1824 Illinois
DESCRIPTION
This 1824 map of Illinois, engraved and published by Anthony Finley, captures the state just six years after its admission to the Union in 1818. It distills the formative history of Illinois into a single image, showing both areas of established settlement and vast frontier lands still under Native control.
Settlement and Counties from South to North
In the southern half of the state, small counties cluster along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, as most early settlers entered Illinois by way of the Ohio River, before railroads or wagon roads had reached the territory. From these river communities, population slowly spread northward, though much of northern Illinois remained unsettled in the 1820s. The capital at the time, Vandalia, is marked on the Kaskaskia River, where it served from 1820 to 1839 before the move to Springfield. Larger counties dominate the north, with expansive tracts identified as the homelands of the Pottawatomie, Kickapoo, Ottawa, Winnebago, and Sac & Fox.
Military Bounty Lands from the War of 1812
The map also highlights the Military Bounty Lands in the west, reserved for veterans of the War of 1812. Granted in rectangular parcels, these lands were often sold by veterans rather than settled, leaving the region sparsely inhabited during the 1820s. Part of the rationale for awarding this tract was the belief that seasoned soldiers would be better suited to defend their claims against potential Native American resistance, creating a buffer of protection that would encourage further settlement northward. In practice, many veterans sold their grants to speculators, but even so, their inclusion on census rolls helped Illinois meet the population threshold for statehood in 1818, giving the lands political significance before they were widely developed.
Indian Boundary Lines and a Canal in the Making
Perhaps most striking are the Indian Boundary Lines, angled corridors cutting across the survey grid as the result of early treaties. The most significant line was established in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis with the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi, ceding a strip of land between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River. This corridor was reserved for a canal route, and the map explicitly notes the “Proposed Canal” that would later become the Illinois & Michigan Canal, completed in 1848, linking the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River system. These boundary lines reflect the transitional character of Illinois in the 1820s, where Native land and American expansion overlapped, foreshadowing the rise of Chicago as a transportation hub.
Anthony Finley (c. 1790–1840) was a prominent Philadelphia publisher and bookseller known for producing high-quality atlases, wall maps, and school geographies during the early 19th century. Active primarily between 1822 and 1834, Finley drew upon the latest surveys and government reports, often adapting the work of Aaron Arrowsmith and other European cartographers for the American market. His New General Atlas, first issued in 1824, became one of the most widely circulated American atlases of the era, praised for its clarity, fine engraving, and accessible size. Finley’s maps, engraved by notable artisans such as Young & Delleker, catered to an expanding audience of schools, libraries, and middle-class households, as the American appetite grew for accurate cartography of their rapidly developing nation.
CONDITION
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