Editing Charleston, Illinois (section)

==History==
[[File:Coles County, IL, USA courthouse.JPG|right|thumb|Coles County courthouse]]
[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] lived in the Charleston area for thousands of years before the first European settlers arrived. With the great tallgrass [[prairie]] to the west, [[beech-maple forest]]s to the east, and the [[Embarras River (Illinois)|Embarras River]] and [[Wabash River]]s between, the Charleston area provided semi-nomadic Indians access to a variety of resources. Indians may have deliberately set the "[[wildfire]]s" which maintained the local mosaic of [[prairie]] and oak–hickory [[forest]]. Streams with names such as 'Indian Creek' and 'Kickapoo Creek' mark the sites of former Indian settlements. One village is said to have been located south of Fox Ridge State Park near a deposit of [[flint]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

The early history of settlement in the area was marked by uneasy co-existence between Indians and European settlers. Some settlers lived peacefully with the natives, but conflict arose in the 1810s and 1820s. After Indians allegedly harassed surveying crews, an escalating series of poorly documented skirmishes occurred between Indians, settlers, and the Illinois Rangers. Two pitched battles (complete with [[cannon]] on one side) took place just south of Charleston along "the hills of the Embarrass," near the entrance to [[Lake Charleston (Illinois)|Lake Charleston]] park. These conflicts did not slow American settlement, and Indian history in Coles County effectively ended when all natives were expelled by law from Illinois after the 1832 [[Black Hawk War]]. With the grudging exception of Indian wives, the last natives were driven out by the 1840s.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=The Mattoon/Charleston Tornado of May 26, 1917|url=https://www.weather.gov/ilx/26may1917|access-date=26 December 2020|work=National Weather Service|publisher=NOAA}}</ref>

First settled by Benjamin Parker in 1826, Charleston was named for Charles Morton, its first postmaster.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9022611/Charleston Charleston – Britannica Online Encyclopedia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The city was established in 1831, but not incorporated until 1865. When [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s father moved to a farm on Goosenest Prairie south of Charleston in 1831, Lincoln helped him move, then left to start his own homestead at [[New Salem (Menard County), Illinois|New Salem]] in [[Sangamon County]]. Lincoln was a frequent visitor to the Charleston area, though he likely spent more time at the Coles County courthouse than at the home of his father and stepmother. One of the famous [[Lincoln–Douglas debates]] was held in Charleston on September 18, 1858, and is now the site of the Coles County fairgrounds and a small museum.<ref>{{cite web|title=Charleston, Coles County, September 18, 1858|url=http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/inside.asp?ID=25&subjectID=2|work=The Lincoln-Douglas Debates|publisher=The Lincoln Institute|access-date=9 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Fourth Debate: Charleston, Illinois|url=http://www.nps.gov/liho/historyculture/debate4.htm|work=Lincoln Home National Historic Site|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|access-date=9 March 2014}}</ref> Lincoln's last visit was in 1859, when the future President visited his stepmother and his father's grave.

Although Illinois was a solidly pro-Union, anti-[[slavery]] state, Coles County was settled by many Southerners with pro-slavery sentiments. In 1847, the county was divided when prominent local citizens offered refuge to a family of escaped slaves brought from Kentucky by Gen. Robert Matson. Lincoln, by then a young railroad lawyer, appeared in the Coles County Courthouse to argue for the return of the escaped slaves under the [[Fugitive Slave Act]] in a case known as [[Matson Trial|Matson v. Ashmore]]. 

At the height of the [[American Civil War]], violence would overcome downtown Charleston on March 28th, 1864 and would be infamously known as the Charleston [[Charleston riot|riot]]. Six [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] soldiers, two [[Copperhead (politics)|Copperheads]], and one bystander would be killed, ultimately drawing the attention of President Lincoln and newspapers across the country. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Barry |first=Peter J. |title=The Charleston, Illinois Riot, March 28, 1864 |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-9799595-0-9}}</ref>

In 1895, the Eastern Illinois State Normal School was established in Charleston, which later became [[Eastern Illinois University]]. This led to lasting resentment in nearby Mattoon, which had originally led the campaign to locate the proposed [[normal school|teaching school]] in Coles County.  A Mattoon newspaper printed a special edition announcing the decision with the derisive headline "Catfish Town Gets It."

[[Thomas Lincoln]]'s [[log cabin]] has been restored and is open to the public as the [[Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site]], 8&nbsp;mi. south of Charleston. The Lincoln farm is maintained as a [[living history museum]] where historical re-enactors depict life in 1840s Illinois. Thomas and [[Sarah Bush Lincoln]] are buried in the nearby Shiloh Cemetery.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

On May 26, 1917, a [[May–June 1917 tornado outbreak sequence#Mattoon.2FCharleston.2C Illinois|tornado]] ripped through Charleston, killing 38 people and injuring many more, along with destroying 220 homes.<ref>[[May–June 1917 tornado outbreak sequence]]</ref><ref name=":0" />