Editing Hancock County, Illinois (section)

==History==
[[File:Hancock County Illinois 1825.png|thumb|Hancock County at the time of its creation in 1825]]

Hancock County was part of the [[Military Tract of 1812|"Military Tract"]] set aside by Congress to reward veterans of the [[War of 1812]]. Actual settlement of the interior of the county was delayed by concerns about hostile American Indians. After their defeat in the [[Blackhawk War]] in 1832, settlement proceeded quickly.

Hancock County was formed, on January 13, 1825, out of [[Pike County, Illinois|Pike County]]. It was named in honor of [[John Hancock]], who signed the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA148 | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=148}}</ref>

For a brief period in the 1840s Hancock had one of Illinois' most populous cities: [[Nauvoo, Illinois|Nauvoo]], which was then headquarters for the [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]]. The [[Latter Day Saint movement|movement's founder]] [[Joseph Smith]] was [[Death of Joseph Smith|killed]] in the county seat of Carthage in 1844. Most [[Mormons]] left Hancock County in the 1840s. Today, Latter Day Saints come in increasing numbers to important Latter Day Saint sites in Hancock County, partly for vacation and partly for religious pilgrimage.

The original courthouse was at Montebello. Montebello no longer exists but was between Nauvoo and Hamilton. In 1833 the state commissioned the formation of the county seat at Carthage, which was centrally located but not well developed. A log cabin was built to serve as the courthouse and served that purpose until 1839 when the second Carthage Courthouse was built. The original log cabin continued to serve as a school and other purposes until 1945 when it was removed.

The second courthouse cost $3,700 to build and served from 1839 until 1906. It served as a location for [[Stephen A. Douglas]] (October 11, 1858) and [[Abraham Lincoln]] (October 22, 1858) to speak to residents as they were running against each other for the US Senate. In 1906 it was removed to make room for the current courthouse.

The current courthouse was dedicated October 21, 1908.