ILLINOIS STATE ARCHIVES

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Jasper County

Established
February 15, 1831 (Laws, 1831, p. 51)
County organization was completed on December 19, 1834.

Origin of the name of the county
Named for William Jasper, a Sergeant of the Revolution who, during the action in Charleston harbor, replaced the flag shot away at Fort Moultrie, and later was killed at Savannah in 1779.

Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in
1816–1831 — Crawford
1824–1821 — Clay
1815–1816 — Edwards
1812–1815 — Madison
1803–1812 — Randolph
1801–1812 — St. Clair
1790–1801 — Knox, Northwest Territory

County Seats
1835–   — Newton

History of county governing board
1834–1849 — County Commissioners’ Court
1849–1860 — County Court
1860–   — County Board of Supervisors

Township Government
Adopted — November 8, 1859
Note: Jasper County approved township organization on November 6, 1849, and the County Court even appointed commissioners to divide the county into townships, but this organization was never completed. The commissioners’ report of 1850 divided the county into six townships (see below).

Township Names under 1859 Organization
Crooked Creek
Fox — Created from western part of Ste. Marie (date unknown, before 1901).
Grandville
Grove — Name changed from Union in September, 1860.
Hunt City — Formed from Willow Hill, Crooked Creek and Grandville on September 11, 1901.
North Muddy
Sainte Marie
Smallwood
South Muddy
Wade — Name changed from Newton in September, 1860.
Willow Hill

Township Names under the 1849 Failed Organization
Island Grove — Corresponds approximately to present day Grove.
Marion — Corresponds approximately to present day Crooked Creek.
Muddy — Corresponds to present day North and South Muddy.
North Fork— Corresponds approximately to present day Grandville.
Polk — Corresponds approximately to present day Willow Hill.
Sainte Marie — Included present day Ste. Marie and Fox.

Township Map

Pertinent Databases
Federal Township Plats of Illinois
Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
Illinois Statewide Death Index, 1916–1950
Illinois Statewide Marriage Index
Local Governmental Records Database
Name Index to Illinois Local Governments