Revolutionary Connections
•June 10, 2026•

by Janet Roney

Although no American settlers were living in Moultrie County until 1826, fifty years after our country’s independence, we have several connections to the Revolutionary War. During this year of our country’s 250th anniversary, it is fitting that we review some of those ties.

Last week, I told you about the most obvious connection to the war, our county’s namesake. Col. William Moultrie defended the fort on Sullivan’s Island in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, from British capture in 1776, thereby becoming a hero of folks from the South who made up most of our earliest settlers. The 1881 history said that Sullivan, our county seat, was named after the island Moultrie defended, another connection to 1776. But I. J. Martin, who wrote ‘Notes on the History of Moultrie County and Sullivan, Illinois’, had a different story. He said that Sullivan’s namesake was a northern Revolutionary War general named John Sullivan. As the 1881 history says, “Hereby hangs a tale.”