Cultural historian Jeff Biggers takes us to the dark amphitheatre ruins of his familys nearly 200 - year - old hillside homestead that has been strip - mined on the edge of the first federally recognized Wilderness Site in southern Illinois. In doing so' he not only comes to grips with his own denied backwoods heritage' but also chronicles a dark and missing chapter in the American experience; the historical nightmare of coal outside of Appalachia' serving as an expos of a secret legacy of shame and resiliency.

Russell P. Strange "Book of the Year" Award from the Illinois State Historical Society, 2012. On the eve of the War of 1812, the Illinois Territory was a new land of bright promise. Split off from Indiana Territory in 1809, the new territory ran from the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers north to the U.S. border with Canada, embracing the current states of Illinois, Wisconsin, and a part of Michigan. The extreme southern part of the region was rich in timber, but the dominant feature of the landscape was the vast tall grass prairie that stretched without major interruption from Lake Michigan for more than three hundred miles to the south. The territory was largely inhabited by Indians: Sauk, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, and others. By 1812, however, pioneer farmers had gathered in the wooded fringes around prime agricultural land, looking out over the prairies with longing and trepidation. Six years later, a populous Illinois was confident enough to seek and receive admission as a state in the Union. What had intervened was the War of 1812, in which white settlers faced both Indians resistant to their encroachments and British forces poised to seize control of the upper Mississippi and Great Lakes. The war ultimately broke the power and morale of the Indian tribes and deprived them of the support of their ally, Great Britain. Sometimes led by skillful tacticians, at other times by blundering looters who got lost in the tall grass, the combatants showed each other little mercy. Until and even after the war was concluded by the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, there were massacres by both sides, laying the groundwork for later betrayal of friendly and hostile tribes alike and for ultimate expulsion of the Indians from the new state of Illinois. In this engrossing new history, published upon the war's bicentennial, Gillum Ferguson underlines the crucial importance of the War of 1812 in the development of Illinois as a state. The history of Illinois in the War of 1812 has never before been told with so much attention to the personalities who fought it, the events that defined it, and its lasting consequences. Endorsed by the Illinois Society of the War of 1812 and the Illinois War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission.

Gallatin County, Illinois, Slave & Emancipation Records, 1839-1849, are all that's left of the second volume of slave records in Gallatin County. Though the first of three original volumes remain in the courthouse, the second volume (1839-1849) and the third volume (1849-1862) disappeared sometime after the 1937 flood. SIU-Carbondale historian John W. Allen found himself in possession of at least the second volume and transcribed those records in 1950. Since then that book has been lost and only the type transcriptions in the John W. Allen papers in Special Collections at SIU Morris Library have remained. Special Collections has given Jon Musgrave permission to publish photocopies of the transcriptions. He's included an introduction explaining how to best use the records as well as a full name and first name only indexes for the book. The records include emancipations of slaves, mulatto apprentices and indentured servants who either lived in, or was brought to, Gallatin County, as well as freedom papers filed with county officials by free residents of African ancestry who came to Southern Illinois. These records include the names of slaves or free persons, as well as those of owners, friends and public officials who vouched for the various claims. The records are priceless for African-American genealogists as they often provide names and locations of previous residences where they lived prior to moving to Illinois. They also provide significant genealogical information in regards to listing mothers, as well as children. Many of the records give detailed descriptions of the subjects involved. Up until 1847, Gallatin County included all of present-day Gallatin and Saline counties as well as the eastern third of Hardin County. Also included in the book are miscellaneous records concerning three early antebellum schools for African-American children and the last entry from the third slave registry, which was published elsewhere before the volume disappeared.

In The State of Southern Illinois: An Illustrated History, Herbert K. Russell offers fresh interpretations of a number of important aspects of Southern Illinois history. Focusing on the area known as “Egypt,” the region south of U.S. Route 50 from Salem south to Cairo, he begins his book with the earliest geologic formations and follows Southern Illinois’s history into the twenty-first century. The volume is richly illustrated with maps and photographs, mostly in color, that highlight the informative and straightforward text. Perhaps most notable is the author’s use of dozens of heretofore neglected sources to dispel the myth that Southern Illinois is merely an extension of Dixie. He corrects the popular impressions that slavery was introduced by early settlers from the South and that a majority of Southern Illinoisans wished to secede. Furthermore, he presents the first in-depth discussion of twelve pre–Civil War, free black communities located in the region. He also identifies the roles coal mining, labor violence, gangsters, and the media played in establishing the area’s image. He concludes optimistically, unveiling a twenty-first-century Southern Illinois filled with myriad attractions and opportunities for citizens and tourists alike. The State of Southern Illinois is the most accurate all-encompassing volume of history on this unique area that often regards itself as a state within a state. It offers an entirely new perspective on race relations, provides insightful information on the cultural divide between north and south in Illinois, and pays tribute to an often neglected and misunderstood region of this multidimensional state, all against a stunning visual backdrop. Superior Achievement from the Illinois State Historical Society, 2013