Vermilion County, Illinois

County: Vermilion

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 40.1667, -87.7500

In 1826, the Illinois General Assembly created Vermilion County out of Edgar County. Named for the Vermilion River, which flows south through it, Vermilion County is located in east central Illinois, bordering the state of Indiana. Danville served as the county seat. Vermilion County was on the Eighth Judicial Circuit from 1845-1861, and Abraham Lincoln handled more than 200 cases in Vermilion County Circuit Court.

"An Act Establishing Vermilion County," 18 January 1826, Laws of Illinois (1826), 50-53; James N. Adams, comp., Illinois Place Names (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society, 1989), 606; John M. Peck, A Gazetteer of Illinois in Three Parts (Jacksonville, IL: R. Goudy, 1834), 164-65; "An Act to Change the Time of Holding Courts in the County of Shelby, and for Other Purposes," 21 February 1845, Laws of Illinois (1845), 47-48; "An Act Declaring What Counties Shall Compose the Eighth Judicial Circuits, and Fix the Time of Holding the Courts and Regulate the Practice in Said Circuit," 11 February 1857, Laws of Illinois (1857), 12-14; for Lincoln's cases in Vermilion County Circuit Court, search "Vermilion County Circuit Court," Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Search.aspx.