On this day in 1809, Congress passed legislation that established the Illinois Territory. Ninian Edwards, the namesake of nearby Edwardsville, IL (and father of Lincoln's brother-in-law), was governor for nearly all of the territorial period. Fun fact: Edwards' daughter Julia married politician Daniel Pope Cook, who became the namesake for Cook County, Illinois. There has never been a history focused upon Illinois territory and its government, but "The Illinois Country, 1673-1818" by Clarence Alvord (1918) is a classic study that has sufficed.
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