Editing Golconda, Illinois (section)

==History==
The city is named after [[Golconda]] in [[Hyderabad]], [[India]], famed in the 19th century for its diamond mines. Golconda was the first permanent settlement in [[Pope County, Illinois|Pope County]] in 1798, and a ferry point across the [[Ohio River]] that was sometimes called [[Lusk's Ferry, Illinois|Lusk's Ferry]] was established around that time.  The town was named Sarahsville upon the organization of Pope County in 1816,<ref>{{cite web|title=Pope County Historical Reminiscences|url=http://genealogytrails.com/ill/pope/cohist.htm|website=genealogytrails.com|publisher=Illinois Genealogy Trails|access-date=22 August 2015|archive-date=September 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916023709/http://genealogytrails.com/ill/pope/cohist.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> but changed its name to Golconda on January 24, 1817, after the ancient city of [[Golkonda]]<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA139 | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=139}}</ref> in [[India]].  In 1840, the [[Buel House]], a single-family home presently-owned by the [[Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]], was built.<ref name="IHPA">{{cite web |url=http://www.illinoishistory.gov/hs/buel_house.htm |title=Buel House |work=[[Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]] |access-date=2012-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331221225/http://www.illinoishistory.gov/hs/buel_house.htm |archive-date=2012-03-31 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Among the many historic buildings built in the latter half of the 19th century is the First Presbyterian Church (built in 1869). It is the oldest continuous [[Presbyterian]] congregation in Illinois. The church was organized in 1819.

===Trail of Tears===
Some 13,000 [[Cherokees]], led by Chief Bear Paw crossed the [[Ohio River]] at Golconda by ferry as part of the infamous "[[Trail of Tears]]" to [[Oklahoma]]. Because of the threat of disease, the Native Americans were not allowed to go into any towns or villages along the way; often this meant traveling much farther to go around them. After crossing Tennessee and Kentucky, they arrived at the [[Ohio River]] across from Golconda about the 3rd of December 1838. The starving Indians were charged a dollar a head (equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|1|1838|r=0}}}} today) to cross the river on "Carpenter's Ferry", which typically charged twelve cents (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|0.12|1838|r=0}}}} today). They were not allowed passage until the ferry had serviced all others wishing to cross and were forced to take shelter under "Mantle Rock", a bluff on the Kentucky side, until "Mr. Carpenter had nothing better to do". Many died huddled together at Mantle Rock waiting to cross. Several Cherokee were also murdered by locals. Many of the Cherokee were rescued and sheltered by the Carpenter family, one of the founding leaders of Golconda. The killers filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government through the courthouse in [[Vienna, Illinois|Vienna]], suing the government for $35 a head (equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|35|1838|r=-2}}}} today) to bury the murdered Cherokee.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bost|first1=Mike|last2=Tryon|first2=Michael|last3=Forby|first3=Gary|title=House Joint Resolution 142: Route 146 and the Trail of Tears|date=November 30, 2006|publisher=[[Illinois General Assembly|94th Illinois General Assembly]]|location=[[Springfield, Illinois]]|access-date=November 29, 2019|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=0142&GAID=8&GA=94&DocTypeID=HJR&LegID=26217&SessionID=50}}</ref>