Moultrie County, Illinois

County: Moultrie

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 39.6333, -88.6333

On February 16, 1843, the Illinois General Assembly formed Moultrie County from portions of Shelby and Macon counties. Legislators named the county for William Moultrie, a South Carolinian who rose to the rank of general during the American Revolution and later served two stints as governor of South Carolina. Contention over the location of the county seat persuaded the General Assembly to leave the question of a seat of government out of the enabling act. In April 1843, voters elected the first county officials, and in the fall of 1844, a majority of the electorate selected Sullivan as the permanent seat of government.

"An Act for the Formation of the County of Moultrie," 16 February 1843, Laws of Illinois (1843), 83-85; Combined History of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brink & McDonough, 1881), 65-67; Edward Callary, Place Names of Illinois (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2009), 237-38; Harry M. Ward, "Moultrie, William," American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 16:32-33; Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties (Springfield: Illinois Secretary of State, 2010), 10, 13, 58, 61.