Harristown is a village in Macon County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The population was 1,310 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Decatur, Illinois

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

History

The village was named in honor of Major Thomas L. Harris, who was elected and served as Major of the Fourth Illinois Regiment in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, and who was afterward a member of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

from 1849 to 1858. The first settlers arrived in 1828 and began building log cabins and improving land around the area. 1841 saw the building of the township’s first schoolhouse, a log building, and served as both the school and as a place of worship until 1853 when the first church was built. Harristown was along the main line of the

Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary co ...

, which contributed to increased population and business. Harristown was the first Illinois home of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. His family settled alongside the

Sangamon River The Sangamon River is a principal tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 in central Illinois in the United Stat ...

south of the present village in 1830 for a little over a year before relocating due to the harsh winter and extreme sickness. Lincoln and his family constructed a log cabin and fenced in of land, planting corn in the fenced land. During that winter, Lincoln, together with his stepmother's son, John D. Johnston, and John Hanks were hired by

Denton Offutt Denton Offutt was a 19th-century American general store operator who hired future President Abraham Lincoln for his first job as an adult in New Salem, Illinois. After Lincoln and his family had moved there from Indiana in 1830, he was hired by ...

to build a

flatboat A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a ...

and navigate it from

Beardstown, Illinois Beardstown is a city in Cass County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,951 at the 2020 census. The public schools are in Beardstown Community Unit School District 15. Geography Beardstown is located at (40.012189, -90.428711) on ...

, down the

and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

rivers to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. It was during this time that Lincoln saw

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

first-hand for the first time. Lincoln departed the Harristown area in the spring of 1831. Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park was created in 1904 and marks the spot where his cabin stood.

Geography

Harristown is located in western Macon County at (39.842673, −89.069495). It lies within Harristown Township and is bordered to the east by the city of Decatur, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

. Downtown Decatur is to the east, while Springfield, the state capital, is to the west. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, Harristown has a total area of , all land. The village is drained to the south by tributaries of the

. Abraham Lincoln's first home in Illinois was located on the north bank of the Sangamon, south of the present village.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 1,338 people, 511 households, and 402 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 525 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.88%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.30%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.07% Native American, 0.07% Asian, and 0.67% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

people of any race were 0.30% of the population. There were 511 households, out of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.5% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.3% were non-families. 19.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 2.98. In the village, the population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.5 males. The median income for a household in the village was $42,946, and the median income for a family was $48,162. Males had a median income of $37,273 versus $23,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the village was $18,689. About 4.1% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 9.2% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Cecil Garriott Virgil Cecil Garriott (August 15, 1916 – February 20, 1990) was an American professional baseball player during the middle of the 20th century. An outfielder during his long career in minor league baseball, Garriott made six appearances as a ...

, MLB player for the Chicago Cubs *

, statesman and 16th president of the United States * Lawrence Rotz (1897–1963), Illinois state senator, businessman, and politician'W. Lawrence (Cockey) Rotz, Civic Leader, Dies at Age 66,' The Decatur Herald (Illinois), September 30, 2963

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Macon County, Illinois Villages in Illinois