Henry County, Illinois

County: Henry

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 41.3500, -90.1500

The Illinois General Assembly created Henry County in 1825, from Fulton County. Henry County remained attached to Knox County for administrative and judicial purposes until the legislature organized the new county in 1837. Commissioners appointed for the purpose initially chose Richmond as the county seat. In 1839, the county offices at Richmond were destroyed by fire and the legislature authorized the county to locate a new county seat. Commissioners chose Morristown, but residents of the county were unhappy with the choice. In 1843, they successfully petitioned the legislature to move the county seat to a specific location, which became the town of Cambridge, where the county seat remained.

"An Act Forming New Counties out of the Counties of Pike and Fulton, and the Attached Parts Thereof," 13 January 1825, Laws of Illinois (1825), 92-96; "An Act to Establish a Permanent Seat of Government for Knox County, and for Other Purposes," 15 January 1831, Laws of Illinois (1831), 62-63; An Act to Organize Henry County; An Act to Legalize the Acts of Certain Officers of Henry County, and for Other Purposes; "An Act for the Removal of the County Seat of Henry County," 21 February 1843, Laws of Illinois (1843), 117-18; Henry L. Kiner, History of Henry County Illinois (Chicago: Pioneer, 1910), 1:26-30, 45.