Welcome!
Johnson County ILGenWeb is a free genealogical site about the
history of Johnson County, Illinois. We hope you find helpful clues for your
research of ancestors and relatives of the county.
Please contribute your pieces of Johnson county family history. YOUR HELP
IS NEEDED. Our
combined efforts canmake this a great site for all who visit!
County Coordinator: AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION. If interested in adopting,
please contact the ILGenWeb State Coordinator.
COUNTY FORMATION
Johnson County was created 14 Sep 1812 by proclamation: "I do lay
off a county or district to be called Johnson county, to be bounded
as follows viz.: To begin at the mouth of Lusk's Creek on the Ohio;
thence with the line of Gallatin county to Big Muddy; thence down
Big Muddy and the Mississippi to mouth of the Ohio, and up the Ohio
to the beginning. And I do appoint the house of John Bradshaw to be
the seat of Justice of Johnson county."
The original boundries were carved from Randolph county and
included portions of present day Jackson, Williamson, Saline, Pope,
Union, Alexander, Pulaski, and Massac counties.
Johnson county was named in honor of Richard Mentor Johnson who served
in the Indian Wars and the war of 1812. He also served as
Vice-President of the United States from 1837 to 1841 in the
administration of Martin Van Buren.