Choosing the County Seat, Part 2

•September 16, 2026•

by Janey Roney

Corruption among government officials is nothing new, but you won’t find what I am about to tell you in either the 1881 History of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois or the 1893 Portrait and Biographical Record, the two major early histories of our counties. My tale involves the fifth governor of Illinois, Joseph Duncan, his brother-in-law William Linn (or Lynn), and the voters’ selection of Asa’s Point (the future Sullivan) as our county seat over the well-established village of East Nelson in 1845.  

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