The History of Moultrie County and Sullivan, Illinois

Last Updated on July 12, 2024 by Dennis

Robert Eden Martin has created a web site dedicated primarily to the history of Moultrie County, a small county in east-central Illinois, and the city of Sullivan, the county seat. This website also contains information about several families who have lived in the area for 150 or more years: the Martins, Edens, Pifers, Taylors, Whites and Davises and related families, from which Eden descended. Much of what appears on the site was last updated in 2011 – including the county newspapers, high school yearbooks and the information about the Edens, Pifers, Taylors, Whites and Davises. This is a treasure trove of documents, many which cannot be found elsewhere!

• Combined History of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois
  This is an HTML version of the 1881 manuscript. It contains a history of each county, descriptions of their scenery, and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers.
• Glimpses of Life in Sullivan, Illinois During The Civil War and Until 1869
  The published history of life in Sullivan, Illinois, during the Civil War years and the period of Reconstruction is surprisingly thin. The principal source of information about Nineteenth Century Moultrie County is The Combined History of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois, published in Philadelphia in 1881. Most of this book, however, is about the two counties and their townships — as well as the people, businesses, churches and schools located in them. The focus is not on the towns and villages which grew up in these two counties.
• The Whitley Point Record Book
  The Justice Of The Peace Docket Book, Estray List And Country Store Record of the Earliest Settlement in Moultrie County, Illinois. This book reproduces one of the earliest surviving judicial docket books in Illinois, and also one of the early customer records of a country store.
• Common Place Book Moultrie County History
• A brief history of Moultrie County by Ivory J. Martin in 1927
  Notes on the History of Moultrie County and Sullivan Illinois by I.J. Martin
• Memoirs of a Boy Mayor by Walter Eden
  Recollections of Sullivan, Illinois from the Civil War to 1909.
• Fragments of the History of Sullivan
  A 400+ page book written by R. Eden Martin
• Atlas
  • 1875 Moultrie County Atlas
  • 1896 Moultrie County Atlas
  • 1913 Moultrie County Atlas
• Sullivan City Directories
  • 1913 Sullivan City Directory
  • 1922 Sullivan City Directory
  • 1933/1934 Sullivan City Directory
• Sullivan High School Yearbooks 1913, 1915-1917, 1922, 1924-1929, 1955-1958
• Moultrie County in World War 1
  Moultrie County newspaper clippings from World War 1
• Lynn Creek Church and Cemetery
  History and transcriptions of the church and cemetery as taken in 1971.
• Old Settlers’ Picnic, Whitley Creek, 1899-1929
  Transcripts of what appear to be the actual records taken of this annual picnic on Whitley Creek of the Old Settlers of Moultrie County.

Newspapers

• Moultrie County News 1886-1948, not inclusive
• Saturday Herald 1899-1915, not inclusive, Sullivan Illinois
• Sullivan Democrat 1899-1911, not inclusive
• Sullivan Express 1857-1860, not inclusive
• Sullivan Herald 1923-1926, not inclusive
• Sullivan Progress 1888-1948, not inclusive

Family Genealogies

• Eden Family
  • Compendium of Materials Relating to John R. Eden
    The Compendium link is a pdf file for a 455 page book of articles, images, news clippings, etc.. This file is about 40MB in size and will take a few minutes to download depending on the speed of your Internet connection.
• Martin Family
  • Fragments of Martin Family History
    Published in 1990 by Robert Eden Martin. This book is about his grandfather, I.J. Martin, and his father, Bob Martin. It consists of writings about them — and, in grandfather’s case, by him. The materials in this book are gathered here, in one place, to make it easier for their descendants to gain some sense of the kind of people they were and how they lived.
    • More Fragments of Martin Family History
      Published in 2014, this manuscript takes on from where the previous manuscript left off.
  • Searching for John Martin
    Searching for Old John Martin and his son William Harvey Martin an essay written by Robert Eden Martin.
  • Letters Home 1918-1919
    Letters written by John Eden Martin & Robert Walter Martin as they fought during the first World War.
  • Ivory and Rose
    The Correspondence of Ivory J. Martin and Rose Eden, Sullivan, Illinois 1885-1886
  • Ivory J. Martin a Biography
    Ivory J. (I.J.) Martin was a Newspaperman in Sullivan, Illinois.
  • Hattie & Ruth
    The letters of Hattie Pifer and her daughter, Ruth Pifer Martin, together with fragments of family history: The Whites, Davises, Pifers and Taylors of Sullivan and Moutrie County Illinois. Compiled and edited by R. Eden Martin in 2011.
• Neely Family
  • The Neelys of Neelytown New York
  • “Account Book” of James Jackson Jr. from Neelytown, Montgomery Township, Orange County, New York
  • Jackson Business Records – Vol I
  • Jackson Business Records – Vol II
  • Charles Neely and Family in Logan County, Kentucky – Chapter 3 of More Fragments of Martin Family History
• Waggoner Family
  • 1922 Book
    A History of the Emigrant Hans Waggoner and his Descendants by John Garland Waggoner and Clem Morton Boling. Two versions to be found, the original 1922 book, and then the 1929 book which contained additions to the original.
  • 1929 Book
  • Isaiah Waggoner history from 1835 to 1978
• Winnifred Titus Sentel A Great Lady of Sullivan