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
Little Wabash River counties, about southeast of New Haven. In its upper course in Shelby County, the river is dammed to form Lake Mattoon and collects the short West Branch Little Wabash River, which flows for its entire length in Shelby County. Other tributaries include the Fox River, which joins it in Edwards County; the Elm River, which joins it in Wayne County; and the Skillet Fork, which joins it in White County. Little Wabash River The Little Wabash River is a tributary of the Wabash River in east-central and southeastern Illinois in the United States. Via the Wabash and Ohio rivers, it