Southern Illinois took place in Williamson County between 1839 and 1876. This was unusual, as crime was almost non-existent in Illinois during its frontier years prior to this period of lawlessness. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate against Stephen A. Douglas. A debate was held in seven towns in Illinois, one being near Jonesboro. Many of the people living in Southern Illinois were first- or second-generation Southerners. Cairo, Illinois, at the southern tip where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi, was of strategic importance. On either side of the rivers were states which, despite remaining in the Union, had
Big Annemessex River Big Annemessex River The Big Annemessex River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. It rises in Kingston, Somerset County, Maryland, and flows roughly southwest about in a meandering pattern, then widens into an estuary and continues about to the bay, near Janes Island State Park. Tributaries include Annemessex Creek, Holland Creek, Hall Creek, Muddy Creek, Colbourn Creek, Jones Creek and Daugherty Creek. The river is spanned once by River Road, a residential county road far from any population center. The Annemessex Creek upstream, however, is spanned by Maryland Route 413. There is also a Little