This marker is located on the courthouse lawn, 1001 Walnut Street, Murphysboro, IL.
On January 10, 1816, Jackson County, created from Randolph and Johnson counties became Illinois’ ninth county. It was named for General (later president) Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans. The county’s first seat, Brownsville, was established on land donated by Conrad Will and was once Illinois’ third largest town.
In 1836, Benningsen Boon vs Juliet, one of the first court cases arguing against African-American indentured servitude in Illinois, was heard in Brownsville and later settled by the Illinois Supreme Court.
The original Jackson courthouse burned in January 1843, and citizens voted to relocate the county seat to land donated by Dr. John Logan, father of General “Black Jack” Logan. The newly minted town of Murphysboro officially became the county seat in September of 1843.
