834 was instrumental in pro-
curing the passage of the act creating Iroquois County.  
       The county embraced all that territory lying north of its present 
south line and east of its present west line and extended north, forming 
a rectangle and about one-third of what is now Will County.  
       As then established, Iroquois County extended from the north line 
of Vermilion to the then south line of Cook County. Will County was creat-
ed in the year 1836 and extended south to the Kankakee River. The river, 
except for a short distance at the northwest corner of the county, became 
the northern boundary of Iroquois County.
       In the year 1853 Kankakee County was created from territory which 
had belonged to the counties of Iroquois and Will.  Thus Iroquois was 
limited to its present boundaries.
       In 1835 the town of Montgomery offered the county 20 acres of land 
on which to locate a permanent county seat.  This land was located just 
east of Montgomery and was platted down as a town site in 1836 under the 
name of Iroquois.  The offer was accepted and the county seat was 
established in Iroquois.  No buildings were erected so space was rented 
for county offices and a courtroom in Montgomery.  As no town ever devel-
oped at Iroquois the plat was later vacated.
       There was general dissatisfaction with the county seat so far from 
the center of the county.  In 1838 an act was obtained from the Illinois 
legislature to relocate the county seat. The town of Middleport offered 
the county 52 lots to locate the county seat there.  The offer was 
accepted and Middleport became the county seat in 1839.
       After the establishment of the county seat at Middleport, the 
first county building to be erected was a jail.  It was made of hewed logs 
and was 16x20 feet in size.  It cost the county $159.30.
       In 1843 it was decided to build a courthouse.  This was to be a 
two-story brick structure, 40x40 feet square.  The downstairs was to be 
the courtroom with offices for the county officials upstairs. To defray 
the cost of the new building the sum of $1,506 was appropriated for 
county funds.  To this was to be added the receipts from the sale of the 
remaining town lots given by Middleport for locating the county seat 
there.  Still another source of funds was anticipated. The county owned 
some land along the Salt Fork River west of Danville.  This land had salt 
springs on it and was part of some similar land given by the federal 
government to Vermilion County before Iroquois County was formed.  It had 
been hoped that the salt springs would be developed commercially and the 
income was to be used to build a bridge over the Vermilion River at Dan-
ville and the Iroquois River at Montgomery. The land was never developed 
so Iroquois County retained a share of either 40 or 80 acres (the record 
is not clear).  It was decided to sell this land and a representative was 
sent to Danville to dispose of it.  The best offer he could obtain was in 
trade for a horse.  The trade was made and the horse taken to Chicago and 
sold.  The records do not say how much this transaction added to the 
courthouse building fund. The new building was completed in 1847.
       In 1858 the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad was building its line east
from Peoria to the Indiana state line.  The route was surveyed through 
Middleport but a dispute arose in regard to the town donating land for 
the depot ground.  A group of land owners to the southeast of Middleport 
offered a proposition to the railroad.  This offer was accepted and the 
route ran south of Middleport. A new town, called South Middleport, came 
into being about a mile southeast.  The name was changed in 1865 to 
Watseka and upon incorporation of Watseka, Middleport became a part of 
that town.  The old courthouse in Middleport was abandoned and a new one 
built in Watseka.  All that remains of the old courthouse completed in 
1847 is the square on which it stood.  This is now a small park located 
one block west of the West Watseka School.  A picture of the courthouse 
appears in the large painting on the north wall of the present circuit 
court room.
       Until the new building was completed the county offices were 
located in a building on the northeast corner of Fourth and Walnut 
Streets, Watseka.  On October 16, 1866 about 2 o'clock a.m. the building 
caught fire and many county records were destroyed.  It was thought that 
the fire was set by disgruntled citizens of Middleport over the removal 
of the courthouse to Watseka.  The new courthouse was completed in 1866.  
Additions were made to it in 1881 and 1927.  The new courthouse had the 
county jail in its basement.  One of the original cell blocks can be seen 
there to-day.  A new jail and sheriff's residence was built in 1893. This 
courthouse is now the site of the Iroquois County Historical Museum located 
at 103 W. Cherry Street.
       The present Iroquois County courthouse and jail was given to all 
the people of Iroquois County by the late Katharine Clifton. Mrs. Cli-
fton's bequest to the people of this County is without doubt the first 
time any individual ever gave the entire cost price for the construction 
of these units, together with all appurtenances, furnishings and 
accessories necessary to its functioning.  The amount was over $1.5 
million.
       Charles W. Raymond, then a Federal Judge at Muskogee, Oklahoma, 
Indian Territory, married Grace Matzenbaugh Fisher, a young widow and 
mother of our Katharine Clifton (nee Fisher), who was then 8 years old 
at the time of Judge Raymond and Mrs. Fisher's marriage on January 8, 
1902, in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
       The land on which the new courthouse and jail are located at 550 
South Tenth Street in Watseka was originally purchased by Mrs. Clifton's 
husband, William "Pete" Clifton, who had planned before his death to con-
struct a municipal airport on the site.
       The new courthouse and jail held their open house and dedication 
ceremonies on Saturday, September 17, 1966.
       In 1833 Iroquois County had a population of 350, in 1860 a 
population of 16,000 and in 1950 a population of 32,348.  The 1990 
population of Iroquois County was 30,787.