Named for John Hancock, a prominent figure of the Revolutionary period, a Major General of the militia, President of the Continental Congress, first signer of the Declaration of Independence, and first Governor of the State of Massachusetts.
Settled in 1831, Carthage became the county seat in 1833, the Hancock County Courthouse in Carthage, was dedicated in 1908.
Henderson County FYI
Named after Henderson County in Kentucky through the influence of emigrants from that county.
Henderson County
Oquawka, County Seat
Courthouse contact information:
Henderson County Courthouse
P.O. Box 308
Oquawka, IL 61469
Named for Henry Knox, a soldier of the Revolution who commanded the storming party at Stony Point, later a Major General and Washington’s Secretary of War.
McDonough County FYI
Named for Thomas McDonough, a Commodore of the United States Navy, who commanded the fleet on Lake Champlain in a successful engagement with the British fleet, near Plattsburg in 1814.
McDonough County
Macomb, County Seat
Courthouse contact information:
McDonough County Courthouse
1 Courthouse Square
Macomb, IL 61455
Named for Joseph Warren, a Major General of the Massachusetts militia. He was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill.
In choosing the name of the new county seat, 3 commissioners selected the names; from these, three were drawn, which proved to be Isabella, Kosciusko and Monmouth. Kosciusko was drawn, when it was suggested by the commissioner who first selected it, that very few of the inhabitants could spell it correctly, and he moved a drawing of the other two names be made. This was done, and resulted in the name the city now bears.
