Historical Markers and War Memorials in Pittsfield, Illinois
Pittsfield is the county seat for Pike County
Pittsfield is in Pike County
Pike County(54) ► ADJACENT TO PIKE COUNTY Adams County(82) ► Brown County(2) ► Calhoun County(6) ► Greene County(4) ► Morgan County(20) ► Scott County(9) ► Marion County, Missouri(71) ► Pike County, Missouri(14) ► Ralls County, Missouri(13) ►
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Visited Pike County from 1839-1858
Practiced law in Pike County
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Lincoln had many friends in Pike County
And is documented to
Have visited many homes here.
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Charles . . . — — Map (db m188218) HM
Lincoln visited here. Lincoln’s 1858 Senatorial campaign visit to Pittsfield prompted a test firing of the cannon which was a popular campaign practice of the time. Charles Lame was seriously injured during the test firing. Lincoln walked down to . . . — — Map (db m128777) HM
Built 1845-1846, partially destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1896. Lincoln stayed here during his 1858 Senatorial campaign visit. Ross served as an aide to Gen. Atkinson and was responsible for Lincoln's appointment to company captaincy during the . . . — — Map (db m128771) HM
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas, who practiced at the Pike County Bar in early days and who spoke in this park in the Senatorial Campaign of 1858; John Hay, author of Pike County Ballads, diplomatist and Secretary of State 1898 - 1905, who . . . — — Map (db m78650) HM
In loving and grateful tribute
to Pike County's Union Soldiers
of the Civil War, the 3,132 heroic
men who offered their lives as
sacrifice to their country, 1861-1865,
and, joining hands in common cause,
repeated the oath of America's . . . — — Map (db m128708) WM
In memory of
John Thomas Hodgen, M.D.
Born, Hodgenville, KY. January 17. 1826
Died, St. Louis, MO. April 28. 1882
Professor of surgery, St. Louis Medical College
President of American Medical Association
and
Henry Hodgen Mudd, . . . — — Map (db m128675) HM
John G Nicolay met Abraham Lincoln in the fall of 1856 when he was editor of the county paper in Pittsfield. On that autumn day Pittsfield was in a ferment political excitement. A big meeting had been arranged and Nicolay was on the committee. There . . . — — Map (db m137272) HM
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Editor of the Pike County Free Press
Marshal of U.S. Supreme Court
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Married Therena Bates in Pittsfield
June 15, 1865
John Hay was his best man — — Map (db m188219) HM
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Author of Pike County Ballads
U.S. Secretary of State 1897-1905
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Author, Historian, and Diplomat
Student at Thomson Academy in Pittsfield
1849-1852 — — Map (db m188217) HM
Pike County, Illinois was organized January 31, 1821,
named for Zebulon Pike, early explorer of the Louisiana Purchase and general in the War of 1812. The first settlement in 1820 was founded by Ebenezer Franklin, followed by Daniel . . . — — Map (db m68919) HM
The Mansion House Hotel was built in 1838 by William Watson, the first settler of Pittsfield. According to old records, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas would gather in the lobby between court sessions while waiting for a verdict. Future Illinois . . . — — Map (db m128769) HM
Michael Noyes was a native of New Hampshire and settled in Pittsfield in 1841, after having spent years in Pike County, Mo. He was the founder and editor of Pike County’s first newspaper in 1841, “The Sucker and Farmer’s Record.” He was . . . — — Map (db m128779) HM
Abraham Lincoln was a frequent visitor to Pike County.
He left his judicial circuit and crossed the Illinois River to practice law with many of Pike County's leading attorneys, forming close associations with prominent Whig and . . . — — Map (db m68918) HM
Scanland was mayor of Pittsfield and a prominent attorney and judge. He backed Lincoln in the 1858 Senate race and Lincoln stayed here during his visit in October 1858. One of the stories associated with this home is of Mrs. Scanland's turkey . . . — — Map (db m128780) HM
Abraham Lincoln visited the home and law office of Daniel Gilmer often. Gilmer was a leading attorney and Whig supporter. One day Gilmer’s nine year old daughter Elizabeth, known to everyone as Lizzie, was swinging on the front gate when Lincoln . . . — — Map (db m128773) HM
John Nicolay was only 16 years old when he gained employment as a printer’s devil at this site; he would eventually become the sole proprietor of the Free Press Newspaper. When old friends Tom Shastid and Abraham Lincoln met one day in Pittsfield, . . . — — Map (db m128772) HM
Built by Capt. George T. Edwards, born March 25, 1814, who emigrated from Tennessee in 1828, and settled in Pittsfield in 1835. Capt. Edwards was active in a number of businesses, including teaming, farming, grocery, mail-contracting & hotel . . . — — Map (db m128778) HM
Abraham Lincoln formed some very close friendships with several citizens of Pittsfield. Among the most prominent ones were Milton Hay, John Milton Hay, and John George Nicolay. Milton Hay was born in 1817, and he moved to Pittsfield in 1840. He was . . . — — Map (db m128776) HM
When John George Nicolay was sixteen years old, a friend showed him an ad in The Pike County Free Press newspaper dated May 11, 1848. It advertised for "An intelligent boy, 14 to 17 years of age, who can read and write, to learn the Printing . . . — — Map (db m128774) HM
John G. Shastid moved his family to Pittsfield in 1836 from New Salem, where he had been a neighbor to Abraham Lincoln.
Pittsfield was the county seat, yet there were only six houses here at the time. John bought one of them. Finding the . . . — — Map (db m128775) HM
A grateful community honors those men and women who have served this nation in the United State's Armed forces.
Although you may not have been known by all, you will never be forgotten by any.
In God We Trust
Pike County, Illinois est. 1821 — — Map (db m128629) WM
Lake Pittsfield was built by the City of Pittsfield for water supply purposes as part of the Big Blue Creek Watershed. The first multiple purpose watershed project pursuant to the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of the United States . . . — — Map (db m135258) HM
Grimshaw was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia, PA, and came to Pike County in 1833. A prominent local attorney, he was adjutant of the 17th Ill. Militia and a delegate to both state constitutional conventions as a Whig Party member. He authored . . . — — Map (db m128770) HM